Hello 2015 - My Word for the Year

WOW! Happy New Year! A new 365 days full of possibilities! Last year, I used the word Overcomer for my word for the year. I tried to base all of my goals off of that one word. My word for 2015 is going to be Perseverance!






I LOVE the above definition! This year I am going to persevere! I am going to stay on my course of getting happier and healthier. I really want to work on including my faith more with all of you along the way. So today, I am sharing some verses that I will be using as my anchors throughout the year!

Romans 5:3

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us

James 1:4

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything

2 Peter 1:5-7

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

I cannot wait to see what 2015 brings!  I know that no matter what, with God on my side, I will persevere!

Do you have a word for 2015?

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

Goodbye 2014

Wow! Today is the last day of 2014! Usually on this day, I'm listing goals for the coming year. 2014 has been a year of ups and downs with a lot of learning about myself sprinkled in. As I ponder what I wanted my goals to be for 2015, I just couldn't really think of a realistic, attainable goal that I could see keeping for an entire year. Until I came across this photo:

And that,my friends, is my focus for 2015. I already know there are some bumps coming up for me, but I am going to live everyday with the goal to get healthy and to have peace!!!

More coming up tomorrow!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes and a fabulous and safe new year!

Keep Losing,

Kari

A Crappy Week

I won't lie and sugar coat it for you, this has just not been a very good week for me physically or emotionally. I just haven't been feeling well lately which prompted a visit to a specialist and an ER visit for some injections. After the holidays, I will be having ANOTHER colonoscopy to try to figure out what is going on with that part of my body. 

I even had to miss the gym and Weight Watchers today because of how I was feeling. 

Stress is also up this time of year with holiday preparations. And I made a HUGE mistake at work and felt like a failure. 

BUT

I have not given in and quit, I have not turned to food to try to help me feel better. I haven't been 100% on plan, but it is so much better than it has been in past experiences. 

Part of me says, screw it, eat whatever you want. You're sick and you deserve it. But the smarter part of me knows that is not the answer and won't make me feel any better. 

I have a session at the gym tomorrow afternoon that I am determined to make it to and work as hard as my body will let me. 

AND THEN, I have a huge surprise coming tomorrow that I can't wait to share with all of you!  

As I read my Jesus Calling today, it really spoke to how I've been feeling lately. 

It can be so difficult to be grateful for a problem, but if we can those problems lose their power. 

I'm saying bye for now! Prayers for my health would be greatly appreciated ❤️

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

Under a Mountain of Crap

Wanna know where I've been the past few days? I'm under this mountain of crap

I fell backwards, and HARD! I haven't been feeling very good since we got home from vacation. So I just ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. And now, I feel worse. I'm so mad at myself. I'm supposed to weigh-in Monday at the gym, ugh. Why do I keep doing this to myself?

For those of you who think food addiction is not a real thing, I'm a living example of it. 

My youngest son asked me tonight if I was still doing Weight a Watchers as I was stuffing my face with breadsticks and M&M's. I told him I quit and he said no you didn't. It took that for me to realize what I was doing to myself. 

If you feel like me, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I am digging out from under the mountain. I'm not waiting for tomorrow to start over, I'm starting over RIGHT NOW!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing, 

Kari

Santa Run Recap

The Santa Run I did in Vegas this past Saturday was AMAZING! It was not a timed race and they offered a 5k and a 1 mile walk. I chose to just do the mile. For the $45 registration fee you received a Santa Suit, a goodie bag and a medal!

The walk was held on Fremont Street and there was some awesome pre-race entertainment. 

Elvis Santa! The money raised was for a charity called Opportunity Village. This organization helps people in the Vegas community with disabilities. Santa Elvis' dancers were all people with disabilities that work with the organization!

There was also the mayor of Las Vegas, Santa Claus and the Chippendales!

Robin Leach was the MC! He sounds just like he does on TV!

Olivia Newton John, Wayne Newton, and Holly Madison made appearances!

14,000+ Santas!

Puppies were part of the run too!

And a goat!

Finish Line!

Here is the awesome medal we received at the finish!

This race included all ages, from babies to senior citizens, all races, and all body types!  Along the route were hundreds of volunteers cheering us all along!

This was an amazing day and if you ever go to Vegas at the beginning of December, I highly recommend doing this event!

That is it for today!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

Checking in From Vegas

Happy Friday friends! We have had an awesome week here in Vegas so far. If you don't follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Tumblr check out the links on my homepage. I have been posting my food and some other vacay tidbits. We have just been so busy and I haven't had much time to blog. 

BUT, I wanted to tell you all hello. My eating and activity have been great here. I made a goal to not worry about tracking points or calories but just to make healthier choices, drink lots of water and get in my fruits and veggies. I think I have done a pretty good job. I did have a treat meal last night though, but it is vacation. My other goal was to stay at about the same weight. No gains and no loss, but just enjoy myself within limits. We will see when I get home!

I picked up my packet for the Santa Run (walk) today. I am so excited for tomorrow morning!

Well I better go, we have a show to attend. 

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!  

Keep Losing,

Kari

Monday - Vegas, Starbucks and a Bath

Happy Monday, Happy December everyone! A new week and a new month.  Time to set some goals to finish out 2014. Here are mine:

I highly encourage you to write down your goals and do your best to stick to them.

Hubby and I left early this morning to fly to Las Vegas for a nice couples vacation. So my blogs this week will be sharing about our trip and will probably be short and sweet!  We arrived safely and the weather is beautiful!

I was SO HUNGRY by the time we got to our hotel. We decided to try out the buffet. I tried a small bite of several different things and had one small dessert. But I was miserable afterwards. My tummy hurt so badly that I learned that I can't eat that stuff like I used to. 

I was quite proud of myself for choosing water instead of all the other free "beverages" offered in the casino. 

I was still so full that all I had for dinner was a fat free latte from Starbucks. 

We got to see the Blue Man Group tonight. Oh my, what an awesome show. We were in the very front row and we had a blast!!!

I just thought this was pretty inside our hotel!

We are staying at the Monte Carlo.  I love coming to Vegas around Christmastime. There are beautiful lights, decorations and Christmas music playing. I had to go out and snal this picture. 

Even though I didn't get an official workout in, I did meet my goal.  I also checked out the fitness room here first thing today.  It is really nice.  I even talked with the trainer there and told him a little about my journey. I plan on making a visit for some strength training tomorrow!

And now, we are back in our room and I think I am ready for a long soak in this giant tub overlooking the Vegas night!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

Sum It Up Saturday

Whew, I got behind on updating here the past few days. I have been so tired and have been dealing with some extreme back pain the past few days. I hope you all had an AMAZING Thanksgiving. I know I certainly did. Not all of my family could get together, but we still had a great time. I woke up super early to start prepping dinner and get the turkey in the oven (which barely fit into my mall oven). We started our Thanksgiving off with a 1 mile walk (and my youngest ran the 5k course)

It was chilly, but we had a lot of fun doing this together!

Afterwards I went home and started cooking our feast. Family arrived and we had an awesome meal together.  I was STUFFED and couldn't even enjoy my pecan pie indulgence until much later that night!

After everyone left, I propped my feet up and relaxed.

I did manage to earn quite a few activity points Thursday!

Friday, my boys were ready to decorate for Christmas. We had a lot of fun getting the house and tree all ready for the holidays. Here are a few pics!

He just couldn't resist getting into box and smashing his face against the plastic!

And even though I didn't quite reach my goal, I was close!

Today has been spent sleeping in, laundry, grocery shopping and packing for mine and hubby's trip to Las Vegas. I am so excited that I found a Santa Run (or walk for me) while we are in Vegas. I signed up right away!!!! And it is on Fremont Street which is so awesome. 

For anyone interested in trying the Plexus Products, they are having a great Black Friday special through tomorrow. Visit my link for more info or feel free to email me. 

http://karigoodman.myplexusproducts.com

Well, I'm gonna say bye for now. Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

What A Wednesday

Wow! What a crazy day it has been. Got up early and cooked turkey, gravy, corn, green beans and stuffing for all of our employees. Everyone pitched in and we had a wonderful lunch together. 

We had so much food and so many desserts. We don't all get to sit down together very often. 

BUT while I was cooking, my large oven went kaput. It got way hot and then started beeping some error. I got it to work again, but it did the same thing. And of course no one can come look at it until next week. And I have a dinner to fix tomorrow using only my small wall oven. But we will make it work!

After lunch I caught up on office work since we will be gone for a week. Then it was errands in town and then back home to clean up my kitchen and finish the housework I hadn't completed yet. 

And our plans for tomorrow have changed. I am not going to share all the details yet, but I do ask for some prayers for my family over the next few days. We are still having a dinner with the family that can make it and it will still be a good day! 

I also have a 5k to walk tomorrow before preparing another Thanksgiving dinner. However, I am feeling pretty mellow. Might help that I ended my evening with the hot  tub and a glass of wine!

And even though I didn't get an "official" workout in, I still managed to earn 5 activity points!

Well, time to watch Survivor and get to bed. Have an early start in the morning!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes and a wonderful day tomorrow!

Keep Losing, 

Kari

Crazy Tuesday

Today has been a CRAZY day!  Got up and started my routine and before my first cup of coffee I had to pick my sick son up from school. Managed to drink a cup quickly before my chiropractic appointment. My chiropractor is still concerned about how tender and sore both of my si joints and sacrum are. They would like to refer me out for two other possible treatments. One involves steroids and I won't try that until a last, last resort. The other is a pain management specialist where he would do localized injections. I have decided to wait for my new insurance at the beginning of the year to try this. In the meantime, they gave me a TENS unit to use on my back. I used it this evening and it did feel good. I am just tired of hurting so bad I can barely sit. 

After the chiropractor, I headed to the gym. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and  a 30 minute training session with Sam. She even made me a protein banana smoothie afterwards since I was headed to Walmart 😱. Walmart was a madhouse, but I think I finally have everything I need to cook two Thanksgiving dinners. 

Came home and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Washed windows, scrubbed baseboards. Definitely hit my activity goal for today. 

Just finished a nice hot Epsom salt bath and getting ready to curl up to a good book. Gotta get up early to cook turkeys for our dinner at work tomorrow. 

Well, I'm signing off for tonight. Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing

Busy, busy, busy, busy

I have been terrible and haven't blogged in over a week. Man my life has seemed so busy and I just stepped back from here to lessen the burden.  BUT

I'm still chugging along on my journey. Been fighting some sinus junk the past week. 

Our schedules are crazy this week. Cooking dinner for our employees on Wednesday, a 5k Thursday morning, then preparing Thanksgiving dinner for about 15 people at my house. Boys want to put the tree up Friday. Sunday we are having friends over for a football party and Monday hubby and I are off to Vegas  for some vacation time! (Which I think we will definitely need). Been working hard getting my house clean and it never seems to be clean at the same time. We have kinda a big house and my workout yesterday and today has mostly been cleaning!

I know we all tend to feel stressed or overwhelmed this time of the year. I know I need to step back and remember that spending time with my family and Friends should be the number one important thing. 

People won't remember how clean the house was or how beautifully decorated or the lovely meal. People will remember the relationships and conversations and just time with loved ones. 

Tune in tomorrow for a Thanksgiving Tranaformation Thursday!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes 

Keep Losing,

Kari

Fitness Sneak Friday

So at our Weight Watchers meeting yesterday we talked about ways to sneak in fitness!  I thought I would share some of the ideas we came up with:

• When going shopping, park farther away from the store! Every extra step counts!
• Walk up and down each aisle, even if you don't need anything from every aisle.
• Use a shopping basket instead of a cart if you don't need much.
• Set a timer in your kitchen for every hour so you have to get up and turn it off.
• Download an app on your phone that will remind you to get up and move every hour.
• Squeeze activity into the commercial breaks of your favorite TV shows.
• Do leg lifts or squats while fixing dinner or doing dishes.
• Walk to get your kids instead of texting or yelling for them.

What are some ways you can sneak some fitness into your every day?

Remember every little bit helps.  Doing a little every day is better than doing nothing!

Tomorrow, there are about 20 teenagers coming to my house for my son's 13th birthday party! UGH! I was so glad that my son requested a veggie and fruit tray for his party (and cupcakes), but at least there will be some healthier options for me to grab and munch on!

Simply Filling Chili with Fat Free Cheese

So I used 6 of my 49 weekly points yesterday!

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,
Kari