FAT Friday:6/22/12

It has been so hot here this week that I have been running at 5:00 AM. That sounds worse than it is. I am used to early mornings. My daughter got up between 4-5 every morning for a year. We are early morning people. I love working out in the morning. I love to have it done before the rest of the day gets in the way. Unfortunately, it is only during the summer, when Scott isn't working that I have the time. 

I'm linking up with Ginger for her FAT Friday series

You know I like to get to the nitty gritty first.

I am down another pound this week. Honestly, I am lucky to have lost it. I wasn't great this week. I wasn't awful, but I wasn't great. I had a real problem with night time snacking. I always struggle with the desire to have snacks after the kids are finally in bed and I can relax a little. It has nothing to do with hunger and everything to do with wanting to treat myself at the end of a long day. 

In more important news, I am now a three time graduate of the Couch to 5K program. I finished it up a few days ago with a 30 minute run. I am still a little shy of 3 miles so I'll keep working up to 3 miles and then settle in a that distance until I run the    5K in August. Then I'll start working on adding mileage with the Frederick Half Marathon in May as my goal. Hopefully, I'll be carrying around significantly less weight by then. 



Next Week's Suggested Topic:  Summertime=Vacation Time=Overindulging= FUN Possible Derailment!  What summer vacation(s) do you have planned and how to you plan to be proactive in staying (mostly) on the healthy living train?

I was just thinking about my upcoming vacation. In 4 weeks, we will be heading to Virginia Beach where will be staying in a house with my parents and my sister's family. I'm finding that it is a little less stressful to go to the beach fat because I'm not trying to drop as many pounds as possible before hitting the beach in my bathing suit like I would if I were thinner. No, at my weight, a couple of pounds isn't going to be the difference between a bikini and one piece. Let's face it, after 2 kids, one of whom was almost 11 pounds, my stomach is never going to see the light of day again. So I'll just put on my lovely Land's End swimsuit and enjoy playing on the beach with my kids.

But that's not what the question was. It is going to be hard to stay on track. My mom is a wonderful cook but doesn't have low cal repetoire. She is old school Southern. With my sister there, hopefully we can help steer the meals toward the leaner side. Grilling is going to be the way to go, I think. I don't really have a plan yet but I'm working on it. I may have to volunteer to do the grocery shopping (ugh, I HATE grocery shopping) in order to have the right kind of foods on hand. 

I will definitely be going on a few runs while I am there. With so many babysitters on hand, I have no excuses not to work out. My sister is a runner too, so I'm hoping we can go on some bonding runs together. She lives in California so we don't see each other very much. 

Whether, I stay on course or fall off miserably, it is going to be a great, relaxing vacation and I can't wait.

See you next week. 

Potty Training Success

Last fall, my then 21 month old daughter sat on the potty and peed. A few days later she did it again. And again a few days later. I was getting smug. My little prodigy was going to be using the potty by the time she was 2. What a wonderful mother I am.

And then she didn't pee on it anymore. Oh, she sat on the potty. Played on the potty. Sang songs on the potty. But she didn't pee in it.

Until now!! 8 months later!!!

Last Wednesday, as part of his "exhaust the children" summer program, he took them to the library for Wiggle, Giggle Story time and to pick out a few books. He brought this book home

It's the story of Ashley, a little girl learning to use the potty. I don't think there is anything more special about this book than a lot of other potty books but for some reason it spoke to Caroline. She wanted to read it over and over. That is the case with a lot of books though.

On Thursday morning we were reading it and Caroline announced, "I have to pee pee on the potty" and then she did.

Conquered!

On Friday morning, I got a call from my husband informing me that she had independently taken herself to the potty and used it. She walked out, announced what she had done and demanded 3 gummies (the reward for potty pees. yes, we bribe). And that was that. She has peed and pooped on the potty during waking hours every since.

Oh she still wears diapers at naps and at night, though she does wake up dry sometimes. And she wants nothing to do with the big toilet. But I know that we are at the place where there will be no going back. There may be accidents. There may be resistance sometime. But we're done with full time diapers on this girl.

I wish I could pat myself on the back for my great PTing skills or that I could tell you there was a trick but really, we just kinda dumbed into it. When they're ready they're ready and all that.

Lest I get too happy about it, this morning Landry peed all over the bed, the changing table and my husband as a reminder that I still have many days ahead of me dealing with the excrement of small humans.

That's just my baby daddy

This guy:

He was apprehensive about entering fatherhood again when we got married. He was terrified when he found out we were having a daughter. But he fell so in love that he couldn't wait to have another.

He is the primary in project potty training of that same daughter.

He is known as the baby whisperer.

When I thought I couldn't make it through those painful, frustrating early breastfeeding days, he is the one that encouraged me and kept me going. One more feeding. Just till Sunday. Even though, he loves the chance to get to feed a baby. 

He thought I had lost my frickin' mind when I brought cloth diapers into the equation. Today he has his own diaper washing system, is sunning all the diapers and can fasten a mean angel wing fold.

He supports me in every crazy thing I come up with and goes with the flow. He is the master of living in the moment. He plays with the kids without worrying about what needs to be done. OK, I do wish he would occasionally worry about what needs to be done (laundry!!!) but I wish I could be more like him.

He's not afraid to get silly. He's right there on the playground with them. He plays princess when he needs to.

He is a babywearing MoFo.


He's come a long way and I am so glad to have him by my side as we raise these remarkable, wonderful, exasperating children. I am so glad he is the father of my children. They are lucky kids indeed.

Happy Father's Day!

FAT Friday: Patience is a virtue

This mornings weigh-in showed a 0.4 lb loss. :sigh: Thank god I am not looking for a quick fix, because I would have jumped off the train by now. A loss is a loss but it was still a little disappointing (not enough to ruin my Friday or anything though).  Since I started making a real effort 6 weeks ago, I am down 5.4 pounds. That is less than a pound a week. It is all about the big picture though. At this rate, 6 months from now I can be 30 pounds less than I started.

And really what are my other options other than to have patience.

• I could give up. Guaranteeing no weight loss but probably weight gain. No health benefits. Model bad eating behavior to my children.....Not an option.
• I could drastically cut calories. Sabotage my milk supply so that I couldn't feed Landry, not only denying my child the best food source available for him but also cost my family money by having to buy formula. Also, try to fool myself that hunger is a "sustainable lifestyle"...Not an option.

So I just keep plugging away. I am eating in a calorie range that is comfortable to me. It's not too restrictive and as long as I don't eat junk, I am never hungry (well not for long anyway). I'm keeping my goals in the forefront of my mind and for once they are not (entirely or even primarily) appearance related.

I want to live to 100. For reals. I didn't have my children until my late 30's, if I want to see them become adults and have time with my grandkids, I'm gonna need to stick around a while. I'm finally old enough that I do have to think about the health consequences of being overweight. My mother's family is obese and they have high blood pressure and Type II diabetes. I don't want that crap. I want to be an active parent and a spry senior citizen.

healthawarenessfoundation.org

 Yeah, it's like that.

Speaking of slow and steady. I am on the last week of the C25K program. Two runs to go. I should finish it up on Sunday. I am excited, primarily because that means I can use a different program for measuring my runs. The C25K app measures the warm up and cool down walking and I don't like having that in my time and pace measurements. Also, I am dying to try out Zombies, Run.

I'm planning to run a 5K in August and then set my sites on longer runs. I have my sites set on the Frederick Half-marathon in May. I used to run it every year but due to pregnancies and births, I haven't run since 2008. 

Till next week then, when I will be a 3 time graduate of the Couch to 5K.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Vacation

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!

That, my friends, is the sound of summer vacation starting. Not for me. I still have to get up every morning and drive nearly 40 miles to work. But for my husband, a teacher, it is the start of 8 weeks off.

I used to be jealous. Before we had kids, he would just hang out all summer- going to the pool, lazing around the house, occasionally, but not nearly often enough, doing something useful.

But now in the summers, he is a stay at home dad. Not an easy job to be sure, but one I would trade him for any day of the week.

Since the first summer after our daughter was born, I have come to realize just how wonderful it is for one part of a married couple not to work. Now, instead of rushing every morning to get lunches and diapers packed and kids up, dressed and fed before trying to get everyone out the door on time, I just had to get myself ready. I just had to pack my lunch. When I left the house this morning everyone was still in their pajamas and it wasn't my problem. It wasn't a problem at all.

For the next 8 weeks, all errands are to be done by my husband. Midweek trips to the grocery store, cooking dinner, trips to the library, all his job. All I have to do in the evenings is take the kids off his hands. OK!!!! I don't have to get bottles ready for the next day, he can fill them as he goes during the day. I don't have to make sure diapers go through the whole diaper routine, if they aren't clean and dry by morning no biggie, he can finish them during the day. Cooking dinner- for some reason, I still have to plan all the meals but he will cook them!

You have no idea how much time all of this frees up. To be able to come home and just focus on playing with my kids rather than worrying about getting everything in motion to be ready for the next day. To get up in the morning with only myself to worry about. To have all the errands taken care of so that weekends can be about relaxation and fun!!!!!! It makes all of our lives better.

Unfortunately, we are not in a position for one of us to stay home full time, all the time (I'm looking for the right work at home opportunity but it has to make us at least break even). This is why I am in the market for a sister-wife. An independently wealthy, OCD cleaning, asexual, unattractive sister-wife.

The kid

I don't know how it happened. It was so subtle, but a change has occured. Somehow she has gone from this:

to this:

She's not a baby. She's a little girl who walks and talks and can tell stories. She remembers things that happened months ago, she has ideas and an imagination ("I'm a ballerina and you are princess" is our favorite game).

And as of yesterday:

She no longer sleeps in a crib.

Bittersweet.

FAT Friday:6/8/12

I'm linking up with Ginger over at (not)Just Another Mom of Twins for her F.A.T Friday series.

This week I am down 2.2 pounds!!! Almost as much as I lost the entire month of May. I'm not sure what the difference is. I have eaten slightly better and my runs are becoming more significant and therefore burning more calories.  Also, I just think maybe (hopefully) my body is getting on board. 

Also exciting this week, I seem to have picked up some speed during my runs. I was averaging around 11.5 minutes/mile during the running portions and now seem to be at about 10.5. The first day it happened, I thought it was probably a GPS fluke (they are not perfect) but it happened again the next day. I have never been a fast runner, even when I was in great shape I averaged about a 10 minute mile. Respectable but I'm never gonna place in a race. My fastest race ever was an 8K in 45 minutes. I nearly died when I saw that time. I still am not certain they measured right. Anyway, yay for increased speed! 

This week Ginger asked:   What “triggered” you to take control of your weight and start on the road to healthy living? If you're already "there" what keeps you "there"? 

Right  now is a continuation of where I left off last year. In February 2011, I was fat and had been for over a year. I gained a lot of weight when I was pregnant with my daughter and just couldn't seem to get myself together enough that first year of motherhood to do anything about it. At tried and failed several times but always found myself reaching the M&Ms to deal with the stress of being a working mom. At the end of 2011, I got pregnant again and though elated, I was unhappy to be going into pregnancy 30 pounds heavier than I started my last pregnancy.  Unfortunately, I miscarried that baby. It was tragic but we were determined to try again.  I decided to make the best of a bad situation and use the time until I (hopefully) got pregnant again and get in the best shape I could. I didn't know if I would have a month, a year, or a lifetime. 


So in February 2011, I started counting calories and by the end of May I had lost 23 pounds. Then on Memorial Day of that year, I found out I was pregnant again. I hoped that I could limit my weight gain to 20 pounds but I gained twice that. After having the baby and dropping all the water weight, I settled in at about 20 pounds more than I had started the pregnancy. It was disappointing to see all that weight back but I was thankful that I had lost it in the first place or I would have been looking at 50 lbs of gain in 2 pregnancies.  Anyway, after allowing a couple of months for my body to heal (c-section) and my milk production to stabilize, I was able to pick up where I left off. It honestly surprises me that I was able to get back on the wagon so easily. Especially, since my stresses are double. I don't really know what it different about right now than times in the past,  but I am ready to finish what I started a year ago. 


I'm excited for a new week!

Project Kick A$$ June

So May was something of a disappointment in the weight loss department. I think it may have been a bit ambitious for a stress eater to expect big results during the month I returned to work. But one big thing changes in June. My husband, a teacher, begins his summer vacation!!! And the kids are staying home with him.That means no more mornings of trying to get lunches made, bottles prepped, kids fed and dressed and out the door. No more evenings of rushing to wash bottles and diapers and wondering if my daycare provider will judge me if my toddler skips a bath tonight. No, starting next week, I get 8 weeks of only having to get myself out the door in the morning.

That eliminates a lot stress and frees up a lot of time. So, I plan to give June my all towards fitness and weight loss.

Running:
-Finish C25K and up to 3.1 miles. When I get to the last week of the C25K program and am running 30 minutes, at my current pace that will not be 3 miles. I'm pretty slow right now, averaging about an 11.5 minute mile. I'll get faster when the weight comes off but for right now, it is what it is. So I'll keep working to do 3 miles runs.
-Run 45 miles in June.

Eating:
-Eat at or under calorie goal 85% of days.
-Track food 90% of days.
Perfection isn't going to happen.

Push-ups
3x15 every other day in June starting June 4 (I just decided on this today)

Also, I took an official before picture. Sidenote: I love these pajamas. They are Majamas and are nursing pajamas. They are so comfy I truly never, ever want to take them off.

Wordless Wednesday

Note to self:

1. Do not pack you gym bag before you have had coffee in the morning.

2. Try folding and putting away clothes so that you aren't scrambling to find two matching socks from a basket full of clothes.

Otherwise you end up canceling you lunchtime run because these are the socks you brought.

I have reached a new fashion low. These are my new everyday work shoes. They are Crocs.

The fashion train stops here.

FAT Friday: Goals

I'm linking up with Ginger over at (not)Just Another Mom of Twins for her F.A.T Friday series. 

 First things first.  1.6 gain on the scale this week. I didn't really expect to lose. We were out of town for the weekend. I didn't practice great self control  and I didn't really do great for the rest of the week. But I didn't lose control so I am surprised to have gained.

Additionally, for reasons I haven't figured out, my milk supply has dropped drastically this week. I went from  pumping well over 20 oz in 3 pumps during the day to struggling to get 15 oz and a baby who is getting frustrated at the breast. That basically happened overnight. It is distressing for a number of reasons, including the fact that I'm not benefitting from as many milk making calories.  I'm trying to fix it though and counting calories may have to go on hold until that situation is resolved.

So. May.

                       May 1                                                     June 1

Weight          229                                                         226.2
Waist            38.25                                                      37.75
Most recent run: 1.74 miles in 30 minutes                 2.69 miles in 35 minutes


I am pretty disappointed underwhelmed with my results from the month. I'll admit I have half-assed it, but still at my weight, with breastfeeding and it being the beginning of focused efforts, I thought I would drop more pretty easily. Like I have in the past. In the past though, I guess I have been able to get a lot more exercise in.  How sad is it that I have re-started enough times to know how it should go.

Oh well, June is a new month and I am going to try to really tighten up my eating.

But I did make big strides in running. I'm on week 7 of the C25K program and currently running 25 straight minutes. My fitness is improving even if my weight isn't plummeting.


F.A.T. Friday topic for this week:
Do you set short term and/or long term goals? Are they visual?  Do you "allow" yourself a reward for reaching a goal?  Have you reached a goal recently?  Please share!

Ahh, the answer to this question can be best answered by viewing one of my beloved spread sheets. Spreadsheets are my not so secret lover. 

 So yes, I do set short and long term goals. If you don't have a goal, how do you know what you are working toward? And I do reward myself, though I don't set my reward too far in advance because what I want can change drastically over the course of a few months. As you can see i have my goals broken down into stages. The first stage is to lose the weight, I gained with my second pregnancy, stage to is to lose the remaining weight from my first pregnancy and so on. 

What I don't do is put time limits on my goals. I'll never put a goal of "losing 15 pounds by June 21". Adding a deadline to weight loss goals only adds another way to fail. A way to fail  even if you have succeeded.  If I only lose 13 pounds by June 21, I could easily get down on myself for not meeting my goal even though I should be celebrating losing 13 pounds.  So goals? Yes! Deadlines? No! 

On to June and hoping I can get it together this month.