5/22/06

After not working out for a few days (we were in Arkansas), here are today's stats:

457 calories
1.12 miles
80 carbs
33 minutes

Still not talking about weight, but it didn't really change all that much after this weekend, which is better than I thought I would fare!

5/18/06 Workout

Well, I worked out a little later than normal, but it still got done...

617 calories
1.32 miles
108 carbs
41 minutes

I'm taking Friday, Saturday, and possibly Sunday off - will be in Arkansas having fun with Lindsay and Lily! Richard and Steve (Lindsay's husband), and some of their other friends will be camping out for a bachelor party...

5/17/06 Workout

Okay, maybe this weighing everyday thing isn't such a good idea...it seemed like a good idea when I was losing everyday! But today it went up again! :( :( :(

Nevertheless, the working out must continue:

312 calories
0.71 miles
55 carbs
22 minutes

Let's keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow's weigh-in...

Ugh - 5/16/06 Workout

Eventhough the stupid iFIT program was a super hard 40 min. routine (ick), I had extra motivation this morning: I made a bad choice in partaking in a little bit of ice cream last night with the season finale of Grey's Anatomy...my weight went up a little this morning. And I know that to be consistent with the rest of my blogging, I should post how much I gained, but it's my blog, and I don't want to :) Sorry! It's not that much, though...as I told Richard, I just made a bad choice, and I can't give up - just gotta get back on the horse!

Anyway, here are today's workout stats:

605 calories (!)
1.27 miles
106 carbs
40 minutes

We'll keep our fingers crossed that my weight is lower tomorrow...it probably won't help that I'm meeting Richard and Esther for lunch at Gloria's in a couple hours! :(

5/15/06 Workout

As you probably noticed, I did not workout or weigh yesterday...for obvious reasons :)

I was kind of scared to weigh today because we went to Mercado Juarez for lunch with my family yesterday, and Carrabbas for dinner with Richard's family last night. I tried to order healthier things, in hopes that I wouldn't gain too much weight...

And I was surprised to learn that I still lost 0.4 pounds from Saturday! That means that I've lost 2.6 pounds from last Monday - YAY!

Anyway, here are today's workout stats:

540 calories
1.14 miles
95 carbs
36 minutes

Size 10?

Ohmigosh. I might actually be able to wear size 10's on a more frequent basis. Usually, I loom around the size 12 thing, but there are times in my life when I've been a consistent, comfortable 10, and sometimes an 8. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not a petite girl, so a 10 is good for me. In fact, when I was in a New York bar with some friends my sophomore year of college, a rather large man, of African American descent, was sitting behind us and said to me, "Damn girl! You healthy!" Alright, in my defense, I think I was a consistent size 10 then, too! My good friend, Suzy, told me to take that comment as a compliment from that guy. And anyway, I didn't even really balloon until my senior year after my Senior Recital was over in November and I could drink without worrying what it would do to my singing voice (ignore the fact that I was planning on going to grad school for vocal pedagogy the next fall). In the guy's defense, he was probably drunk.

ANYWAY, I'm a big-boned girl. I'm healthy. I got my Dad's genes. However you want to put it, I've never been petite, but as we all know, I'm working on it. I think that WHEN (not IF) I reach my goal of losing 26 more pounds, I will definitely be in single digits consistently, but for now, post-baby, I'm jumping for joy today! I was excited a couple of weeks ago when I fit into some denim capris at Kohl's that were a size 10. However, I chalked it up to the fact that they have "a little stretch" in them. Nonetheless, I bought them.

So today, I went through some of my clothes from when we got married in 2003, and found these khacki Gap capris. Size 10. I showed them to Richard, reminded him that he always loved them (he agreed, of course), and then proceeded to try them on.

THEY FIT! GAP 10'S FIT! This is not to say that every Gap 10 fits (or that I couldn't be a little bit more comfortable while sitting in these capris), but they are pretty comfy, and I am very optimistic!. I also know it's not just a fluke - I tried on a size 10 skirt there the other day, and it fit too! I chalked that incident up to the fact that the skirt goes around the smaller portion of the waist. But now I'm starting to feel really good!

Now if only we could do something about those stretch marks...

5/13/06 Workout

610 calories
1.2 miles
107 carbs
41 minutes

As for this morning's weight, Richard was so sweet and got me a Chocolate Chip Einstein's Brothers Bagel...I ate it and THEN remembered that I hadn't weighed myself yet. :(

Yes, I know that bagel goes against my wanting to not eat that kind of stuff. Over the past week, we've cut out A LOT of calories and bad stuff, changed to eating more "whole," natural foods, I've realized that I can't always be perfect. I have to have little splurges of "normal" food, otherwise I might go totally overboard one day and just pig out! All in all, though, we've really changed our palates and our eating habits, so I think we're off to a great start!

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.