Blog Awards, Backs and Jelly Beans

Oh my goodness!!  I am so excited to receive my very first blog award thanks to Sammy from Happy Family, Healthy Family.  It's called the Liebster Award.

The idea behind this award is to recognise and share blogs with less than 200 followers.  What you have to do is :

• Post the Award on your blog
• Choose 5 other blogs to pass on the award
• Leave each of those (5) blogs a comment
• Then as Sammy says "enjoy and share the love"

I come across so much inspiration, motivation, encouragement and laughs that I think choosing just 5 blogs will be a hard task, but here goes :

• The ME I want 2 B! - This blog is written by Erika and I absolutely love it.  Erika has recipes and so many inspiring ideas that I just can't get enough of her blog.

• Yumma Mumma To Be - Bec has made some fantastic progress with her weight loss which I find extremely inspiring, but another thing I really admire about Bec is that she isn't afraid of sharing her emotions.  Like the rest of us, Bec has ups and downs, but even when she is having a down day, she still manages to make me laugh by suggesting she "bring the dip" to her own "pity party".

• Bec's Adventure - Bec (another Bec) has been having a rough time of it lately, which almost anyone who has ever been on a weight loss adventure can relate to, but the thing about Bec is, that she never, never gives up.  She is a true inspiration with her desire to keep going.  Her desire helps to spur me along as well.  

• Ladybug Beauty ~ My Life after Sugar - Lorne has been doing an awesome job with her new life style.  She has not only given up sugar (something I don't even have the courage to attempt), but she has started a running program and has been doing a fantastic job with it.  

• My New Ending - Leah is a champion!  She has lost over 40 lbs and is looking fantastic.  I love reading her blog and following her journey.  I find her blog full of motivation because (like so many of us) whenever Leah may be having a hard time with her weight loss journey, she always seems to be able to put a positive spin on it.  Somehow, Leah always manages to turn things around and find herself a solution.

I would also like to give the award to Sammy, but she gave it to me.  Her blog is full of recipes that are so, so delicious and I think she is learning that she isn't allowed to post pictures without the recipe.  Sammy does her best to eat as healthily as she can and she teams it up with fitness.  I love her blog and always, always get a laugh out of it.  Thanks so much for my award Sammy! I can't tell you how excited and honoured I am to have received it.

*Back update*

I am a little upset about my back, it has been nearly 3 weeks now and isn't much better.  Twice now I have been on the mend and thinking "great I can get back on the treadmill" (I love and miss my treadmill so much) and then both times I have woken up in pain because of the way I have moved during my sleep and it has put me back to square one.  I have another doctors appointment Tuesday week (he is away this week) and hopefully he can shed some more light on my back.  I am beginning to think that it isn't just muscular????? 

I'm not a doctor or any sort of medical professional, but I do know what muscular pain feels like and I don't really feel it.  I can stand or sit down with little to no pain, but when I move or get up, that's when the pain hits. It just doesn't feel like sore muscle pain - stupid back, stupid hat.

*Jelly Beans*

When the kids have been really good and cleaned up all the mess they have made, picked up their toys, put them away, put any rubbish in the bin, pick up any bits of food off the floor etc, etc I give them a jelly bean as a reward.  The thing is that when I give them A jelly bean, that's right just 1, I eat about 6 of them without even thinking about it.  As part of my Health Blitz I have told myself that I need to be more aware of what and when I am eating (week 8) - no more mindless eating for me.  So today when I gave the kids their jelly bean I made a conscience effort not to have any.  It worked, I didn't have a single jelly bean - yaaaaaay, small victory for me :)