Heather

I wish I had fantastic results to report…but I don’t. In fact, I gained.

Crud.

I am up to 195.6. I am not sure why I gained. granted, I didn’t have a great week, but I thought I’d at least maintain.

I’m disappointed, but I refuse to let this ruin my day. I just need to regroup.

I’m pretty sure this will send me off to Exile Island, and I’m okay with that. I’m gearing up to kick some tail over there…

But for now, GO TRIBE ORANGE CRUSH!

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Okay, this will have to be quick…

This week was okay. Not great, because I’ve been dealing with a cold, but okay.

I managed to get a little exercise in, but mainly I curbed the snacking, stopped having a nightly cocktail and drank more water.

As of this morning, I’m down to 193.8.

Squee! Now, the trick is keeping up momentum…and working out more.

Hope everyone else had a great week!

Go Tribe Orange Crush!!

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I stepped on the scale this morning and felt like I was having an out of body experience. The number staring back at me was kind of unreal.

And not unreal in a good way.

The result of late night snacking, cookies, ice cream and total denial? I have gained almost 8 pounds since I last weighed myself in (gulp) July. What was I thinking?

Stress, no time to exercise and me stupidly thinking that I’d at least stay put because I’m breastfeeding…oops.

Today, the scale smacked me upside the head. 197.8.

Ugh.

This challenge is necessary for me right now…accountability is something I desperately need. Since at this point I can’t seem to stay accountable for myself, I can do it for my team.

Game plan? Tracking food, exercising as much as possible and water.

Back to basics, y’all.

So with that, I’m off to fill up my water bottle.

Good luck to everyone and

GO TEAM ORANGE!!

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Yes, I missed a few weeks. Colicky babies don’t understand why mamas need tout them down and type on the computer…

But I have been weighing myself, getting a few walks in, and doing better at eating consciously. Many meals are still inhaled over the head of a sleeping babe, nestled in the front carrier. But at least they are healthier meals. Baby steps.

So, in the last few weeks, I have shed some weight. I’m down to 190.2, which I do believe is close to 4 pounds since this challenge began.

The next milestone is to get into the 180′s. Yay! I’d like to start the C25K program once I kick this nasty cold I’m incubating. Yuck.

I also need to concentrate on this weeks mini challenge…getting more sleep. Hahahaha. But I will TRY, at least. Baby might surprise me.

Here’s to a healthy and active week!

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Not that I wasn’t expecting it, but this week was challenging. I’m still working on fussy baby issues, which led me to drop dairy. The first week earnestly trying to lose weight and I’m thrown for a nutritional loop. The good news is I *think* going dairy-less is helping baby’s tummy. The bad news is that there is dairy in EVERYTHING. It’s forcing me to read labels very carefully – a good thing in reality, but a pain in the ass when I”m in the grocery store with a busy preschooler and a baby that may wake at any moment.

For instance, did you know that most store bought bread has dairy? And a lot of non-dairy creamers contain dairy? Dairy is hidden in a lot of foods under pseudonyms like whey protein, casien and hydrolysates.

Dairy is a cunning little bugger.

I find that I’m resorting to meat, rice, beans,  rice milk fruit and veggies. If I stopped there I’d be fine. But both pretzels and jelly beans are dairy free as well. Oops.

I did manage to find a non-dairy creamer that is totally dairy free. Cause I need coffee. Taking coffee away from anyone is mean…taking coffee away the mother of a newborn is all sorts of evil. (P.S. Light coconut milk is awesome in coffee too).

As far as excercise goes, I got two good walks in this week, pushing a stroller with about fifty pounds of child. And I did lots of pacing and rocking. I’d like to get some strength training in, but I’m guessing my 12 pound baby will help tone my arms for now.

So, this week, I am 192, down two pounds. I was actually hoping for more, but if I can consistently drop two a week, I’ll be really happy.

Hope everyone else had a great week!!

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It has been SO LONG since I’ve posted here. Yowza.

Today the Sisterhood’s newest challenge starts, and my newest challenge starts as well…embarking on losing quite a lot of weight and reclaiming my body post pregnancy and with two kids in tow. I’ve done it before, but I only had one munchkin to wrangle. Two? This could get interesting.

As of today, I am still not cleared to do high impact exercise. Read: I can basically walk and do some gentle toning exercises on my arms and legs. No core. No running.

So, I’ll be walking during the first part of this challenge. And I think I can also count the two hours plus of swaying and pacing I do with the babe each night. Last night, I actually put her in the Moby Wrap and did plies, squats and lunges for a good half hour. Multitasking, people. That’s how I roll.

My goal during this challenge, weight wise,  is to lose ten pounds. Behavior wise, I plan to get my eating under control. No more late night snacking (I started up this habit during pregnancy…I was SO hungry!). Portion control. No fast food. And lots of water.

As far as working out, I’d like to try for four times per week. It doesn’t sounds like a lot, but compared to what I’ve been doing, well, it’s a ton. Plus, finding time with two kiddos and a husband that is at work for ten hours per day could be challenging.

Basically, this challenge, for me, will be about striking balance and learning how to make time.

My starting weight for this challenge is 194.

Whew. Here we go!

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As much as I bitch and moan about pregnancy, I am also aware of the fact that I am very lucky in that I have healthy and (knock wood) uneventful pregnancies.

I was especially affected by a tweet I saw recently. I don’t have it word for word, but the basic jist of it was, as uncomfortable as later pregnancy can be, it is much easier to care for a baby in utero than one born premature.

That? Was pretty much a shut up sandwich. I needed to read that, ruminate on it. Realize that carrying a child is NOT about me. So no matter how badly I want to exercise normally or look a certain way, the big picture is that I’m doing a job right now.

Does this mean I’ll never complain again? No.

But I’m working on perspective.

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Gah.

It has been absolutely ages since I’ve posted here. Neglected much? Oy. Well, that’s how my entire life has been…my personal blog, my pigsty of a house, my…ahem…exercise routine.

You probably know I’m pregnant. Or maybe not. Hell, I haven’t exactly been around much. But yeah, I’m knocked up. I’m about four months along.

I had this whole plan about how THIS pregnancy would be different than my first. I was going to be running throughout. Lifting weights. Eating perfectly. Not gaining 70 pounds.

HA. Ha ha ha haha hahahaha. HA.

I was right on one count. This pregnancy HAS been different. As in, OHMYLORD. THIS is what morning sickness is like. More like all day sickness. When I was pregnant with my son, I didn’t barf. Not one time (till labor). This pregnancy? Thank goodness for anti-nausea meds, seriously.

Anyhow, I don’t want to make this post all about how miserable I’ve been. I want to talk about the game plan for the REST of the pregnancy.

I don’t know if I’m kidding myself in thinking I can try to throw myself back into an exercise routine. Tiptoe, maybe?

(And can we just stop for a second and acknowledge the fact that I went from being able to throw on my running shoes and pound out a 5K, no problem, to barely being able to run/walk a mile? Sob.)

My endurance? It’s kind of gone. I carry my chillun’s high, and therefore, my lung capacity is that of a…um…well something that has ZERO lung capacity.

Okay, pregnant mind is wandering. Game plan. Yes. Here we go:

• I started using Tracey Mallet’s Fit for Pregnancy DVD. I love it. She has an adorable accent and it makes me want to kill her less for having the most perfect body ever. The workout is a good whole body workout – muscle work, stretching and some gentle cardio.
• I also have a pregnancy yoga dvd. I have yet to use it, but it is in my possession. I have high hopes.
• Walking. I’m hitting the treadmill. I would love to run, I yearn to run, but it makes me all kinds of dizzy. So, walking it is.

Nutrition…well…can we just not talk about it? It’s ugly. I have never been so hungry in my entire life. I crave protein like it’s going out of style. Vegetables just started tasting good again this week. I fell asleep reading a Paula Deen cookbook last night.

I will give myself kudos for not going nuts over McDonald’s sausage biscuits like I did last pregnancy. It was ugly. And uh, gross?

Okay, so that’s me for now. I’m not dead, just cooking up a baby!

This is from THREE WEEKS AGO (13 weeks). You’d think I was 5 months along!  Yikes.

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Last week, after being stuck at the same weight FOREVER, I decided to try a cleanse. I chose the Clean Program, and I modified it, hoping it would be something I could stick to…but I still had my doubts.  I had a liquid breakfast and then lunch and dinner followed the Elimination Diet, which is basically designed to exclude most foods that are known to cause allergic reactions or hamper digestion: gluten, dairy, coffee(still had a cup a day, I’m not THAT crazy), refined sugar, alcohol…and lots of other stuff everything that tastes good. At first I was super frustrated, because it was so limited. But after a day or two, it was strangely comforting. Very little guesswork. I ate a lot of black beans, chickpeas, lean chicken, cold water fish, quinoa and brown rice. AND A TON OF VEGETABLES.  And more watermelon than is probably normal.

I have to admit, there were a few times where I literally had bites of pasta centimeters from my mouth, but this time, I was actually able to set it down and walk away. I don’t know why. I’m not good with the whole ‘willpower’ thing.

Exercise this week stayed on track. I was worried my energy level wouldn’t be as high, but it was fine. The only time I felt tired was during one of my runs, and I think it was because I waited too long after breakfast.

The best part about this week is that I learned something about a different way of eating. I’ve heard a lot buzz around gluten free diets, but had never given it a second thought. It was…interesting. There are actually a lot of gluten free products out there, and I had the chance to try quite a few. Gluten free crackers? Good. Gluten free bread…ummm. The one I tried was NASTY. I did buy some rice flour and may attempt to make my own bread with it. For fun.

Will I keep this up? Probably not. I don’t think plans that entirely exclude certain types of food are necessarily good in the long term. Especially if you’re not allergic or sensitive to those foods.

I do love that I  feel refreshed and energetic, and it was totally the kick in the butt I needed.  I will definitely look to the Clean shakes to help me get back on track if I start straying. I will admit that I’m a little worried I’ll just automatically gain if I go back to eating the way I was…so I’m going to ease gluten and dairy back into my diet, but maybe just not is as great a quantity as before.

So, down to details. I LOST 4.6 pounds this week. Which, I do believe, brings me to my goal of losing 5 pounds for this challenge!

And, I did manage to stick with the shred, and my body DOES feel better. Much more toned. Not all the way, but I’m getting there.

You know, now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve hit my challenge goal since Lose for Good last fall.

Challenge Start Weight: 174

Last Week’s Weight: 173

Today’s Weight: 168.4 (hello, 160′s, I’ve missed you!!)

Total Loss: 5.6 pounds!

I hope everyone else had a great week and I’m so looking forward to the next challenge!

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I’ve been in a holding pattern for two weeks now. No gain, no loss. Stuck at 173.

Am I frustrated? Yeah. Totally.

But I am still motivated, and have decided to try something new this week. I’m doing a mini-cleanse following the Clean Program – liquid breakfast, then both lunch and dinner follow the elimination diet. This includes lots of fresh fruit and veggies, lean protein and no gluten or dairy. I’m not supposed to have caffeine either, but come on. That would make me homicidal. But I’ll cut down, I promise.

This is definitely not something I will do forever, but I have been wanting to do a cleanse for a while, and this seems less hardcore than others I’ve looked at. Plus, it is all natural, and that makes me feel better.

I’m hoping for a good result. Check back, I may whine blog about it here during the upcoming week.

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