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Friday, May 25, 2012

Fat Friday: 5/25/12

I was all set to post today about how frustrated I was that I am doing the right things but losing no weight. Because yesterday, the scale showed a big 0 for weight loss this week. I was going to talk about how I kept myself going by thinking about the reasons for eating healthy besides weight.

But this morning the scale was kinder and had me at a total of 1.6 pounds down since last Friday. That's a total of 4.4 for the month of May so far. I might have a chance of reaching my unspoken goal hope of 5 pounds this month.

Honestly, I thought I would lose more. I thought with nursing, toddler chasing, baby hauling and C25King, I could lose more but I am averaging 1-1.5 pounds a week and I have to be happy satisfied with that. And to be perfectly honest, I really wasn't doing everything right this week. I had a couple of days that were well over my calorie goal. I had movie theater popcorn. I had a cupcake. I'm not beating myself up over though the way I would have in the past. I understand my limitations. I'm trying to live a life while dropping pounds. I'm just trying to be the best me I can be on any given day. And some days the best me needs cupcakes....and wine.

Every time I eat now, I ask myself, "Do you want Caroline to see you eating like this?" If the answer is no, I TRY to curtail myself. Sometimes the answer is yes even when it isn't the healthiest choice. Yes, I want her to see me having a treat of a cupcake on our special mommy-daughter shopping day.  It was a special occasion.

I really worry about passing my eating issues onto her. Landry too, but her more so because she is a girl and girls just struggle with this stuff more.  I'm trying to be very conscious of my actions. The other day she was crying because she had hurt herself and as I was comforting her I managed to stop myself from offering food as a means of comfort. It was my first instinct. Food makes you feel better. But I stopped. I offered her more hugs and asked if she wanted to work a puzzle together. That worked. At 2 years old, time with mommy is better than food. I wish it could stay that way forever.

I'm still rolling through the C25K program. I'll be doing W6D2 today during lunch. I am not really getting in much exercise other than that. I would like to but I just can't find the time. I guess if I really wanted to, I would find the time. I'll get there.

This weekend, will be a challenge. We are headed to my brother-in-law's house for the weekend and there is always a feast and good times. I'll try for moderation. That's the best me I can be in that situation.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I live for weekends

There was a time in my life when weekends were relaxing and unhurried. I woke when I wanted and left the house (or didn't leave the house) as I pleased. Getting out of the house was as simple as picking up my purse and walking out the door.

Those days ended the minute my daughter was born. Now sleeping in on the weekends means 6:00 AM and getting out of the house requires military style planning. And relaxing? Ha. ha, ha.

But, I still live for the weekends. It's when I get to spend time with my favorite people without worrying about whether the diapers or bottles are clean, if I have food for Caroline's lunch or if my commute is going to be straight out of hell that day.

So HOORAY for weekends! Highlights from this weekend.

Dinner with friends. The WHOLE family. Four adults, a twelve year old, two 2 y/o's and two infants. They loved seeing us coming.

Bathing Suit Shopping.  For months Caroline has been telling me that she wants a bathing suit with a matching hat and I just couldn't resist giving in to her desire. So Saturday we took a special Mommy and daughter shopping trip to buy a bathing suit. She wore the hat for most of the day. We finished up the outing by going downtown to try out the new cupcakery. Caroline was very excited to order her cupcake "with sprinkles" and hold and talk about her cupcake. But under no circumstances would she dare eat such a thing.

Girls' Night. I'm a girls' girl so spending time with my girlfriends is heaven for me. While my wonderful hubby took care of our babies, my friends and I went to see What to Expect When You're Expecting. It was better that I was expecting (ha ha). Really quite funny. And I loved getting catch up and laugh with my girls. And there was popcorn.

This weekend will be even better. 1) It is a long weekend! 2) We're heading my in-laws house in historic Chestertown, Maryland for the Chestertown Tea Party. We go every year and always have a wonderful time. I can't wait. It will be Landry's first time away from home.

Monday, May 21, 2012

My diaper spraying trick

This trick will demonstrated on a clean diaper because, ya know, eww.

Spraying poop off diapers is hardly the highlight of my day. It is a labor of love, I guess. I love my cloth diapers so I do what I have to do. But touching poopy diapers and manipulating them so that every part is accessible is frankly just gross. Sometimes I can't believe I do it. A while back I came up with a way to make it a bit easier and I want to share.

How many of these do you have?



Can you see where I am going with this?



That's it! It is awesome because it hold diaper open and flat so that the whole interior is accessible with the sprayer. And if you need soak the diaper, just hook it onto the seat and soak aways. This would also work if you are a dunk and swisher.

You are welcome. ;-)

Friday, May 18, 2012

Fat Friday: Closer than I was yesterday

I am down 3ish pounds since May 1. 

Things are going well. Two and a half weeks of eating well are paying off. Slowly but surely. I'll admit that I hoped to see a big loss the first week or two but it has been more moderate. That's OK. As much as I would love the great motivation that comes from a big loss, it is more important that I am doing the right things. And I am for the most part. I give in here and there but have basically kept the calories under control. I'll be happy though when I lose enough that a day of water retention can't make the scale fluctuate back up to my starting weight.

This weekend will be a challenge, dinner out tonight, a birthday party and dinner/movie with girlfriends on Sunday. I go to the movies so rarely that I will be indulging in some popcorn. It's not an everyday thing. It's barely a once a year thing. Hopefully, I'll be able to pass on the birthday cake (Birthday parties are constant when you have kids.There will always be more cake.)

I'm doing better at exercising than I could have imagined given the lack of free time I have these days.  I have found the time to go during lunch and I am on Week 5 Day 3 of the C25K and I've gotten some walks in. I tried to do yoga in my office today but it is about one foot too small for me to manage it. So I went for a walk instead.

One thing that has helped me this week:
-Planning my food in advance. I log everything in my lunch box plus my planned dinner into MFP in the morning. That let's me know how much wiggle room I have. Planning out my meals when I am not starving is key.

One thing that has hurt me this week:
-Co-workers bringing in delicious Krispy Kremes. I only had one but it's not something I would have sought out to eat had it not been right in front of me for an hour during a meeting. Worse, it put sugar into my system, which led to me wanting more sugar.

Here's hoping for more loss over the next week before the challenge of going out of town for Memorial Day weekend. 


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

10 Things To Love About Landry

With a second child, life is so much busier. I don't have the time to sit and around contemplate every little wonderful thing that he does. It makes me sad. I want the time to focus on every little miraculous thing he does. Because it really is all miraculous. The whole creation of life and then that life growing into a person is one huge miracle.

Now that I am back at work, I am missing my little guy so much. I miss Caroline too, but we have two years of this dance behind us. I know she is happy at daycare. But being away from Landry is new. I miss being close to him all day. But it does make me focus on the little wonderful things about him that I am missing desperately right now.

1. He loves to laugh. This is absolutely number 1. He laughs so easily. It takes nothing more than a smile in his direction for his belly laughs to get going. This bodes well for his temperament as a child I think.  Is there anything more wonderful than baby laughter? I think not. I defy anyone not to smile when they are in the presence of my boy's giggles.

2. He is content. I won't say he never cries. He most certainly does when he is not happy (which is every time he is in the car seat). But he doesn't cry easily and he doesn't cry often. We have, so far, once again been blessed with an easy baby.

3. His chub. I can kiss his chunky thighs forever. Smooch his little Buddah belly.

4. Snuggles. Baby snuggles. Need I say more?

5. He's tough. His sister is not always gentle with her love of her brother. He endures without complaint.

6. He sleeps. He generally wakes only once a night. When he does wake he nurses quickly and falls right back to sleep. This is a good, good thing.

7. He loves his mama. He loves his daddy too, but he has a special smile reserved just for me and it melts my hear every time.

8. He's special. He has been from Day1. He wasn't just another baby in the nursery at the hospital. He was the talk of the maternity ward because of his size. He has continued to be extra special every since that day.

9. His warmth. I don't mean his personality, which will no doubt be warm as well. I mean the physical feeling of his warmth against me when I wear him in the ERGO. If the studies about hip problems aren't enough to convince people not to use front facing carriers, the feeling of snuggly baby warmth against you in a tummy-to-tummy carrier should be.

10. He completes our family. He has found a place in our family seemlessly. Because it is where he belongs and it is hard to remember that he hasn't always been there. I found myself trying to remember what we did with Landry last year on Halloween, it was a few minutes before I realized that he hadn't even been born then. It is as though he has always been a part of our family.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Mother's Day

                        My lovely husband presented me with the camera bag that I have been lusting over for months. He is now the proud owner of an Etsy account!  -Janine King Designs


I went for a run- alone!

Hubs cooked a nutritious and delicious dinner. Crab stuffed sweet and spicy peppers and asparagus. Mmmmmmmm
My kids are too young to understand the concept of Mommy getting a relaxing day, so I spent most of the day doing the normal mommy stuff. And that was just fine.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Fat Friday: Getting into the groove

I am now  just over 1 week into being back on track. That's not a long time but it is something. Sometimes just getting through those first few days is a huge hurdle.

I hope I have found a calorie range that will let me lose weight and maintain a good milk supply for nursing my little guy. You would think it would be easy to lose weight when nursing such a big baby but it is so easy (for me, especially) to overeat when I am not tracking. I weigh everyday and honestly nothing is happening yet. I am sticking with it though. I don't feel like I can eat less and still maintain my milk. Unfortunately for my weight loss goals, nursing Landry is priority one. I am determined to get back in shape though. I do not want to be a fat mom.

Going back to work this week has been good dietarily speaking. I have not reached for chocolate when I was missing my baby (and oh, I have missed my baby). I really didn't know how things would go but I even managed to get in a day of C25K training in during lunch on Wednesday. I am going to try to get another run during lunch today.

I've joined The Last Mommy Standing challenge on the Mommy to Wowwy team on SparkPeople (YARAC211) and it is proving to be a good motivator. We weigh in every week and as long as you lose or maintain you are still in the game. I am determined not to go out early. Healthy competition is good for me, even if I am the only one paying attention to it.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Post-partum faves

Ahhh, the post-partum period. Is there ever a time when you feel more beautiful? Not only do you have liquids leaking out of multiple parts of your body, you also tend to be covered in the body fluids of another, smaller, human being. If that weren't enough your body has the consistency of the StayPuff Marshmallow Man and you get suffer from sleep deprivation. Oh, and you may be in some pain.

These are a few of the things that I have found that made this postpartum time a little less gross than my first time around. 

Kickernappies Nursing Pads- I have tried both cloth and disposable cloth nursing pads and these are my absolute favorite. For starters, they are large so they cover a big area. This is a huge bonus in the middle of the night, in the dark, in a state of delirium when you are trying to get yourself together to go back to sleep. Smaller nursing pads that require more precise placement can be disasterous.

Second, they are stay dry. You do not want to deal with a cold, wet nursing pad. Trust me.

Finally, they absorb like a MoFo. This is a good thing, because you leak a lot. Which brings me to..

Milkies Milk Catchers- Oh how I wish I had had this thing the first time around. In those early days, when you nurse the baby on one side, the other spews like a open fire hydrant. This thing tucks inside your nursing bra and collects all that leakage to be used at a later date in a bottle. I have collected up to 2.5 ounces at a time in it. Any pumping mama knows that every ounce of milk is as precious as gold.

Mother Tucker Nursing Tank- At $80, this is an investment. But let me tell you when you are flabby and leaky and feeling very unpretty, having something that contains the flab is worth every dollar. This one works great and I love the pull over cups.It has an amazing ability to stretch and go over my hips while still being tight enough to suck in my tummy. Fabulous.


Woombie-This is not technically a post-partum item but as it helps your newborn sleep, I consider a post-partum essential. The Woombie is not like the standard swaddlers that bind the baby's arms to his side. Instead it is a stretchy "sleeve that you zip your baby into. He can still move his arms around but it is snug enough to keep the arms from flailing when the startle reflex hits.

Does he look hilarious in it? Yes! Does it work? Also, yes!


iPhone- For all those hours you spend nursing. One handed entertainment.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Back to the grind

Monday morning when my husband's alarm clock went off, instead of rolling over and trying to go back to sleep like I have for the last 12 weeks, I had to haul myself out of bed, put on my big girl clothes and try to make myself look presentable.

Yep, maternity leave is over, my friends. :insert sad face here:

For 12 glorious weeks, I didn't have to worry about commuting, or meetings, or deadlines. But happy, fun time has come to an end and my life is busy hectic batshit crazy.

Mornings now consists of getting myself and two kids dressed, lunches/bottles made, toddler fed and baby nursed, clean diapers packed, several baby diaper changes during the process, spit up cleaned, and let's not forget mama's coffee.

Then I get to spend 45 minutes of me time in my car. I seriously don't mind my morning commute. It's when I enjoy my coffee while it is actually hot and listen to audiobooks.

Work a full day then hit the streets for the 60 minute drive home. This one is less fun, there is no coffee and I am anxious to get home.

Get home, nurse Landry, play with Caroline, help fix dinner, bath times, bed times, wash diapers, prep as much for tomorrow morning as possible, clean kitchen, shower, 5 minutes playing on Facebook until my eyes can't stay open a minute longer.

Well, that was day 1 anyway. I'm sure we will find our groove and if not, Scott will be on summer vacation in another month.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Fat Friday: May Goals

Well, April was a bust. I couldn't get myself together enough to control my eating. I did re-start the C25K program but after a month I have only gotten through week 3. Finding time to run when you have to little ones is hard. I will make it through though. It will just take a bit longer than I would like.

I'll be going back to work this month. May 7. That is either going to be great as I'll be helped by the routine and restriction of my lunchbox. Or I'll be stressed out by the craziness of it all and start popping M&Ms with reckless abandon.

In May, I really just want to kind of fall into a routine. A routine that includes calorie tracking and exercise. So my goals are simple.

May Goals:

Track Foods 95% of the time
Eat in calorie range 85% of the time
Choose whole foods
Cut refined sugar
Run 14 times
Blog 3x per week

Simple goals. Goals that are in my power. I hope it will lead to weight loss this month but it is more important that I am doing the right thing.