THE HUIES HIT THE PUMPKIN PATCH

I did a little hunting this year and found my dream pumpkin patch! Well as close as I’m going to get to it in the DFW area.

Our typical pumpkin patches are flat plots of land with pumpkins thrown on it. No trees, no character, just pumpkins and a few attractions like petting zoo and such. They’re cute and serve a purpose but I’ve always hoped to find a sweet little patch nestled in a forest with lots of character. A place where the kids could run and explore….enter Blasé Family Farms

Nope not sponsored by them but I was so in love with this sweet little patch I had to share it with my fellow DFW readers. I honestly wanted to keep it my little secret because it just so special and surprisingly not swamped with people but sharing is caring my friends.

If you’re in the area I definitely recommend making a trip out. They have goats, sheep, and a long horn you can feed, Lots of land for the littles to explore, a tractor pulled hay ride that takes you on a tour of their property, a tractor train ride (super cute), lots of places set up for photos, picnic tables, and beautiful tall trees that not only add that fall charm that we all love but provide shade which is great because as you can see by looking at some of the outfits people are wearing good ole’ TX likes to hold onto summer weather for as long as possible. We got there when they opened at 10 and stayed until after 1pm. We took our time enjoying the farm and let Weston explore to his heart’s content. It was all around a beautiful day. We’ll definitely be going back in the spring to pick blueberries and again in the fall!     

Okay now on to the pictures!

Weston’s little buddy Lily made him a fall craft. Precious right?

These 2 have been buddies since they were in our bellies. We have so many precious photos of them together but my favorites are always the ones of Weston giving Lily some love and Lily giving him the cold shoulder…..they crack me up!

Post You May Have Missed:
Cookies, Crafts, and PJs

IIFYM Getting Started

Our Fall Porch Tour

My Last Round of Friday Faves

Instagram: Kendra_Huie / Periscope: Kendra_Huie / Our YouTube Channel /  Facebook

Cookies Crafts & PJs

Weston was supposed to have a small Halloween party last Friday but a nasty cold hit our family. It started with Kent, moved onto Weston, then me. Thank goodness Carson didn’t get it!

We were all on the mend by the time of the Halloween party but I thought it would be best to reschedule juuuuust to be safe. Do you remember when THIS happened? Yep no fun! Same group of friends are getting together for the Halloween party. We haven’t all been together since that whole fiasco and there was no way I was going to be the cause of outbreak round 2.

I made the mistake of getting Weston excited about his Halloween party. Once you tell that kid he’s going to have a play date or do something extra special he gets heart broken if it falls through. I still wanted the day to be fun so I drew a little invitation and invited him to a mama son Halloween party! 

We stayed in our PJs all day (ok this was really more for my benefit than his and my PJs were more sweaty gym clothes), read gobs of Halloween books, cranked up his “Truck Song’s” CD, did an easy Halloween craft aka monster stickers and construction paper, and decorated pumpkin cookies!

It’s wasn’t anything fancy but sometimes those simple random activities that you throw together are the best ones!

Being a parent is fun but being a parent during the holidays kicks the fun factor up a notch! Weston’s at the prefect age to really get into all things festive and I’m loving every second of it!

PS….Doesn't he look so grow up in these photos?

I’ll see you back here tomorrow for our Wednesday post!

Instagram: Kendra_Huie  / Periscope: Kendra_Huie / Our YouTube Channel / Facebook

IIFYM–Getting Started

For those of you who are saying “What the Whaaaaaaat is she talking about” you may want to check out THIS post where I tell you all about my new fitness journey with If It Fits Your Macros. After you do that visit Skinny Meg’s blog. Megan has been doing this way longer than I have and knows what’s up! Her blog if full of helpful IIFYM info!

Let me tell ya how today’s blog post is going to play out because it has a lot going have a lot going on……

I want to share a few things that I’ve enjoyed since starting this eating plan. I received several emails from peeps with great question about the program. Some of those questions were asked often so I thought I would answer them here as well. Annnnd I have some “before” photos for ya.

Let’s jump in……

 

Things I found helpful my 1st week of counting macros

1. My Fitness Pal Premium- I upgraded to the premium version and am so happy I did. It’s made tracking somewhat easier and I love all the graphs. It’s great for visual people. There’s a hack that’s floating around out there if you don’t want to pay for the upgrade. Who does, right? I couldn’t figure it out though so I got frustrated and just paid for it. Just search “My Fitness Pall Hack” and you should be able to find it.

2. YouTube & Pinterest – I’m going to lump these 2 together because I used them the same way. I did a little hunting on these two platforms for all the help and tips I could find. Loved watching IIFYM grocery hauls on YouTube for food ideas. Also found a few people that talk about setting up MFP to make it more Macro friendly. Great place to start your IIFYM research. (I’ll include links to some of these things below.

3. Periscope – Ahhh I can’t say enough great things about this beautiful little IIFYM community that’s forming on Periscope! I LOVE chatting with everyone and find it so inspiring and helpful. The other day I did a roll call during one of my scopes and asked people to share how much they wanted to lose. It was pretty awesome see all the numbers roll in. Yes they were just numbers but behind each number was a person working towards reach their own personal goal. I found it so inspiring! If you have the Periscope app you can find me under Kendra_Huie. Also look up Skinny Meg. Her scopes are super informative!

4. Food Scale – Because well that’s your main tool during this program! I picked mine up at Target for $18 (I think) but you can find them at several places and of course on Amazon. What can’t you buy on Amazon, right? After buying mine Skinny Meg mentioned that you should try to find one that not only weighs ounces & grams but also milliliters. You can always convert to milliliters but if you’re able to find a scale that does it for you it would just make your IIFYM world just a tad bit easier.   

5. Pen and Paper – Keep it somewhere handy! There were several times I either didn’t have time to enter my macros into MFP or I couldn’t find my phone. If you have a pen and paper handy jot down your macros and enter them in when you can. No excuses! 

6. Calculator – I waited way too long to pick one up. A calculator is a must when figuring out serving sizes. Before I got one I was going into MFP then exiting to use the calculator on my phone then back into MFP to track my food. Nope! Make it easy on yourself and pick up a cheap calculator if you don’t already own one.

 

Yummy food

Just a few phone snaps of some yummy food I’ve eaten the last week. I’m thinking a IIFYM food post should happen soon!

Zoodles, sandwiches (oh sandwiches how I’ve missed you), Trader Joe’s Spinach Kale bites, and Trader Joe’s Mahi Mahi burgers have been some of my fave foods this week.

FAQs

I’ve received a few emails from people considering starting IIFYM. I always feel the need to start all my replies with “This is all new to me”. I don’t want to dish out advice about a program when I am newer than a newbie ya know buuuut I’m happy to share what I have learned so far. There were the questions that were most commonly asked in the emails I’ve received.

Did you feel full? Yes yes yes! Y’all since starting IIFYM I am never hungry and have a hard time making sure I get in all my calories. Now keep in mind I’m 5 9’ and have 60lbs to lose so my macros will be higher than someone that has less to lose but all around a little weight to lose or a lot the program is all about turning our bodies into calorie burning machines aka eat all the food burn all the food! 

I’m nervous about starting. Why did you decided to jump in? I was nervous too so much so that I sat back and watched the program for months before deciding to jump in. I kept telling myself that I would keep researching and learn more about counting macros before starting. What ended up happening is months went by I wasn’t any more educated about counting macros and it all still kind of made my head swim. I knew that if I just didn’t jump in and learn as I went along it wasn’t going to happen. I made a mini goal to follow the program for a month then go from there. I knew I was mentally in a place where I was ready to start tackling this baby weight aka I have some fight in me. No matter what program you decide to start IIFYM, Weight Watchers, Cleaning eating, Paleo, whatever…..there is ALWAYS that “Growing Pain” phase. Things are new and you have to kind of dive in to figure it out. I’m rounding out my 2nd week and things are much better than they were last week but I would say that I’m still in that “Growing Pain” phase and that’s ok! It’s all about that fight! No this isn’t easy clean eating isn’t easy either. The question isn’t “Do you think I can do it?” but ask yourself “Do I want it bad enough to fight for it?” “It” being whatever diet regiment you decide is best for you. You have to want it bad enough to tackle the “Growing Pains”! 

Has it been hard? I could sugar coat this for you but that wouldn’t do you any good so the honest truth….YES it has been hard. I had no idea what I was doing when 1st started. I had to figure things out on my own. The flip side of that is I can also honestly say only 13 days it’s clicking more and more each day. I still have things to learn but it’s definitely not as challenging as it was that 1st week. I entered my 1st recipe in MFP last night. It actually wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be but I couldn’t figure out how to enter my portion. See still learning! You just have to give yourself grace as you’re figure it all out.

Who did you macros? Elizabeth aka Poppy Locks (look at the more section then counting macros on her site if you would like to reach out to her about doing your macros). I was on the fence about hiring a coach. I figured it was going to be expensive and I needed to make sure this was what I wanted to do 1st before putting more $ into it. Well Most coaches will calculate your macros for around $30-$35. I decided I didn’t want to waste 2 weeks not knowing if I was where I should be macro wise so I reached out to Elizabeth. She was very helpful and I recommend having a coach help you out if you’re able to swing the fee. 

What blogs/recourses have you found helpful? As I touched on above in the tools I found helpful section did a lot of hunting on Pinterest and YouTube. There are TONS of IIFYM’ers out there kindly sharing their knowledge. I will include a few links to blogs and YouTube videos I found helpful below.

Vlog’s I Found Helpful
How to Set Up My Fitness Pal for IIFYM

Larry North’s Path to Wellness Workshop

Jazmine’s Healthy Essentials Grocery Haul
Alexandrea’s My Food Staples Grocery Haul
-Side Note On Her Haul……
I tried the yogurt which is pretty popular with macro counters but it wasn’t my jam; super sweet and taste artificial. Wasn’t a fan of the protein bars she recommended either. They’re growing on me but I don’t love them. I also didn’t like the baby bell cheese (the ones in the blue wrapper) yuck! I did however like the bread she recommended. I’ve been checking macros on bread since starting IIFYM and haven’t been able to find a better macro bread yet. I also loved the dressing she recommends. Even though I wasn’t in love with some of the things she mentioned it’s still a great vlog to get some ideas when you’re 1st starting out. 

Blog’s I’ve Been Visiting

Skinny Meg

Live Fit

Malzis Fit

Work In Progress

My Life in Macros

Week 2 Pictures (My Before Pictures). I figured I would share these with you guys since you can’t always see where I’m at weight wise from an Instagram selfie. These were taken on the same day but I took my outer shirt off so you could see my mid section a little better!

And the journey begins!

I’ll see you back here on Wednesday (I post every Wednesday) for phone pics that didn’t make it to Instagram It’s should be a fun mindless random post! My kind of post!

Instagram (Kendra_Huie) / Pericsope Kendra_ Huie / YouTube / Facebook / Our Etsy Store “DROOLZIES”

Fall Porch Decorations

Happy fall y’all!

I sure hope you’ve had more fall type weather than we’ve had in TX.
It’s still in the 90’s here.
It’s not fair……….reallllllly not fair!

Even though the weather isn’t on board with the season change my heart is so let’s pretending leaves are falling a chill is in the air and dressing in layers is a must as I take you on our little fall porch tour.

Fall is one of my most favorite holidays to decorate for because you get the most use out your decorations. We skip Halloween decorations (because I’m lazy) and leave our fall pretties up through November.

That’s 3 months of pumpkin love I get to enjoy!

As I like to do most things I tried to keep our fall porch décor cheap and simple!

Here’s the Simple:
-I didn’t switch out the flower pots even though a few of them are more spring/summer colors. Eh who cares, right?
-I didn’t want keep up with the responsibility of keeping plants alive. I’m not evening going to pretend that I have a green thumb (notice the mum on the right). So I picked up a couple of cheap mums from Wal-Mart. I think they were $3ish each. Mums are pretty hardy and can take a few missed days of watering. I filled in the gaps with pumpkins who totally don’t care if you don’t water them. It’s kind of like planting fake flowers only less cheesy. Or maybe planting pimpkins it’s more cheesy?

Here’s the Cheap:
- Cheap Wal-Mart pumpkins, even the fancy ones.
-It was time for a new fall wreath and I didn’t want to put the time in to making one so I picked this one up at Home Goods.
-Found the welcome sign at Big Lots of all places. I don’t usually shop there but was pleasantly surprised! They had TONS of cute seasonal décor!
-The door mat is a Target find. Remember seeing it in last week’s “Friday Faves” post?
- The tree stump was a discard from my in-law’s house aka free cuteness!

And there you have it my friends…..
our fall porch simple, cheap, and cute!

I’ll see you back here on Friday for a a little IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) chat!

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM: Kendra_Huie / YOUTUBE / PERISCOPE: Kendra_Huie /

Recent Post You May Have Missed:
Friday Faves
Week 1 Of IIFYM
How to Fall UP the Stairs and My Mama Fall Bucket List
Our Fall Family Bucket List

Friday Faves

 

1. FALL DOOR MAT - I’ve been on the hunt for just the right fall door mat for a while. I wanted something warm and fallish (of course) but wanted something without pumpkins plastered all over it because my porch is already filled with them. I almost gave up the hunt and moved my focus to a finding a cute Christmas mat when I found this little guy hiding in a corner at Target. It was the last one and it was perfect. You can also find it on their website. Anyway it’s adorable and I love seeing it each time I open my front door. 

2.  WONDER BY R.J. PALACIO – I haven’t finished the book yet although I am enjoying it so far but what I love more is what this book has started. I was looking for a soul hugging book to read this fall (did you see my “Mama Fall Bucket List” ) when I found Wonder. It had awesome reviews claimed to be a quick read and is reviewed to make you laugh, cry, and feel warm fuzzies. Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for. After picking my new fall read I started thinking “Humm this would be fun to read with other people…..like a book club!” I jumped on Periscope ran the idea of a virtual book club past my Periscope buddies and “We Be Book’N” was born! Yes I started a virtual book club with a bunch of strangers. Fun huh!?! Anyway I’m hoping we’ll get to know each other a little more over the next few months. Wonder is our 1st read. We have a Facebook group and will be hosting monthly book chat via Periscope! 

3. DEVA CURL BE LEAVE-IN – I’m having a bit of a postpartum hair crisis. Massive hair loss and my curls are going all wonky. They used to be lush and bouncy but now are more frizzy and stringy. It’s not good! This stuff has honestly saved my hair because I had my phone in had ready to call my stylist to have it chopped off when Kent talked me down from the ledge. I did a little research (y’all know I research the crap out of things before I try them out) and found this stuff. I tried a few other items from the Deva Curl line but this one alone was a game changer for me. My curls are bouncy again and I no longer feel the need to chop them off. I’m still using the other products I shared in my “How I Style My Naturally Curly Hair” post but adding this into the mix. It does exactly what it says it’s going to do…..volume and soft bouncy curls. Hopefully my hair sorts itself out in a few months. I if I keep losing hair like I have been I’ll soon need to buy some ball caps to cover up the baldness.

4. MY FITNESS PAL – This week’s Wednesday’s post was all about my new diet plan. People like to call it  a lifestyle but honestly this is a diet plan for me because once I drop the weight (if IIFYM works for me) I hope I will have learned something and will no longer need to count my macros. Anyway My Fitness Pal has been my buddy this last week! Even if you’re not following IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) this is a useful app to track your food intake and is super simple to use. I’m sure most people know about it. It’s been around for a while BUT I’ve been giving mine a little extra love this week as I’ve been tracking each and everything I eat. I recently upgrade to the Prime version and I love it. It’s great for visual people with all its graphs and pie charts! 

5. COFFEE MUG – Another Target find. Not much to say about this one besides it’s cute and makes me even more happy for coffee time. They have several different sayings. I picked up the Warm and Cozy and Coffee coffee coffee one. Oh and it’s priced reasonably at $3.99

6. NATURAL BLISS PUMPKIN SPICE COFFEE CREAMER -  Y’all this stuff is crazy yummy! I usually steer clear of these types of coffee creamers. I have them on occasion but for me I think they're too sweet and kind of kill the coffee flavor I love so much. The Natural Bliss creamer in Pumpkin Spice has just a hint of sweetness and pumpkin goodness without being too much and all the ingredients are things I know and can pronounce so that’s sweet. I’m going to be sad when they pull this one off the shelves come Christmas time.

7. IKEA BAGS -  So am I late to the Ikea bag awesomeness bandwagon? I’m not sure if it’s even a thing or if I’m the only one that is in love with these massive bags. I was in Ikea a little while ago and picked up a bunch of random home décor items. The person that checked me out recommended that I purchase one of their bag for $1 to hold all my purchases. I pictured myself making 5 trips to the car with both boys on my hips. “YES I’ll take a bag, shoot I’ll take 2!” I had no idea how awesome and useful these things were going to be. Since bringing them home I’ve used them to…..
-Carry multiple bags of grocery in the house. I pile in several bags inside and swing it over my shoulder all while holding Carson.
- Cart laundry up and down the stairs.
- Collect boxes to take out to our Recycling bin.
- Gathered items from our closets that I wanted to donate. 
- I loaded them up with our Costco purchases. They’re great for big bulk items.  
- Collect laundry from the boy’s laundry baskets so I no longer need to carry the baskets down stairs.  
These bags are awesome! I have one in our house and one in the car and next time I’m shopping at Ikea I’m picking up another so I can have 1 up stairs and 1 down. If you don’t have a massive Ikea bag you got to get in on this friends!  

8. A Carson Favorite SIMILAC ALIMENTUM READY FEED –  A Carson Favorite although I’m super happy about it too. I was able to nurse Weston until he was 6.5 months old which is a massive success story after all that we went though. Carson was doing GREAT! I had high hopes for our nursing relationship then all the sudden things took a bad turn. Caron has his own nursing story that is very different from Weston’s. I’m happy to share if you’re interested. Anyway we’re no longer nursing and it’s been a real struggle trying to find a formula that works with his sensitive system. What worked for Weston (who we also struggled with) didn’t work for Carson. Alimentum was our last choice. The ready feed version of this formula is the only formula at least over the counter that is hypoallergenic and corn free. Once we knocked out the diary and corn his digestion issues started to clear up. He’s eating so much better, chunking up even more, and started to sleep longer stretches at night (around 5 hours). His diapers are a million times better (I’m talking about poo guy just in case you missed that) and his skin has cleared up too. The sad part is that it’s CRAZY expensive even more so than what we had Weston on which was pricy. I’m in the process of trying to get our insurance to cover it as he has a prescription for it. Fingers crossed! The other good news that comes from this is we’re now able to get him in cloth diapers. I decided to hold off putting him in cloth until we got his digestion issues all sorted out. Yay for a new fluffy bum in the house!      

9. A Weston Favorite LARGE PLASTIC DUMP TRUCK – I bought this at Target to use as a prop for a brother newborn shot I was doing (just to give you an idea of how large it is). I ended up not using it for the session but held onto it. Good thing I did because Weston has fallen in love with this truck. He plays with it constantly and it’s held up great to all the love Weston has given it. I bought it a year ago but I still see them at Target. It’s huge and I think I only paid $12 for it.

 And because you can’t love everything here’s something I did not like……..

BOOOO! TRADER JOE’S HARVEST BLEND HERBAL TEA - Finding a new fall tea to enjoy was on my “Mama Fall Bucket List” I heard the harvest blend from Trader Joes was good so I picked it up. Uuummm nope it’s so NOT good. I tried it twice but I ended up tossing it. Save your money and skip it but do try………

TRADER JOE’S VANILLA & CINNAMON BLACK TEA – It’s good crazy good and they already have it out! Add a little cream to it and it’s like a yummy dessert in your cup!  Usually I don’t see it on the shelves until we get closer to Christmas so I was excited to see it when I popped in to buy the harvest blend. I buy boxes of this tea and store it in my panty so I have some to enjoy throughout the year since you can only buy it during the holidays.

Some of our faves from the week being used because these are things we really do LOVE and have purchased with our own money. I’d be all over a Similac sponsorship though! Similac are you out there? Do you hear me?

My cute mug filled with Nespresso goodness and little Natual Bliss Coffee Creamer

 

Weston and his BFF aka the the dump truck aka the blob.

 

My new pretty! I’ll be sharing our fall porch with you for next week’s Wednesday post.

 

Things You May Have Missed
Our Last “Friday Fave’s” post
Our Family Fall Bucket List
My Mama Fall Bucket List (vlog form)
Weston’s Cake Smash Photos
Why I use Stitch Fix
My post where I chat about being “Behind on Life”

 

Instagram (Kendra_Huie) /  Our YouTube Channel / Periscope (Kendra_Huie)

Week 1: IIFYM If It fits Your Macros

Disclaimer: I’m about to talk about weight loss, eating plans, and a goal I’ve set for myself. Each time I chat openly about this topic I receive an influx of emails from folks asking me to join their coaching team and to use their weight loss aids. I’m not interested nor am I able to partake in any of that at this time due to my husband’s line of work. If at some point I am able to or decide that I would like to go down that path I have family and close friends that are involved with most of the larger companies that are out there and I would of course need to reach out to them 1^st. BUUUUT if you want to reach out to chat about health and fitness or something else I would love to hear from you! I love when you guys send emails just to connect and chat (not to get me to buy products or join a team) but chatting is fun!

Ok now on to today’s post!

As most of you know I got back on the weight loss train a few months back. Once Carson hit the 2 month mark I was ready to get back in the gym and tighten up my diet.
Sadly things are going slow, reallllll slow and I’m not seeing the results I would hope to be seeing at this point. I’ve lost weight but we’re talking 5lbs over a 3 month span. Not good! Being 5 9 and having around 50 pounds to lose I should be dropping more weight than that.

Here’s where the new plan comes into play.

Kent and I were chatting about my results the other day. I told him how shocked I was that I wasn’t losing more weight. Then he said something that really hit home……

”If you’re not seeing the results you want you need to make some changes.”

Light bulb moment! He was so right!
My body isn’t responding to what I’m doing so why not shake things up a little?

I’ve been following the If It Fits Your Macros/Flexible Dieting world for some time. I’m a member of the Facebook groups, I follow a few bloggers that live a IIFYM lifestyle, and I’ve even done some research on it. It’s always intrigued me because I see the awesome results people get but seemed so confusing and intimidating which is why I’ve been watching from afar too afraid to give it a go.

But after Kent placed that little light bulb above my head I figured what do I have to lose?
Well I do have a bunch of weight to lose. I’d be totally cool with kicking some lbs to the curb.

So I decided to jump in even thought I had no idea what in the world I was doing. I figured I’ll give myself a little grace the 1st week or so and learn while I’m in the trenches.

I’m going to keep an open mind about the whole thing and see where it takes me.

I was around 11 months postpartum with Weston before I started to lose weight (no mater how clean I ate). I tried and tried and tried but my body for whatever reason wasn’t ready to let go of the fat. I did a cleanse right before Weston turned 1 and dropped 15 pounds then got pregnant with Carson.  My body may just work that (hold onto weight) way after I have babies. Who knows but I’m willing to give this a go and see what happens.

Maybe this will be just what I need to shake up my metabolism.
Maybe I’m not eating the right combinations of food to help my body be a lean mean weight loss machine. Maybe  I’m I’m not eating enough. I know, how can you be overweight because you’re not eating enough. Sounds crazy right but it’s happens.
Maybe IIFYM won’t work for me or maybe it will. Who knows?

And so the journey begins.

As I’m typing this I’m on day 2 and still feeling all…..”Huh macros what????”
Do I weight this in grams?
What if My Fitness Pal only shows it measured in cups. 
Do I need to do some converting or look things up before I weigh them to see what the measurements they offer for that item?

Y’all I’m incredibly awful at math. No joke I was in remedial math in high school. The whole converting and calculating serving sizes makes my knees knock but I figured if all these other people can figure it all out I can too. Kent aka the resident math genius sat down with me last night and a little math lesson. It was really helpful and I’m feeling much better about tackling tomorrow. It’s simple math y’all so don’t let me scare you if you’re thinking about giving it a go. Again I’m really crummy at match so what’s hard for me may be a no brainer for you.

I just need to remember give myself a little grace and allow for some growing pains.
No matter what program you choose there’s always that 1st week or so where things are a little tricky…….
You’re trying to learn the dos and don’ts.
You’re trying to see what works best for you. 
You’re trying to make sense of it all.
Yep I’m definitely in the “Tricky Phase” this week BUT I’ve committed to a month so not matter what I’m going to give it my all for a month and see what I think. If it doesn’t work out no sweat if it does then SWEEEEET!

My thoughts so far:
I’m only on day 2 so I’m newer than a newbie but I can already see some great things about this lifestyle.

1. I was not eating enough. Like nowhere close to where I needed to be. I get so caught up with my kids and I’m not always able to sit and eat a meal. When I do eat I’m usually famished and eat way more than I should. IIFYM is holding me accountable and helping me make sure I get in my nutrients and a good combination of nutrients not just a salad here or some fruit there. I’m eating a well balance diet.

2. Since I’m weighing everything out I’m keeping my portions in check. It’s good to see what a healthy portion of fish or chicken looks like.

The hard part……

This has been the most difficult program I’ve ever done but again I’ve set a goal so I’m determined to get my IIFYM sea legs about me. It’s just the weighting thing that I need to get used to but everyone eventually gets it down so I’m sure I will too.

Things that have helped me so far…….

My Fitness Pal (the premium version), a food scale, IIFYM YouTubers & Bloggers (thank goodness for my friend Megan), and a good ole’ Google search are crucial to getting your wings about ya. I’m trying to not hire a IIFYM coach unless I get stuck or until I know this is the eating plan I definitely want to follow. There’s tons of helpful info out there you just have to put some time into doing a little research.

I’ll check in with you guys as I go along and let you know how I’m doing. I know there are several others who are interested in getting started but a little fearful like myself so I’ll post updates as I go along.

Wish me luck!

Instagram: Kendra_Huie
Our You Tube Channel
Periscope: Kendra_Huie

I’ll be back on Friday with some Friday Faves!

A Random Story & My Mama Fall Bucket List

I fell up the stairs this morning.
Yes I said “up the stairs”
It’s kind of a thing for me…..
falling often while doing normal things, like standing.

I had a cup full of fresh hot coffee in one hand….
(you see where I’m going with this right)
and a plate of food for Weston in my other hand. 
I was walking up the starts just like anyone else would do when my toe got stuck in my pant leg
I know how does this even happen?
I’m confused myself.
With my hands full and not willing to let go of my precious coffee I fell.
Full on TIMBERRRRRRRRR mode right UP the stairs.

It was a bad one y’all.

Coffee all over me, my carpet, the walls, down the stair rails, food everywhere.
It took me and my cleaning crew aka Brady to get everything sorted out.

Weston was in our bed watching TV when I fell. After all the commotion he said “Did you hear that?”
Umm yes buddy I did. I sure did!
Kent came running to the stairs.
Looked down at me made sure I was ok then just shook his head.
These things happen.
They just happen an awful lot to me.

I’m okay.
One more bruise added to the bunch.
I’m more sad about my coffee than anything else.

After I got everything cleaned up and kissed Kent goodbye I told him we should probably have a life insurance plan on me.
“You’ll most likely be able to collet on that before I’ll be able to collect on yours.” I said,
We laughed
then got quiet for a second……
One of those actually that’s not a bad idea pauses.

So the moral of the story is…..
If you’re clumsy you pretty much live life on the edge.
You’re a ticking time bomb.
Get some life insurance yo!

And for those of you who love fall and list making (two of my most favorite things) I shared my “Mama Fall Bucket List” on our YouTube channel today. You can find our “Family Fall Bucket List” HERE!