5/12/06 Workout

I was shocked and thrilled this morning to see that I lost 0.8 more pounds! That makes 2.2 pounds since Monday - YAY!!!! Hopefully, I can keep it up...I'm scared I'll plateau or something, but after talking to our family cardiologist yesterday, I still have 26.8 more pounds to go, so there's really no option!

All I can do is my best, and I have a lot of incentive - my Dad's side of the family has a history of heart disease and small, dense cholesterol particles (research shows that's bad). Ideally, you want big, fluffy cholesterol particles. In August 2004, I had a blood workup done to see how I was doing, and my cholesterol count is pretty good: Doctors like the total to be under 200 and mine was 215. I know what you're thinking..."But 215 is above 200..." The thing is, my HDL (good cholesterol is very high), and my LDL is actually in a healthy range, though it can always be healthier, so after talking to the family cardiologist yesterday, I just need to shoot for lowering the LDL (bad cholesterol) by about 20. He said it's totally in my hands - I just need to workout everyday and lose the weight to help fight off those bad family genes.

I had bloodwork done yesterday to see what it's at now. Who knows where it's at after pregnancy and during this time while I'm breastfeeding! I just want to see where I'm at, so I that I can work toward my new cholesterol goals.

Okay, today's workout:

300 calories
0.72 miles
53 carbs
22 minutes

Until tomorrow...

5/11/06 Workout

Today's workout was pretty difficult:





However, I got a little break about 10 minutes into the routine when Jillian woke up from her nap. Unfortunately, I didn't write down all my stats up to that point, so my total is a calculated estimate based on my stats from the rest of the workout:

630 calories
1.2 miles
110 carbs
40 minutes

Same weight as yesterday...Hey, at least it's not goin' up! :)

5/10/06 Workout

Got the inhaler, so I did the iFIT routine, but it was shorter...

345 calories
0.85 miles
60 carbs
26 minutes

Lost 0.2 pounds from yesterday...

5/9/06 Workout

Today, I didn't use the iFIT routine - took it a little easier, while I wait to get my inhaler...

350 calories
1.2 miles
65.3 carbs
30 minutes

Oh, and I may start adding weight loss (not my actual weight, but just how much I've lost or - EEK! - gained)

Today, I lost 1.2 pounds from yesterday...

Today's Workout

Okay, I've decided that to keep myself honest, as far as working out goes, I will do my best to post my daily stats on this blog. For example, today on the elliptical, I burned 449 calories and 78 carbs in a 31 minute mile. I know it doesn't really interest the general public, but I'm hoping it'll keep me motivated, since I seem to be addicted to blogging! Another motivator is that last night, I noticed my arms are getting more toned, and I just feel more energized in general. My body feels more tight, too - in the good way, ya know? Like when you walk around and your butt, abs, arms, and legs just feel tight and toned? Anyway, I think this elliptical was a great investment. :)

Oprah and Dr. Oz

Last Monday, Oprah did another great show with Dr. Oz. I knew it was about health, and living and eating better, so I made Richard watch it with me. As a side note, I actually make him watch a lot of Oprah with me...he's not always thrilled about it, but we both seemed to get a lot out of this particular show. Anyway, the biggest thing I learned from this "90 Day Live Longer, Feel Younger" show was that we needed to try to cut out (or at least cut back on) certain types of foods. Well, duh. We all know that certain foods and ingredients are less than healthy, but sometimes you just need a reminder. And the pictures of partially hydrogenated anything were just gross. Here are all the bad foods at the "Food Hall of Shame."

Basically, he says that there are 5 ingredients that you should avoid eating - particularly if any of them are in the first 5 ingredients listed on a product. Seeing and learning all of this inspired me to pull all the crap out of our pantry. There are some things we decided to just finish off and not buy again - like Quaker Oatmeal Cereal Bars (we bought them in bulk at Sam's...kinda difficult to just pitch that). Anyway, I think those had every one of those bad things in the first 5 ingredients! EEK! One of the things that really made me want to do this was learning how sugars, for example, eat away at your arteries. Partially hydrogenated stuff clogs them. Enriched flours are not enriched so much. Dr. Oz says "The reason they enrich it is because they already stripped out anything that was worth a darn in it, and they add a little bit back so it doesn't look so bad."

I won't try to repeat back everything he says about the bad foods - just go the the "Hall of Shame" to learn what I learned. Of course, there are "Hall of Fame" foods he lists, too - and Richard and I already do a pretty good job with those. And actually, most of the foods that we pitched were foods that had just been sitting in the pantry for a long time, and that we probably would never eat. Needless to say, I'm already pretty selective in the foods I buy. I already knew about partially hydrogenated crap, but like I said earlier, seeing it and knowing that it makes great furniture polish is just gross.

I've also been inspired to try yoga. No, I haven't tried it yet. So far, I'm just working on their suggestion to walk 30 minutes everyday. I've been doing the elliptical a lot, so that's good. As far as yoga, I'll probably purchase a video, mat, and stuff like that soon - whenever I can get the toys cleared out of the space that I would be doing the yoga. :)

Richard has been amazingly supportive of my wanting to take on this new, healthier lifestyle. It is no doubt difficult. There are so many "normal" foods that have one or many of those bad items listed in the first five ingredients. However, it turned out that I had been wanting to go to Sprouts Farmers Market, since it's just around the corner, and this was the perfect reason! I had been told by my good friend, Tara, that Sprouts is much like a Whole Foods or Central Market, but cheaper - sounds good to me! The cool/serendipitous thing is that there are only THREE Sprouts in Texas - the one around the corner, one in Flower Mound (we used to live in that area too, actually), and one in Dallas. The only other states Sprouts is in is California and Arizona. So I feel like we kinda lucked out!

Anyway, we got to Sprouts and the first thing I noticed was that it was smaller than I expected. Still a very open layout, though. It was really nice. Our goal was to take a look around, see what all they had, and we actually ended up getting several things. We got Sprouts Cheese Puffs that don't have any hydrogenated stuff or enriched stuff, all natural tortilla chips sans aforementioned stuff, organic chocolate chip cookies (with DARK chocolate - YUM!) - also no hydrogenated stuff, etc., all natural Sprouts Salsa, and then some oranges and a container of mixed fruit (at an amazing price!!!).

The trip was good - lots and lots of organic stuff - produce and many other things; a vitamin counter and consultant; a section with books for healthy living and cooking; yoga and pilates gear; and there's a bakery section, too - Richard and I forgot to see if that stuff was organic and good for you, but I'm thinking it's not. :) All in all, a very fun trip and definitely not as chaotic as any other grocery store! Yay for healthy living!

Whew!

Our elliptical just kicked my butt! Actually, it was our elliptical in combination with this program called "iFIT." You connect the elliptical to the computer, and it gives you a different workout program everyday!!! Today's was super hard...although ALL of them are hard, especially because our elliptical not only has resistance, but also an incline. And man, when both of those are really high, it has me praying to get through that section! Anyway, even though it kills while I'm doing it, this new, little working out thing is really helping!
Here was today's workout:

This One's For Tara...

Sam ELLIOTT :)

Squash, Anyone?

Tonight, Richard, Jillian, and I went to Bennigan's for dinner (I've had it several times, and I just don't think I like it all that much...I think I'm more of a Chili's fan), and since she still can't sit up on her own, we put her in the infant carrier at restaurants and other places, occasionally. So tonight, instead of putting the carrier in a baby sling, we put it next to me in the booth. Since we were out during her dinner time, I brought a container of squash, as well as rice cereal, and decided to feed her throughout the course of our meal. Since we've really just gone through the "testing" phase of squash and carrots, this was the first time she had squash "just because." So instead of only several bites, she had the whole little cup it came in! She loves it! And strangely, I sorta enjoy feeding her when we're out like that. I think I feel very "Mom" or something - all multi-tasking, and more importantly, I like to be able to include her at our meals. Normally, we feed her and put her to bed before we have dinner, so occasions like this are fun!

Precious, Sleeping Baby Jillian

It seems like I tend to use my website for little, fond memories of Jillian. And here I go again...

Just now, I went into Jillian's room to check on her (okay, to just touch her little head, admire how sweet she is, and tell her I love her...I do it every night!). Anyway, she was so adorable, laying on her left side, right up next to the mesh bumper. I touched her head, and she stirred a little, and then I heard a sucking sound. She put her left thumb in her mouth and had her right hand up against the bumper. And last night, we started to put her in those little gowns with the elastic at the bottom, so she's in another one tonight, and just looks so angelic curled up on her side with her thumb in her mouth.

I love these moments when she's just a little baby.

Sweet Baby Girl

Wow, I just experienced one of the sweetest moments of motherhood. It was the dreaded naptime, and Jillian was fussy as I changed her diaper and sat in the rocker. But I gently bounced her on my leg while singing "Old MacDonald," and she put her thumb in her mouth and instantly got quiet! Then I held her next to my chest, just rocking, and she put her thumb in her mouth again, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. It was so precious. I kept rocking her as she drifted off into dreamland, sucking on her little thumb. I contemplated taking a nap as well...just so that I could keep holding her like that. But I knew that it would be better for me to put her in her crib (however, first I walked to the bathroom mirror just to see her precious little face, asleep on my chest - so cute!). So I placed her in her crib, hoping she wouldn't fuss when she realized I wasn't holding her any longer, and she didn't! She went straight down for a nap! Again, this is truly one of the most special, precious moments of my motherhood experience thus far. I love my Baby Jillian!

Good Finds at Divine Consign

Just wanted to share something fun that I went to on Thursday night: Divine Consign - it is a MASSIVE consignment event for anything baby/kid related! I got a lot of cute clothes for super cheap - a good majority of it is Gymboree, and the rest is Gap and Carter's...so cute!!! Mommy and Jillian just had to play dress-up the day after, so here are some pics (these aren't all the clothes...I want to take pics of her wearing the adorable Gymboree dresses later on...can't give everything away just yet!)...








This little set came new with tags from "The Children's Place"...it kinda blends with the changing pad cover, and we will definitely be wearing the shorts and shirt separate from each other!



Jillian was very curious about this Gymboree shirt...





Isn't this romper SO cute?! Another Gymboree find!

2 Dates in 2 Weekends!

Though I'm posting this a little late, I thought I'd share the fact that Richard and I got to go on yet another date this past weekend! My good friend, Tanya (also Jillian's Godmother), had driven up from Austin because she had an Austin College Alumni board meeting. She figured she'd be in the area, so it would be a great time to see all of us. So she got here on Friday afternoon, and after a day of hanging out and going to the mall (me, Tanya, and Jillian), Richard and I went on a date while Tanya stayed at the house to take care of Jillian. We sorta did the same thing as the last date - fed Jillian and put her to bed...leaving Tanya to relax (she needs to - the woman NEVER slows down!).

So we went to Eddie P's for dinner - very yummy! And then went to go see a movie...something Richard is always wanting to do, but that I usually don't want to go and do (that was before having a baby...now I'm more than happy to go to a movie). So we went to see Brokeback Mountain (and right before the Oscars, too!). I was really excited to see it - it had gotten amazing reviews, and I heard it was an amazing love story. Plus, Richard was surprisingly okay with going to see it (that's one of the many things I love about him - a tolerant, non-judgemental person - I really admire and respect that about him).

However, since we haven't been to a movie in so long, we forgot how expensive it really is! We knew it was expensive, but $8.50 for a ticket?! That's crazy! And I wanted M&M's - $3.25!!!! That's even crazier! I usually think ahead and bring my own food supply, but unfortunately, I forgot this time - never again.

Anyway, the movie was amazing. The first thing I noticed about it was that it was probably the most beautiful movie I have ever seen - the rolling hills and mountains, sheep, and even the clouds in the sky (it should've won Best Cinematography). I will admit that the first "intimate" scene was a bit uncomfortable to watch, but I think everything after that was "less intense," so as far as all that goes, it was pretty okay. The movie was extremely easy and peaceful to watch, I think mainly because of the scenery and the simple (Oscar winning) music (no, not the "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" song...Brokeback got Best Original Score, I believe).

So I know there are a lot of people out there that are completely and totally opposed to this movie, but I am not ashamed to say that it was an excellent movie, that is very deserving of all the accolades, raving reviews, and award nominations. It's so much more than a movie about "a couple of gay cowboys." It is a thought provoking love story that has a wonderful message. I highly recommend it! Richard said that he liked it as well - I'm glad we got to see a movie that I believe, is somewhat culturally relevant and important.

Anyway, that was our date! We came home and Tanya said that Jillian had been sleeping soundly the whole time - not a peep! This is not a surprise, but it was good to know that all was well while we were gone.

Our First Date Night...Sans Jillian

Well, Richard and I finally did it - we finally had a date night for just the two of us. We were actually planning on having this date last weekend for Valentine's Day, but the icy conditions made it a little risky for my mom to drive up from Dallas, so instead, she came over yesterday at 4pm. After taking some pictures of this mementous occasion, our Valentine's Date started when we got out the door around 4:30, and headed off to Stonebriar Mall to have fun at Dave and Buster's. When we got there, I realized that all I had had to eat up to that point was some soup...I was hungry and I probably wasn't going to make it to our later dinner time (plus, not eating enough could affect my milk supply), so we decided that at some point while at D&B, we would get a little snack.


So we went inside, got our "Power Cards" to play games, and headed off to our favorite game - basketball (where you compete to get the most baskets in an alotted period of time) - and I beat Richard ALL BUT ONE TIME!!! Yay me! Then, we played two games of skee-ball before deciding that it kinda wasn't fun. And then...we hit the jackpot. That game, where you put coins in to push the other coins over the edge, to get tickets - yeah...I got about 500 tickets!!!! Richard got a whole lot, too!!! (Oh yeah, somewhere in there, we got some awesome nachos). Anyway, so we went to the "Winner's Circle" to see what kinds of prizes we would try to get with all of our tickets (and after having them count the tickets, realized that each ticket counted as 2). We decided that we would definitely be getting Jillian a stuffed animal or two...and went off to play several last games of basketball and the coin game...we ended up with over 2500 tickets!!! SO, Richard and I got 4 (FOUR!!!) stuffed animals!


We headed home because it was time to feed Jillian (I'm sure she wouldn't be happy to get a bottle before going to bed...she's used to having her Mommy!). I ran to the front door, ran to the living room, and was soooo happy to see Jillian alive and okay (of course, I didn't really doubt that she would be fine, but you mothers know what I'm talking about). So I fed her, put her to bed, and left my mom with dinner and Dancing with the Stars.

Richard and I headed off to Kirby's Steakhouse - one of my favorite places, though I had only been to the Dallas location, so going to the Frisco one was new and exciting, especially on such a special date! Just so that I can remember every little nuance of our first date out, I'm listing off everything we ate: Richard ordered the Prime New York Strip, with the soup of the day - tasty Chicken Jalepeno and a baked potato. I ordered the 7 oz. Pepper Steak, salad with creamy garlic dressing, and a baked potato as well. We also ordered a side of asparagus (anyone who knows Richard should be proud that I have him liking this stuff!). After ordering we asked the waiter to take a picture of us...

Our soup and salad came out and was delicious! Richard was kind enough to let me try his soup and it was very, very good. We had great conversation, and I think we were even able to talk about topics other than our wonderful Jillian! It was refreshing to be out on our own again (though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still longing to see my Munchkin).

Anyway, our dinners came out and they were awesome! I should've taken pictures. But trust me, very delicious! However, we knew that we wanted dessert, so we decided to get to-go boxes. The waiter brought the dessert menu out and I got something I hadn't had in SO LONG - coffee!!! I still got decaf, but it was great! Anyway, we ordered Sin on a Plate and the Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream - I had had the first before and thought that it was great, so I was surprised when I tasted the chocolate cake and discovered it was even better!!! Warm with a touch of cinnamon, it reminded me of my family's chocolate sheath (sp?) cake. YUMMY!!! Of course, we couldn't eat all of the sweetness, so we boxed it up as well! Needless to say, our fridge is full of styrofoam boxes.

It was a wonderful dinner and date - we went home full and appreciative to my mom, who allowed us to get out and enjoy eachother in a different setting. Thank you to my mom and thank you to my wonderful husband Richard - I will never forget our special date and I will always love you!

RE: The Nature of Leap and Lily's Relationship

Richard has informed me that he believes Leap and Lily are "lovers" - his reasoning is that there is another Leapfrog friend named "Tad." Richard believes that because "Tad" refers to "tadpole," he is most likely Leap and Lily's "lovechild." Sheesh.

So I'd like to conduct a poll: Are Leap and Lily siblings or lovers? What do you think?

Jillian's New Friend, Lily

For Christmas, Richard's parents gave Jillian "Leap." She has absolutely loved Leap - she grins when he sings the ABC's and she loves to gnaw on his head, arms, and/or attached ring! So I thought that she should have Leap's counterpart, "Lily," as Richard and I believe that they must be siblings, and we don't want to separate them! :) Besides, Lily sings a "counting song" from 1 to 10 - how fun is that?! So today when we ran errands, Jillian enjoyed grinning at and gnawing on Lily!

Muppet Personality Test

Interesting...

I found this personality test on my friend Tara's myspace page, and these are my results:

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

What are you? :)

Mommy is finally inspired to take advantage of music collection!

While watching the Olympics last night, I realized how much I miss listening to all kinds of classical music. Actually, it was while watching the girl from Japan (that ended up getting the gold) skate to music from Puccini's "Turandot." I probably annoyed Richard by humming the whole way through it! SO, Jillian and I will be trying to listen to a wider variety of music than before (we have been listening to "Classical Favorites," the classical radio station, and sometimes even stuff like Natalie Merchant...she loves when Mommy sings to her!).

Right now, we're listening to Mozart's "DieZauberflöte" (The Magic Flute) - an opera I love, and have actually seen performed at the Coliseum Opera House in London, as well as having sung portions of it in college and graduate school. This will be fun to revisit my music background - my classical/opera music library is a pretty good sized one, and this is the perfect time to take advantage of it! I just seemed to collect lots of CD's that I learned about and grew to love and appreciate while in school. Many times (in fact, most of the time), after having been assigned a new vocal piece, I would find a good recording (or two) of it, in order to help me learn it. Other times, I would fall in love with a piece in one of my music history classes. Then, there were times when there was a deal on an opera CD set that was just too good to pass up. Actually, I think I got most of my CDs at a great price, as I seemed to frequent places like CD Source and Half Price Books. Places like those have great collections of classical music for amazing prices! My "Magic Flute" box set is like new and I got it for $18.99. Here is the same one on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000041ZF...

Obviously, it really pays to check out those other retailers! Anyway, Jillian and I will keep you all posted on everything we're listening to!

Rolling over used to be a good thing...

Sheesh. The White House has a problem. Jillian has learned how to roll over from her back to her tummy, but not so much her tummy to her back. This has presented a problem when she sleeps...for one, she rolls onto her tummy, and gets her adorably large thighs stuck in between the crib rails (it takes some work to get them out, but we've been told that this is far better than having bumpers in the crib). Anyway, so her legs get stuck, AND she's on her tummy - so she just yells and screams until we roll her back over...and it happens again! We've tried working with her to help her go from tummy to back, and she'll hang out on her tummy for a long while, just playing, grabbing things, and drooling. But then she gets fatigued and fussy and either ends up just crying or burying her face in the floor...thus, rarely attempting to roll over! What's a mother to do?!
We've ordered a breathable bumper for her crib - it's pretty much mesh that goes around it, to prevent her legs getting caught, and I'm hoping that if she were to start rolling on her tummy, that she could use her legs to push off the mesh and get back on her back. For now, while waiting on the breathable bumper, Jillian is "sleeping" in her Pack n' Play, so that we don't get any more stuck limbs. She seemed to like it at first, but not now. :(
We had probably a good month of her sleeping from 8pm-8am...and now we don't. :( Yeah, it's great, she goes down really easily at 8pm, but around 1am, she seems to start moving around a lot - she'll roll onto her side, and then when she rolls back on her back, it startles her and she wakes up unhappy. Mommy and Daddy haven't been getting much sleep either. :(
Anyway, here's hoping it'll get better soon!!!!

Wow! Finally a blog...

Okay, so I've been terrible about not blogging on my own page...but I will try to start doing that more often. For now, I'm posting a recent pic of me and my adorable Jillian!