Keep on keepin' on...

Looks like a little over a month ago, I was 151.3, and today, I finally broke a huge barrier: the 150 pound barrier! I weighed 149.6 this morning!!!!! Yay! It took over a month to lose those couple of pounds, but it finally happened (hopefully, I haven't jinxed it for tomorrow morning's weigh-in...). Anyway, I'm actually really shocked, because of all of the holiday eating I've been doing:

Tara's Fudge Wreath - PURE EVIL. But for only a few pieces, I've been slowly eating away at the whole damn thing.

Leftovers from our Christmas party: Julia's Squares (a sinful combination of chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, walnuts, coconuts, and sweetened condensed milk) and Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies...also, Tatum's yummy Bacon and Cheese dip (SO FREAKIN' GOOD! Imagine if you will: a loaded baked potato in dip form! - luckily, she used some lower fat ingredients!), leftover pinwheels that I made (also lowfat ingredients), and chips and queso that Megan left over here! Oh, oh, and - multiple 2 liters of soda - coke, cherry coke, dr. pepper, ginger ale...

All of the above are normally NEVER, EVER, EVER in this household! Even in lowfat form! So again, I'm shocked that I've kept the weight off. However, I have continued to workout nearly everyday - for at least 30 minutes, and usually closer to 40 or 45 minutes. So that definitely helps, I'm sure.

Also, after watching a Tivo'd Oprah, I learned that a woman's waistline should be below 32 inches. Dr. Oz talked about how to measure your waistline (measure at the belly button, and it IS okay to suck in, because the health concern is the stuff underneath the relaxed fat...or something like that...I dunno, go to Oprah.com or buy Dr. Oz's book to hear the explanation). Anyway, I measured my waistline and it was 30 1/2 inches!!!!!! YAY! I'm healthy! Now to maintain...and to get rid of the extra belly fat...really need to get back into yoga. Which I fully intend on doing after the holidays when I will (hopefully) be getting a combination of new clothes and gift cards to finally have some smaller clothes that fit! It has been very frustrating walking around with any type of bottoms falling down! I have made a request to receive clothes that would be good for running errands, playing on the floor, meeting up for playdates, etc. In other words, yoga pants, track outfits, you get the point...

Yes, this blog is very stream of consciousness style...sorry! Anyway, off to bed - got an 8am doc appt. in the morning about a nagging pain in my right side (hurts when I cough, sneeze, laugh) - don't know if it's post-surgery related or a pulled muscle or something else, but I'd like to get it checked out!

Night!

Slow and steady...

I know I haven't posted anything here in a while, but most things going on have to do with Jillian, so I've just been posting stuff on her site.

However, I have exciting news: Tuesday, October 31st, I weighed myself and I was lighter than I ever remember being! I don't recall what I was in highschool, but I think I'm awfully close, if not already there. Anyway, I was 151.3 - yup, there it is, I'm sharing how much I weigh. So I started wondering - when did all this weight come off? I mean, I know that it's been gradual, and some months I've lost more than other months, but we've been watching The Biggest Loser and I'm kicking myself for not keeping better track of when and how much weight I've lost...I often write the date and my weight on our bathroom mirror with an Expo marker to show weekly progress, but it gets erased when I clean. So I checked back in my previous postings to see if I could find any record of previous weight. And I found a posting saying I had finally reached my pre-pregnancy weight of 165 (no, I didn't mention the actual weight in that posting, because it's not all that great, but that's what it was. And I feel more comfortable sharing now that I'm below that.

So that was on May 27th. I've lost 13.7 pounds in a little over 5 months. Doesn't really sound all that impressive, especially when you do the math, but I think it's good that I've lost it slowly and steadily...also a good thing since I'm breastfeeding (now only before Jillian goes to bed). The weight loss may have also slowed down during that period of time because I haven't been breastfeeding as much as in the beginning, so I'm not burning as many calories producing milk, etc. But regardless of how 13.7 doesn't seem like a lot, it's definitely a dress size, and it's a helluva lot better than being my post-pregnancy weight of a little over 200! Yeah, scary - I know. Won't be gaining 55 pounds the next pregnancy!

I feel so much more energized these days - it really feels different actually being slimmer and fitting into clothes. Which brings me to another point: I fit into clothes, but not well. Most of my wardrobe is too big! I know, waaa, waaa - but it's seriously frustrating! I don't know whether to hold on to things "just in case," like for post-pregnancy with a 2nd baby (no, not anytime soon - read: 3-4 years) or if I randomly put on weight...or do I just sell it all? I feel like I NEED to sell it all to buy clothes that fit - it's not cheap to buy a new wardrobe! I have 1 pair of jeans that "fit" me (must belt them to keep them from falling down), and even my "comfy" clothes like track pants are too big! Seriously, that one pair of jeans is IT. The ONLY pair of pants that fit me!!!! It's so frustrating to have a bazillion other pairs of khackis, jeans, and black pants in the closet that are too freakin' big.

Okay, I'm going to stop whining, because I know it's a good thing. However, the work must continue - I need to get down to at least 145, if not 140. Overall, I just need to get rid of the huge amount of nasty tummy around my waist - that's a big health risk. I have a feeling that getting rid of that is going to take a lot more than elliptical and eating well. Some serious work. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it (yes, I know that I should really work on it now, but I'm doing good to get 30 minutes of cardio in everday!).

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Oh my, oh my, oh my. Do you moms out there ever have those days (or weeks) where you just feel so completely overwhelmed that you just want to cry? I do. I'm going through that crapiness right now. Allow me to vent (be forewarned - much of this stuff is nothing new to other mommies...):

Ugh. Do you ever have those days where you just feel like you need to cry? Did I already say that? It's cathartic, I know, so I look at it as my body's way of telling me that I need a release. Even though I did freakin' yoga last night. Anyway, ever since Jillian became extremely mobile, it's become so much more difficult to get stuff done. I feel like I ALWAYS have something on the list to do. My good friend, Meg, suggested the momAgenda book, which, even after 2 days, has been such a help! In another way, though, it's kinda bad - I find myself writing down all the things I need to do. The crappy thing about this is that it's tangible evidence of all that is left.

Unending laundry to be sorted, folded, and/or hung; never-ending dishes; constantly sweep and swiffer the floors for crawling baby; clean high chair and tray 3 times a day; make necessary phone calls and e-mails; workout (yeah, right); take shower (ditto); put on makeup (HA!); brush teeth (let's not go there...never fear, friends - I DO brush my teeth. Just doesn't always seem to happen in the morning. Usually right before I leave the house to see one of you nice people); let's see, what else...oh yes, blog when I have time. I know it's not necessary, but at this point, I kinda feel like it is - it's how I keep track of what's going on, b/c I sure as hell haven't whipped out the baby book in a while. And scrapbooking has been put on hold for the last 4 months. Anyway, my blogging has been slowed down because of the stupid phone people, who damaged the line and we didn't have internet for the last 4 days. Now i'm behind on blogging. And SO much has happened with Jillian in those 4 days. more than normal. of course.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the list - make sure munchkin gets to try enough table food - cut up said food into pieces that are a safe size; strip her down before meals; wipe her down after meals (she fights this big time). Grocery shopping, errands. Get sunscreen on Jillian before outings. Which brings me to another point. The freakin' hot weather! I know we got some sprinkles tonight, but seriously, Texas weather is ridiculous. I think I'm fairly warm-natured, so when the thermostat hits about 77-78 (80 today!), I get a little irritable. What I described to Richard this afternoon was this: Late afternoon is/can be Jillian's fussy time. What I mean by this is that something like the Jumperoo or Exersaucer or baby jail is completely unacceptable to her (um, it usually is for at least a couple of minutes, but in the late afternoon, the fussing doesn't stop). So if I need to put her in one of these places so as to get something done, she just fusses. And it's freakin' hot in the house. And I'm starting to sweat and get irritable. And pray to God that Richard gets home soon.

Is it possible for me to be bitchier? Probably, but le's not go there.

Yes, yes, poor me. I'm having a pity party, and you're invited.

But the strange thing is that as bad as today was, it was also one of the best days I've had as a mommy. Maybe it's the roller coaster of emotions that is taking effect in a big way?

As I was saying, today was also a good day. Lately, I've been taking down the baby jail gate and letting Jillian roam more freely (maybe this is contributing to my increased stress level). It's fun - she loves to crawl, and it's hilarious, because she kind of grunts/pants as she crawls. It's like she's working really hard to go really "fast" - she LOVES to be chased. She'll look back at me like, "are you going to get me?" And then I'll get down and crawl, too. And she'll go faster. And then I'll stop and wait for her to look back at me. When she does, she is so funny - she looks like, "oh crap! I'd better haul booty!" Anyway, we had fun doing the chasing thing today. So much that despite all of my sweeping/swiffering efforts, Jillian ended up with her legs and feet being a little stained with dirt. And what looks to be a little blister/place rubbed too much on the floor on her big toe. :(



Did you see the dirt? I swear that I clean house. She crawls so much that I think it's inevitable...right? Please say yes. Anyway, I finally had a good cry a little bit ago, and I guess this blog is finishing off the "release" that I needed. Don't even try to suggest other "releases" that take more energy, if you know what I'm talking about. So don't feel like it. I'm not saying ever, of course. Just saying that at times like these, a mom just needs to be alone. To read. To stare. To just be.

News from the OB-GYN

Well, I've been having a lot of pain lately. In my back and upper abdomen. I could go on and on about the pain, but let's just put it this way: I've slept on the loveseat b/c I couldnt' get comfortable in bed; and I can easily say that this pain I've had multiple times is far worse than any back labor/contractions I had when Jillian was born (mainly because it's continuous, usually for hours - no breaks like with contractions). Last night, my Dad came over after midnight so that we didn't have to wake up Jillian when Richard was going to take me to the ER. Fortunately, the pain subsided long enough for me to fall asleep, so we didn't go to the ER.

Anyway, yesterday, I also saw a gastroenterologist about the pain, and he suspected gallstones. His office lined up an appt. at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano for tomorrow morning at 8am - to do an ultrasound to see if I have gallstones. However, after the excrutiating pain I had last night, I called his office this morning to see if there was ANYTHING I could do for the pain in the interim. I also put in a call at my mom's office (ob-gyn) to see if they knew of anything. Well, she called back before the gastroenterologist, and said that their sonographer could see me today to see what was going on, so that we could get the ball rolling sooner.

While I was in the waiting room, I found out that the other doctor had called in pain killers for me (THANK GOODNESS!!!)

But anyway, I went in to the room, got the jelly on my upper right side (weird to be getting a sono again!), and sure enough, I have multiple gallstones! In fact, I have a "large stone in the neck of the gallbladder, measuring 16 mm" and I honestly can't read everything else she wrote in the report, but suffice it to say, there are more gallstones than just the "large" one, and the pain I've been experiencing (around an hour after lunch and dinner...that goes on for HOURS) isn't unjustified - WHEW!

Apparently, it's not uncommon for women to get gallstones after pregnancy. Something about estrogen levels. I'm sure it didn't help that I'm still losing about a pound each week, as "rapid weight loss" of any kind can also contribute to formation of gallstones, because the liver can't handle it or something. Not that 1 pound/week is rapid, but it's something and it's continuous (knock on wood - still have about 17-18 pounds to go till my goal...although I'm already 7 pounds under pre-pregnancy!). The weird thing is that gallstones are also related to eating lots of high fatty foods and stuff, which I don't really do now, so I'm attributing it to the pregnancy thing (mom says she's seen it in their office a decent amount).

So now, the search is on for a general surgeon to remove my gallbladder (the gastroenterologist will confirm that this is what I need to do next Monday, hopefully). Apparently, this surgery is usually done laparoscopically now, which makes recovery much quicker, so that's good.

Anyway, that's the news from the ob-gyn. Was it what you thought it was? ;)

7/7/06 Workout and Other Stuff

Okay, so I've been REALLY bad about posting my workout stats lately...but I have still been working out. It's just been difficult to sit down and write about it with a crawling little one!

Anyway, I've also been doing yoga - I started taking a class once a week and loved it so much that now, I've been doing yoga several days a week at home (found some neat yoga workouts on FitTV - thank you Tivo!) on top of that class! And I'm still doing elliptical on most days. I think the yoga has really helped a lot - I have more defined muscle, and have dropped weight more easily. Of course, cutting out lots of refined foods and eating a WHOLE LOT of fruits and vegetables (can we say "almost vegetarian?!") has really helped, too. I think that I've lost about 5 pounds since my last posting. YAY!

Okay, so here are today's elliptical stats:

590 calories
1.24 miles
104 carbs
40 minutes

I'm not guaranteeing that I'll be able to post stats anytime soon, but just know that I'm still working at it! I still have about 20 more pounds to go!

This Week's Workout So Far...

Hmmm...nevermind, not the whole week - I can't find my stats from Monday...

Yesterday:

513 calories
1.13 miles
92 carbs
35 minutes

Today:

615 calories
1.30 miles
107 carbs
41 minutes

A new and exciting addition to my workouts is that I'm taking yoga classes once a week! I had my first class Monday night and I LOVE it! The once a week classes last 12 weeks, but I'm looking into taking more yoga classes elsewhere, just because I love it so much! It feels like one of the best things I've ever done for my body - I feel so toned everywhere after just one class! I highly recommend it!

A Cooking Kick

So as you know, I've been on this health kick, and I'm really enjoying it. I love going to Sprouts, and have become more ambitious in the kitchen. I've always loved to cook and I think I'm pretty okay at it - definitely not afraid of trying something new, but up until now, I haven't really been inspired. However, now that we're more cognizant of what we're putting into our bodies, and I'm reading books like Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right and Eat to Live (both by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.), I don't do things like Hamburger Helper or other overly processed things anymore. I try to focus more on good fats and fruits and veggies. In fact, most of my grocery shopping is done at Sprouts - very rarely do we ever need to go to Walmart or Sam's like we used to (only for things like tp, milk, or household items, and some random food items here and there that might be a little cheaper than at Sprouts). As a result, we really don't have anymore "crap" in the pantry - if we have any snacks, they don't have any high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated anything. Which leaves us with Kashi brand granola bars, crackers, and oatmeal, crunchitos, and fruits, veggies, and string cheese to snack on. I've been having my natural peanut butter and organic jelly sandwiches on flaxseed whole wheat bread with crunchitos and fruit for lunch, and for dinner last night, I went all out and made something that was in a Weight Watchers Cookbook I've had (but not used) for a while - Southwest Salmon!



Okay, it may look strange in the picture, but we both liked it a lot! Basically, you make this marinade (pureed) from cilantro, lime juice, cumin, salt, tabasco, and water...bag it up with the salmon for an hour, cook red and yellow peppers for 20 minutes, add the marinated salmon, and pop it in the oven for a little bit longer! I bought fresh green beans, snapped the ends off, and steamed them with onions in our handy dandy steamer, and we had a wonderfully healthy dinner!!! For dessert, we had a fruit salad that I made: peaches, kiwi, bananas, and grapes - YUMMY!

A Week of Working Out...

Alright, I know I have been terrible about posting my workout stats this week, which is why I'm just going to add up all the numbers and put them all down for the week:

2580 calories
5.56 miles
451 carbs
170 minutes

Whew! That was way easier than doing lots of little posts. Unfortunately, my weight is still about the same as before, but I guess maintaining is good, right?

5/31/06 Workout

345 calories
0.81 miles
60 carbs
25 minutes

And having Cozymel's last night wasn't so good to me in the weight department :(

However, keeping track of my working out on this blog is such a great motivator, so even though there are some little set backs along the way, I must push on through!

5/30/06 Workout

618 calories
1.33 miles
109 carbs
42 minutes

Lost 0.4 pounds from yesterday :)

However, we're going to Cozymel's tonight with some friends from out of town...hopefully, it won't affect things too much!

Date Night!

Last night, Richard and I got to go out on a date! Yay! My mom came over and played with Jillian while we went on the first portion of our date. Before we left, Richard took the hard top off of the Jeep and replaced it with the safari top...here we are modeling the new look:




The first portion of our date was at Mi Cocina - YUMMY fajitas!





After dinner, we decided that since it was so nice out (especially with the hard top off), we should explore The Shops at Legacy, since it's so close to where we live. We walked around, checked out the shops, and headed home. Actually, it's funny, because when I suggested Mi Cocina, I was thinking of the one at The Shops at Legacy (pictured on the site), and I just assumed we would go there, but Richard went to a different one a little further...he was kicking himself later for not remembering the one I was thinking of!

Anyway, we got home, played with Jillian a little bit, and I nursed her and put her to bed while Richard picked up some dinner for my mom. Then, we were off to get dessert (and some coffee for me) at Kathleen's Art Cafe - another big YUMMY! We got the Chunky Apple Cake with Butterscotch Sauce Ala Mode and the Double Fudge Cake Ala Mode. Needless to say, we could NOT eat all of this. We basically ended up eating all of the apple stuff, and taking home the chocolate to my mom. She ended up only eating a couple of bites, and we're slowly eating away at it...

Then, we stopped by the house yet one more time! This, of course, was not part of our plan. However, I decided that it would be MORE fun to take the doors off the Jeep - Richard took the safari top off before we left the second time, so this would really complete the experience. So we finally left (again), and headed off to Strikz. We had never been there before, but thought that bowling would be fun - and it was! It was video bowling, which was cool - it seemed like they played a lot of stuff from the early to mid 90's, which I love. :) And it was "Cosmic Bowling," where it's all dark, and the balls glow! Fun stuff. The best part, of course, was the fact that we got to wear cool shoes :)

Anyway, Richard was really kicking my butt, and I finally found out (in our 2nd game) that he took a bowling course in college! NO FAIR! I finally broke 100 in our 4th and last game - thanks to Richard's helpful pointers.



I look like a total dork in this picture. Oh well.



Here's the ol' bowling pro

Strikz was pretty fun - and they also have laser tag, pool tables, and arcade games and prizes! Another neat thing is that it's really new and smoke free - not like the old bowling lanes that we used to go to as kids! We will definitely be going back!

P.S. - We went to run errands today and it rained while we were gone. On and in the topless, doorless Jeep. It's still dripping and airing out. :(

5/29/06 Workout

Well, I didn't workout yesterday. Richard and I had a date planned for last night, and spent the day getting stuff done around the house and playing with Jillian. However, I was the same weight as the previous day, so that's good.

As for today's stats:

495 calories
1.10 miles
86 carbs
35 minutes

And I gained about 0.2 pounds from yesterday...not panicking, though - it could be worse after having gone out to eat last night! It's all good :)

5/27/06 Workout

Okay, I'm a few days behind, but here are the stats:

Nevermind - I can't find where I wrote down that day's info, but I know I burned 615 calories in 40 minutes!

I also lost 1.2 pounds from the previous day...which makes me officially back down to pre-pregnancy weight! YAY!

5/26/06 Workout

290 calories
0.68 miles
52 carbs
21 minutes

Gained 0.4 from yesterday, but no big whoop, b/c I was feeling lighter this afternoon, and was curious to see what I weighed - and it was the same as this morning, which is promising!

Also, I got some bloodwork back, and my bad cholesterol (LDL) has gone down significantly, while my good cholesterol (HDL) has gone up! Awesome for both!!!

However, my mom called (my OB-GYN's nurse) and said that my TSH levels were suppressed, which could mean that I have hyperthyroidism...something that would be no surprise, given that my mom has a hyperthyroid, as well as her dad, and her grandmother. Anyway, I'm making an appt. to get my blood taken for some more tests next Thursday...we'll see what happens!

5/25/06 Workout

625 calories
1.34 miles
109 carbs
40 minutes

And 0.8 pounds lighter than yesterday!!!

5/24/06 Workout

465 calories
1.02 miles
82 carbs
31 minutes

And I was 1.2 pounds lighter this morning!!! Yay!!!

5/23/06 Workout

Didn't gain or lose any weight from yesterday...

Here are today's stats:

363 calories
0.85 miles
64 carbs
26 minutes

I know these are boring posts, but they keep me going! :)

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...