No weigh-in today; just got home from the in-laws', where we spent Christmas. I'm sure it wouldn't be great.
Today is more significant for a different reason. Under normal circumstances, I would have taken a birth control pill today, after my week of placebos (place holders during my TOTM). But...I DIDN'T. So I need to keep track of things. I'm sure after years of taking birth control pills, my period will probably not be incredibly regular, so I need to be aware of what's happening when. Should be interesting. It's most likely that I will not get pregnant right away. It will probably take a while to clear all the birth control from my system and get myself regulated to the point where I can tell when I'm ovulating, but it's always possible that I might get pregnant right away.
We'll just wait and see...
Pool Time
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Day 352 - 12/19/09
Soooo...
First of all, I don't have an official weigh-in number, but I've been sitting right around 205. So I haven't lost any weight since we moved; I've gained a bit. I was doing really well, running every morning, until it got cold. Running in the cold is not fun; it makes my throat sore and my lungs burn. We got an elliptical machine, but I haven't used it nearly enough to make things any better. And I haven't curbed my eating like I should.
So I'm looking at starting the new year in pretty much the same place that I did last January. I need to lose weight.
But there's a new twist to things. Namely, we've decided that we really can't put off anymore the original purpose of this blog, which is PARENTHOOD. Having both turned 35 this past year, our biological clocks are, in the words of Marisa Tomei, ticking like THIS! As it stands, if I were to get pregnant in the next month or so, I would be able to deliver before turning 36 in October, but that basically puts us a 40-year-olds with a 4-year-old, and that would be the first child. What about any subsequent kids? If we're going to have the energy to be parents, we need to get a move on, so to speak.
So we've decided that, despite not having made any headway on the weightloss front, we are going to go ahead and let my birth control pill prescription lapse this month. As a matter of fact, today will be the final pill I will take. I am still taking my blood pressure medication, but I am going to try and let that one lapse as well, probably next month. This means I MUST LOSE WEIGHT ASAP. I have to get my blood pressure under control so that I don't need the meds. I need to get on the elliptical machine, and I need to go purchase some hand weights so I can lift.
So here I go again, as Whitesnake observed. This is for real. If only people would stop offering me Christmas cookies.
First of all, I don't have an official weigh-in number, but I've been sitting right around 205. So I haven't lost any weight since we moved; I've gained a bit. I was doing really well, running every morning, until it got cold. Running in the cold is not fun; it makes my throat sore and my lungs burn. We got an elliptical machine, but I haven't used it nearly enough to make things any better. And I haven't curbed my eating like I should.
So I'm looking at starting the new year in pretty much the same place that I did last January. I need to lose weight.
But there's a new twist to things. Namely, we've decided that we really can't put off anymore the original purpose of this blog, which is PARENTHOOD. Having both turned 35 this past year, our biological clocks are, in the words of Marisa Tomei, ticking like THIS! As it stands, if I were to get pregnant in the next month or so, I would be able to deliver before turning 36 in October, but that basically puts us a 40-year-olds with a 4-year-old, and that would be the first child. What about any subsequent kids? If we're going to have the energy to be parents, we need to get a move on, so to speak.
So we've decided that, despite not having made any headway on the weightloss front, we are going to go ahead and let my birth control pill prescription lapse this month. As a matter of fact, today will be the final pill I will take. I am still taking my blood pressure medication, but I am going to try and let that one lapse as well, probably next month. This means I MUST LOSE WEIGHT ASAP. I have to get my blood pressure under control so that I don't need the meds. I need to get on the elliptical machine, and I need to go purchase some hand weights so I can lift.
So here I go again, as Whitesnake observed. This is for real. If only people would stop offering me Christmas cookies.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Day 319 - 11/16/09
Today's weigh-in: 204.6
Well, yes, things are not entirely going to plan. I have not managed to lose any weight yet. But it's really more about the food than the exercise. I have been running (well, "wogging") in the mornings. Plus, we bought an elliptical machine, and I have been using that.
It's really about the food. I have yet to implement my "serving spoon" plan, where I only eat a single serving spoon scoop of whatever our entree is. We haven't been eating out as much, which is good, but I really have to get control of the eating.
I am enjoying my new house, though! I'm still waiting for my mother-in-law to ask about kids again, because I'm sure it's coming. But I don't mind. We'll get there. At least now if we do have a kid, we have somewhere to house the little tyke.
Well, yes, things are not entirely going to plan. I have not managed to lose any weight yet. But it's really more about the food than the exercise. I have been running (well, "wogging") in the mornings. Plus, we bought an elliptical machine, and I have been using that.
It's really about the food. I have yet to implement my "serving spoon" plan, where I only eat a single serving spoon scoop of whatever our entree is. We haven't been eating out as much, which is good, but I really have to get control of the eating.
I am enjoying my new house, though! I'm still waiting for my mother-in-law to ask about kids again, because I'm sure it's coming. But I don't mind. We'll get there. At least now if we do have a kid, we have somewhere to house the little tyke.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Day 291 - 10/18/09
Today's weight: 204.2
Yeah, I know. I'm still wavering in that horrible no-man's land just north of 200 lbs, which is not where I want to be. But there is hope, in the form of some updates...
As far as the house goes, we close on Oct. 27, so just over a week away. Just trying to get the finances in order to have our money together for the closing. This is so exciting! We've been married for ten years and we've always rented. Somehow, this just makes me feel like an adult. Funny, I know, for someone who's about to turn 35 (this coming Tuesday, yippee).
On the weight loss front, obviously not much to report. Although I've been jogging in the mornings, I haven't been able to get a grip on the eating. But we've decided to really try to eat better. We're going to cut back on the eating out, and I'm going to restrict myself to a serving spoon sized portion of the entree we're eating, instead of filling the plate with the main course, and then loading up on the veggies. Hopefully this week will show some improvements.
Also, we've purchased another tool to help: the Wii Fit. It's got a balance board that you stand on, and then you follow the directions of the games. There are games for balance, games for aerobics, yoga, you name it. And then there are personal trainer games that you can purchase as well, including games from the Biggest Loser trainers. You create a profile that is stored on the hard drive of the Wii console, and it records your weight (since the balance board can function as a scale), the amount of time you spend playing the games, and its estimate of how many calories you've burned. You can even set up goals for weight loss and you can create your own personalized training program. I spent almost an hour on it this morning, and I didn't even work my way through all the games. It was a little disheartening to have a video game tell me I was obese and "unbalanced" (my core strength, not my state of mind, thank you very much), but at least it is a fun way to get in another workout. If I can run in the mornings, maybe get on my bike when the weather is nice, and spend an hour or so each day playing the Wii Fit, maybe I can finally lose some weight.
We're also looking at other ways to get our exercising back on track. In our new house, we've got a big basement living room. We are thinking about setting it up as a workout room for now. We would like to put another TV down there for the video games and exercise videos, plus an elliptical machine, some dumbbell weights and a bench, and stationary bikes. For the bikes, we want to get the stands that turn your regular bike into a stationary bike by lifting it up off the ground. Both of us have older mountain bikes that we'd like to replace, so we could use the older bikes with new slick tires on the stationary stands and ride new mountain bikes around when the weather is nice.
Of course, much of that is in the future; we don't have the finances to just whip out there and go buy all this stuff. But hopefully it will make our working out more interesting. Also, there's a foundation here in Billings that is trying to get a pool built in the area where we live. That will make the summers nice.
So we're trying. Hopefully this time we'll make some actual progress.
Yeah, I know. I'm still wavering in that horrible no-man's land just north of 200 lbs, which is not where I want to be. But there is hope, in the form of some updates...
As far as the house goes, we close on Oct. 27, so just over a week away. Just trying to get the finances in order to have our money together for the closing. This is so exciting! We've been married for ten years and we've always rented. Somehow, this just makes me feel like an adult. Funny, I know, for someone who's about to turn 35 (this coming Tuesday, yippee).
On the weight loss front, obviously not much to report. Although I've been jogging in the mornings, I haven't been able to get a grip on the eating. But we've decided to really try to eat better. We're going to cut back on the eating out, and I'm going to restrict myself to a serving spoon sized portion of the entree we're eating, instead of filling the plate with the main course, and then loading up on the veggies. Hopefully this week will show some improvements.
Also, we've purchased another tool to help: the Wii Fit. It's got a balance board that you stand on, and then you follow the directions of the games. There are games for balance, games for aerobics, yoga, you name it. And then there are personal trainer games that you can purchase as well, including games from the Biggest Loser trainers. You create a profile that is stored on the hard drive of the Wii console, and it records your weight (since the balance board can function as a scale), the amount of time you spend playing the games, and its estimate of how many calories you've burned. You can even set up goals for weight loss and you can create your own personalized training program. I spent almost an hour on it this morning, and I didn't even work my way through all the games. It was a little disheartening to have a video game tell me I was obese and "unbalanced" (my core strength, not my state of mind, thank you very much), but at least it is a fun way to get in another workout. If I can run in the mornings, maybe get on my bike when the weather is nice, and spend an hour or so each day playing the Wii Fit, maybe I can finally lose some weight.
We're also looking at other ways to get our exercising back on track. In our new house, we've got a big basement living room. We are thinking about setting it up as a workout room for now. We would like to put another TV down there for the video games and exercise videos, plus an elliptical machine, some dumbbell weights and a bench, and stationary bikes. For the bikes, we want to get the stands that turn your regular bike into a stationary bike by lifting it up off the ground. Both of us have older mountain bikes that we'd like to replace, so we could use the older bikes with new slick tires on the stationary stands and ride new mountain bikes around when the weather is nice.
Of course, much of that is in the future; we don't have the finances to just whip out there and go buy all this stuff. But hopefully it will make our working out more interesting. Also, there's a foundation here in Billings that is trying to get a pool built in the area where we live. That will make the summers nice.
So we're trying. Hopefully this time we'll make some actual progress.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Day 273 - 9/30/09
Today's weigh-in: 201.2
Well, that's a bit of good news. Hopefully, it isn't all water weight (although it could be). I've been trying to be more active (run/walk with the dog in the mornings, some calisthenics at home) and trying to eat better, or at least eat a little less. I'm using Calorie Count to track my calories consumed and burned. I'm also using an iPhone app called Pocket Workout. It gives you a schedule and some no-equipment-needed exercises to do wherever you are. It's just helping me come up with some exercises to do at home while I'm just sitting around. I really need to get on this. I told myself while we were still languishing in the South that once we moved, it would be a new start and I'd hit the weight loss hard, but I've spent pretty much two whole months now not really doing anything about it. First of all, I really need to lose the weight, for health reasons. I'm about 50 lbs overweight. Second, we've got season tickets to one of the ski resorts in the area, and I need to get in shape enough to survive skiing and make the expense worthwhile. And most importantly, I've put a moratorium on shopping for clothes until I can drop some sizes. But I REALLY need to shop soon, because we've hit fall, and we're expecting some possible snowfall next week. I have only one pair of jeans to my name, and I need some winter clothes.
I've subbed once so far and survived it. I'm still getting set up with some of the school districts, but I'm set up with three. So hopefully I'll get some more days, and get some more money. Since we're in the midst of loan processing for the house, we can use all the money we can get.
Well, that's a bit of good news. Hopefully, it isn't all water weight (although it could be). I've been trying to be more active (run/walk with the dog in the mornings, some calisthenics at home) and trying to eat better, or at least eat a little less. I'm using Calorie Count to track my calories consumed and burned. I'm also using an iPhone app called Pocket Workout. It gives you a schedule and some no-equipment-needed exercises to do wherever you are. It's just helping me come up with some exercises to do at home while I'm just sitting around. I really need to get on this. I told myself while we were still languishing in the South that once we moved, it would be a new start and I'd hit the weight loss hard, but I've spent pretty much two whole months now not really doing anything about it. First of all, I really need to lose the weight, for health reasons. I'm about 50 lbs overweight. Second, we've got season tickets to one of the ski resorts in the area, and I need to get in shape enough to survive skiing and make the expense worthwhile. And most importantly, I've put a moratorium on shopping for clothes until I can drop some sizes. But I REALLY need to shop soon, because we've hit fall, and we're expecting some possible snowfall next week. I have only one pair of jeans to my name, and I need some winter clothes.
I've subbed once so far and survived it. I'm still getting set up with some of the school districts, but I'm set up with three. So hopefully I'll get some more days, and get some more money. Since we're in the midst of loan processing for the house, we can use all the money we can get.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Day 265 - 9/22/09
Today's weigh-in: 204.2 (clothed)
Well, I've unpacked the scale, and it isn't good news. Although I've been talking long jog-walks with the dog in the mornings, I'm pretty sedentary the rest of the day, so the exercise thing is pretty much a wash, and I'm sure I'm eating more during the day than I should, just by nibbling. So I'm not in a great place right now.
However, there is some good news. Although I haven't actually subbed yet, I'm on an active sub list for one school district, and I have received a few calls. Also, my husband and I have put in an offer on a house, and we're hoping to hear today if they'll accept, reject, or counter. And as the weather cools off, we're looking forward to when the snow arrives and we can start using our season tickets to Red Lodge.
Once we have a house and I get some money together from teaching, we can starting thinking about kids again. So I'm still a mother-to-be-to-be, it just may be a year or two until I get around to that point. We'll see.
Well, I've unpacked the scale, and it isn't good news. Although I've been talking long jog-walks with the dog in the mornings, I'm pretty sedentary the rest of the day, so the exercise thing is pretty much a wash, and I'm sure I'm eating more during the day than I should, just by nibbling. So I'm not in a great place right now.
However, there is some good news. Although I haven't actually subbed yet, I'm on an active sub list for one school district, and I have received a few calls. Also, my husband and I have put in an offer on a house, and we're hoping to hear today if they'll accept, reject, or counter. And as the weather cools off, we're looking forward to when the snow arrives and we can start using our season tickets to Red Lodge.
Once we have a house and I get some money together from teaching, we can starting thinking about kids again. So I'm still a mother-to-be-to-be, it just may be a year or two until I get around to that point. We'll see.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day 244 - 9/1/09
Ok, it's been quite a while since my last post. We have indeed moved to Billings, MT, and have finally gotten an apartment, gotten most of the stuff unpacked, and gotten our internet connected. So here's the update.
We're renting an apartment, hopefully just for a few months until we get our finances together to buy a house. Some of our stuff is unpacked in the apartment, and the rest is in the single-car garage outside. The apartment is a bit of an improvement over the house we used to rent, honestly, but I'm still really excited about the possibility of buying a house.
I'm currently unemployed, unfortunately. We moved late enough in the summer that I missed any hiring opportunities in the schools here. However, I've turned in substitute teaching applications, so hopefully I'll start making a little money. It won't be much, but it's better than nothing.
I don't know what my current weight is, as the scale has not been unpacked. However, with all the eating out we've done as we've test-driven all the restaurants in town, I'm sure it isn't any better than it was before we left. So I'm estimating 200 lbs. I have started trying to run every morning, although I don't have much endurance. But we've moved to a part of the country where we should be able to be move active outside for much more of the year. We've even gotten season tickets at a local ski resort.
Anyway, this was just an update. More later!
We're renting an apartment, hopefully just for a few months until we get our finances together to buy a house. Some of our stuff is unpacked in the apartment, and the rest is in the single-car garage outside. The apartment is a bit of an improvement over the house we used to rent, honestly, but I'm still really excited about the possibility of buying a house.
I'm currently unemployed, unfortunately. We moved late enough in the summer that I missed any hiring opportunities in the schools here. However, I've turned in substitute teaching applications, so hopefully I'll start making a little money. It won't be much, but it's better than nothing.
I don't know what my current weight is, as the scale has not been unpacked. However, with all the eating out we've done as we've test-driven all the restaurants in town, I'm sure it isn't any better than it was before we left. So I'm estimating 200 lbs. I have started trying to run every morning, although I don't have much endurance. But we've moved to a part of the country where we should be able to be move active outside for much more of the year. We've even gotten season tickets at a local ski resort.
Anyway, this was just an update. More later!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Day 196 - 7/15/09
No idea about weight-in...past few were right around 199.
This is about the move. My husband FINALLY got an offer from the company in Billings, Montana, and we've decided to accept. So we're going to be moving. HOORAY! I'm so glad we finally know what's happening! All the waiting was driving me crazy.
Now for the hard part. I'm headed to school this morning to give notice This is going to be rough...
This is about the move. My husband FINALLY got an offer from the company in Billings, Montana, and we've decided to accept. So we're going to be moving. HOORAY! I'm so glad we finally know what's happening! All the waiting was driving me crazy.
Now for the hard part. I'm headed to school this morning to give notice This is going to be rough...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Day 181 - 6/30/09
*sigh* All I can report is that there is nothing to report. My husband flew to the corporate headquarters and spent today meeting with a number of people at the company. Although it sounds like it went well, all we know is that the company needs to consider their next step, and the head of the department will be out for the long holiday weekend, so we won't hear anything until next week. Again.
This is all just very frustrating. I am excited about the possibility of moving, but it's also very disconcerting for something this important to be so out of my control. Maybe if the knowledge that we were moving was all that was coming, it would be a little easier to wait. But the fact is, once we determine that we're moving, a whole list of things I have to do pops up. First of all, I will have to give notice at my school. I'll have to pack up everything in my classroom and say goodbye to my coworkers. Then there's the question of what I'll be doing wherever we end up living. Unless we were to make the decision that it's time to try and get pregnant (resulting in my staying home), I'll need to find a teaching job. That means applying for certification in whatever state we're in, and then applying for jobs. So once my husband's employment is decided, the rest of my world will be up in the air.
It's hard for me to accept that so much of my life is out of my control right now. I don't like being out of control.
Apparently, the limbo is just beginning...
This is all just very frustrating. I am excited about the possibility of moving, but it's also very disconcerting for something this important to be so out of my control. Maybe if the knowledge that we were moving was all that was coming, it would be a little easier to wait. But the fact is, once we determine that we're moving, a whole list of things I have to do pops up. First of all, I will have to give notice at my school. I'll have to pack up everything in my classroom and say goodbye to my coworkers. Then there's the question of what I'll be doing wherever we end up living. Unless we were to make the decision that it's time to try and get pregnant (resulting in my staying home), I'll need to find a teaching job. That means applying for certification in whatever state we're in, and then applying for jobs. So once my husband's employment is decided, the rest of my world will be up in the air.
It's hard for me to accept that so much of my life is out of my control right now. I don't like being out of control.
Apparently, the limbo is just beginning...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day 176 - 6/25/09
Weigh-in: 198.2
Slowly. Very slowly.
I was reading an article online about celebrities who lose their pregnancy weight very quickly. A number of people complain about magazines posting such stories, titled things like "50 lbs in 6 wks! How DID she do it?!" Because it's rarely weight lost in a normal-person way. Instead, the celebrities get trainers and chefs on their staff to take control of the diet and exercise. They can afford to spend both the money and the time each day to nothing but working out. Then they appear in public six or eight weeks after the delivery, looking fabulous, so that the paparazzi can take photos and write stories titled "She lost the weight in 6 weeks! Read how!"
Anyway, I found it entertaining--I looked up an article that gave away the "secrets" of such skinny people as Uma Thurman and Debra Messing. At least Messing's "secret" was a normal-person move: she just breastfed. A lot. Not, since she's got a superskinny frame anyway, I'm sure she has a better than average metabolism to help her out. But still. The best part of the article was at the end, when the author decided to state that losing the baby weight takes time. "Remember, it took nine months to put it on." Great. It's taken me eleven years to put my current weight on; is it going to take that long to remove? Crap.
Slowly. Very slowly.
I was reading an article online about celebrities who lose their pregnancy weight very quickly. A number of people complain about magazines posting such stories, titled things like "50 lbs in 6 wks! How DID she do it?!" Because it's rarely weight lost in a normal-person way. Instead, the celebrities get trainers and chefs on their staff to take control of the diet and exercise. They can afford to spend both the money and the time each day to nothing but working out. Then they appear in public six or eight weeks after the delivery, looking fabulous, so that the paparazzi can take photos and write stories titled "She lost the weight in 6 weeks! Read how!"
Anyway, I found it entertaining--I looked up an article that gave away the "secrets" of such skinny people as Uma Thurman and Debra Messing. At least Messing's "secret" was a normal-person move: she just breastfed. A lot. Not, since she's got a superskinny frame anyway, I'm sure she has a better than average metabolism to help her out. But still. The best part of the article was at the end, when the author decided to state that losing the baby weight takes time. "Remember, it took nine months to put it on." Great. It's taken me eleven years to put my current weight on; is it going to take that long to remove? Crap.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Day 174 - 6/23/09
Weigh-in: 199.2
Yeah, I know. At the beginning of the summer, I had such high hopes. I was going to work out a lot, watch what I ate, and enjoy some weight loss. Instead, I'm still sitting about the same place I've been for...I have no idea how long. Sad.
The first couple of weeks of the summer, I was doing pretty well. Then I let myself slack off for a variety of reasons, and I just haven't been able to get myself going again.
Part of it is my own usual slacker issues. This is certainly not a new problem. But it has been severely compounded by this state of limbo that we are in (see previous post). Since that post, where my husband had five interviews, there has been a sixth. And now, the company is flying him out to their corporate headquarters in North Dakota to spend the day interviewing face to face with...pretty much everybody, it sounds like. This is supposed to take place one week from today. So, while this certainly sounds like they are offering him the job, we have no details at all yet, and we're still in a state of limbo.
Needless to say, this makes it very difficult to convince myself to do any kind of school-related work whatsoever. But it also is making it hard for me to do anything else. Clean the house? Why, if we'll have to clean it again when we move everything? Rearrange the cabinets? Why, if we're just going to have to take everything out to pack? Go through the closets? Why, if we're just going to have to do it again when we pack up?
My husband makes a good point, that going through the stuff now might make it easier to pack it up when we need to. But it's not making it any easier to get myself going.
I was never very good at limbo.
Yeah, I know. At the beginning of the summer, I had such high hopes. I was going to work out a lot, watch what I ate, and enjoy some weight loss. Instead, I'm still sitting about the same place I've been for...I have no idea how long. Sad.
The first couple of weeks of the summer, I was doing pretty well. Then I let myself slack off for a variety of reasons, and I just haven't been able to get myself going again.
Part of it is my own usual slacker issues. This is certainly not a new problem. But it has been severely compounded by this state of limbo that we are in (see previous post). Since that post, where my husband had five interviews, there has been a sixth. And now, the company is flying him out to their corporate headquarters in North Dakota to spend the day interviewing face to face with...pretty much everybody, it sounds like. This is supposed to take place one week from today. So, while this certainly sounds like they are offering him the job, we have no details at all yet, and we're still in a state of limbo.
Needless to say, this makes it very difficult to convince myself to do any kind of school-related work whatsoever. But it also is making it hard for me to do anything else. Clean the house? Why, if we'll have to clean it again when we move everything? Rearrange the cabinets? Why, if we're just going to have to take everything out to pack? Go through the closets? Why, if we're just going to have to do it again when we pack up?
My husband makes a good point, that going through the stuff now might make it easier to pack it up when we need to. But it's not making it any easier to get myself going.
I was never very good at limbo.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Day 160 - 6/9/09
Didn't weigh in today either. Retaining water because of the TOTM and out of my blood pressure medication, so I'm sure the weigh-in wouldn't be accurate. The good news was that yesterday I took my blood pressure after a whole weekend of not taking my medication, and it wasn't too bad. 127/86. To be really good, it should have been below 120 and 80, but still, it wasn't half bad. I really should go to the gym, but I'm a bit crampy and lacking the motivation. Maybe I'll go on a bike ride this afternoon.
I feel a little "caught in limbo", as it were, and it's contributing my lack of enthusiasm for the to-do list. You see, my husband has had five interviews with a company in another state, and we're waiting for any news about whether or not they're going to offer him a job, and what the salary might be if they do. We've lived in the south now for eleven years, and that's after we only really intended to live here for two or three years while my husband went to school. We never meant to stay here this long. The south has never really felt like home, but no real opportunities have really presented themselves, and we've been relatively pleased with our jobs, so we've just kind of stayed here. Anyway, recently my husband has grown unhappy with his job, and he started pursuing other employment. He's interviewed with several companies in several different states, but nothing has come of it. This one job, however, seems it would the likely to produce an offer. I mean, you wouldn't think they'd waste five whole interviews if they weren't interested in him. But it remains to be seen if they really will offer him and job, and if it will be the kind of salary we'll accept (needs to be at least the same as what he currently makes).
All the stuff on my to-do list either has to do with school next fall or with the maintenance of our house (rental). I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to do any work on either thing, since if we move it would all be moot anyway. So I'm just kind of sitting around the house, not doing anything. Not good. I just wish we'd hear something.
NOTE: Not too long after I posted, my husband forwarded an e-mail to me that had come from the company he interviewed with. Basically, it just said that the guy who is making the hiring decision is out of the office this week and next, and so won't make any decisions until he is back in the office. That means the earliest we'd hear anything would be next Friday. *sigh*
I feel a little "caught in limbo", as it were, and it's contributing my lack of enthusiasm for the to-do list. You see, my husband has had five interviews with a company in another state, and we're waiting for any news about whether or not they're going to offer him a job, and what the salary might be if they do. We've lived in the south now for eleven years, and that's after we only really intended to live here for two or three years while my husband went to school. We never meant to stay here this long. The south has never really felt like home, but no real opportunities have really presented themselves, and we've been relatively pleased with our jobs, so we've just kind of stayed here. Anyway, recently my husband has grown unhappy with his job, and he started pursuing other employment. He's interviewed with several companies in several different states, but nothing has come of it. This one job, however, seems it would the likely to produce an offer. I mean, you wouldn't think they'd waste five whole interviews if they weren't interested in him. But it remains to be seen if they really will offer him and job, and if it will be the kind of salary we'll accept (needs to be at least the same as what he currently makes).
All the stuff on my to-do list either has to do with school next fall or with the maintenance of our house (rental). I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to do any work on either thing, since if we move it would all be moot anyway. So I'm just kind of sitting around the house, not doing anything. Not good. I just wish we'd hear something.
NOTE: Not too long after I posted, my husband forwarded an e-mail to me that had come from the company he interviewed with. Basically, it just said that the guy who is making the hiring decision is out of the office this week and next, and so won't make any decisions until he is back in the office. That means the earliest we'd hear anything would be next Friday. *sigh*
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Day 147 - 5/27/09
Didn't weigh-in this morning. I'm sure it wouldn't have been pretty if I had.
Anyway, tomorrow begins my summer, officially. While I will have a few variations in my schedule, here's what I'm contemplating:
6:00 a.m. (or so) My husband's alarm should go off (the first time). I'll get up and take the dog for a walk, and get my gym gear together. I'll eat something quick and head out to the gym. It's possible I might head out earlier, if he wants to go to the gym as well.
7:00-10:00 I will hit the gym and do a combination of swimming, weights, racquetball, and other cardio.
10:00-11:00 Shower and get dressed, run any errands I need to run while I'm out, and head home.
11:00-12:00 Lunch and minor housekeeping (like laundry and dishes).
12:00-1:00 Practice guitar, crochet, video games, or whatever.
1:00-2:30 Major housekeeping jobs, like sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, and general organization. A major job that needs accomplishing is the organization of the kitchen cabinets.
2:30-4:00 School work. Assuming I am still teaching at the same school this coming school year (my husband has been interviewing with some out-of-town jobs so it's possible we might move), I am making some significant changes to the curriculum I've taught for the past seven years, and I need to get it all ironed out ahead of time.
4:00-5:30 This will be time for my afternoon working out. I might go skating, or biking, or running (assuming it isn't ridiculously hot), or perhaps even do some of my cardio videos either on DVD or On-Demand TV (walking workouts and Turbo Jam, a kind of martial arts/hip hop workout).
5:30-6:00 Get dinner ready. I need to work on some recipes that are easy to make and not calorie-intensive.
6:00-10:00 Whatever. I need to spend more time with my husband; I neglect him a lot, and I shouldn't.
So, that's the plan. Can I stick with it? No idea. But let's give it a shot...
Anyway, tomorrow begins my summer, officially. While I will have a few variations in my schedule, here's what I'm contemplating:
6:00 a.m. (or so) My husband's alarm should go off (the first time). I'll get up and take the dog for a walk, and get my gym gear together. I'll eat something quick and head out to the gym. It's possible I might head out earlier, if he wants to go to the gym as well.
7:00-10:00 I will hit the gym and do a combination of swimming, weights, racquetball, and other cardio.
10:00-11:00 Shower and get dressed, run any errands I need to run while I'm out, and head home.
11:00-12:00 Lunch and minor housekeeping (like laundry and dishes).
12:00-1:00 Practice guitar, crochet, video games, or whatever.
1:00-2:30 Major housekeeping jobs, like sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, and general organization. A major job that needs accomplishing is the organization of the kitchen cabinets.
2:30-4:00 School work. Assuming I am still teaching at the same school this coming school year (my husband has been interviewing with some out-of-town jobs so it's possible we might move), I am making some significant changes to the curriculum I've taught for the past seven years, and I need to get it all ironed out ahead of time.
4:00-5:30 This will be time for my afternoon working out. I might go skating, or biking, or running (assuming it isn't ridiculously hot), or perhaps even do some of my cardio videos either on DVD or On-Demand TV (walking workouts and Turbo Jam, a kind of martial arts/hip hop workout).
5:30-6:00 Get dinner ready. I need to work on some recipes that are easy to make and not calorie-intensive.
6:00-10:00 Whatever. I need to spend more time with my husband; I neglect him a lot, and I shouldn't.
So, that's the plan. Can I stick with it? No idea. But let's give it a shot...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Day 146 - 5/26/09
Wow. I'm a total slacker. But I've been really busy with end-of-the-school-year stuff and just haven't had any reason to blog.
Anyway, nothing going on in the weight loss area either. Today's weigh-in: 196.2. Meh.
But the good news is, I will be starting up my new diet and weight loss routine on Thursday, after my end-of-the-year school activities are over. I just need to figure out what that routine IS.
Anyway, nothing going on in the weight loss area either. Today's weigh-in: 196.2. Meh.
But the good news is, I will be starting up my new diet and weight loss routine on Thursday, after my end-of-the-year school activities are over. I just need to figure out what that routine IS.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Day 126 - 5/6/09
Weigh-in: ??
Did not have a chance to weigh-in this morning, because I was running late (having your beauty sleep interrupted by wailing tornado sirens does not do good things to your morning schedule). But I'm sure it was as crappy as every other weigh-in has been lately. It's been pretty depressing, really. I mean, I've been sweating working out, so I know it should have some impact on my waistline, but I simply have nothing to show for it. Meh.
Anyway, I'm not the only one who has hit a serious slump. Actress Kirstie Alley, whom I have been fond of ever since her days on Cheers and her appearance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, had notoriously plumped up in the late 1990's and early 2000's, then lost 75 lbs as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.
Poor Kirstie has hit a new low, er, high, er, whatever, after severing ties with the company. Here is an article from People about her fall from grace.
KIRSTIE ALLEY: "YES, I GAINED 83 POUNDS" by Elizabeth Leonard, 5/6/09
When Kirstie Alley stepped on the scale for the first time in 15 months, it wasn't pretty. "I started screaming," recalls Alley, sipping homemade fruit-infused water in her Hollywood kitchen. "It said 228 lbs., which is my highest weight ever. I was so much more disgusting than I thought!"
But looking back, Alley, 58, is hardly shocked. During her three-year stint as a Jenny Craig spokeswoman, she famously trimmed down to 145 lbs. after losing and keeping off 75 lbs. But since parting ways with the company in 2007, she had not worked out and banished her gym equipment to the garage. As for her diet, her small, low-calorie portions gave way to Chinese takeout and pasta drenched with butter. "I fell off the horse," says the 5'8" star.
Today, Alley says she is primed to hire a trainer, toss the butter and sign up for a triathlon in order to whittle her "schlumpy" figure back down to a bikini-ready 140 lbs. "I'm going to have to work harder than last time," she says, but "I'm way excited." In a candid interview, Alley sat down with PEOPLE's Elizabeth Leonard to talk about how she piled on the pounds – and how she plans to get her body, confidence and – yes! – even her groove back.
Okay, how did this happen?
It started with New Year's [2008], right after leaving Jenny Craig. When you're a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, there's responsibility. You have a person every week standing over you when you get on the scale, and I did it naked because those panties could weigh 30 lbs.! It was amazingly successful. But the first nail in the coffin was that I didn't have to weigh in. I just sort of went wild.
Did you go right back to indulging in cakes and pies the way you did the first time you let yourself go?
It wasn't the exact same M.O. My food demons are Chinese food, sugar, butter. A lot of butter. If I'm at the movies, usually I eat popcorn without butter, but I'd say, "I'm at the movies, so who cares?" And toast with butter. Or let's say I had two cups of pasta and six tablespoons of butter on it. There was a lot of butter going on.
What else would you eat?
For seven months I was a vegetarian, and I can't tell you how much weight I gained being a vegetarian! A vegetarian would probably be eating vegetables. But to me being a vegetarian meant I'm going to eat enchiladas with no meat, and I'm going to eat lots of bread, lots of carbs.
What weight do you want to get down to?
I have to be below 140 to really look good. I have to work my legs like crazy. Actually, do you want my real goal? My real goal's always too low. I love the way I look at, like, 128. One time on Cheers, I weighed about 148 lbs., and they told me to lose, like, 20 lbs. Now, I'm 5'8", so at 148 lbs., I wasn't fat. But they're saying, "You know, you need to lose 20 lbs." So what does that put me at? 128. That's where I keep getting this number.
Are you self-conscious?
I'm totally inhibited. When I'm overweight I will not go out. With my closest friends, yeah. But you wouldn't see me at a premiere.
But you seem ready to turn your life around.
I'm ready to work. I messed up along the way, but I'm not going to concentrate on that. I'm gonna go, "You know what? Get back on the horse, lose the freakin' weight, and then just move forward!"
My story isn't all that dissimilar from Kirstie's, except for the whole being a famous actress part. I too am about 5'8", and I too went from about 150 lbs (my high school graduation weight) to a low of 125 lbs (when I had an eating disorder) and all the way up to over 220 lbs (when I realized I looked HORRIBLE and had to do something to change it). I also have an addiction to the kinds of food that pretty much make it impossible to lose weight: Chinese food, carbs, butter, starches, sugar, all the good stuff.
So, if Kirstie can try to lose the weight again, why can't I? What does she have that I don't have? (Besides the money to pay a personal trainer and a personal nutritionist and a personal chef, that is.) *sigh* Me and Kirstie, starting over.
Did not have a chance to weigh-in this morning, because I was running late (having your beauty sleep interrupted by wailing tornado sirens does not do good things to your morning schedule). But I'm sure it was as crappy as every other weigh-in has been lately. It's been pretty depressing, really. I mean, I've been sweating working out, so I know it should have some impact on my waistline, but I simply have nothing to show for it. Meh.
Anyway, I'm not the only one who has hit a serious slump. Actress Kirstie Alley, whom I have been fond of ever since her days on Cheers and her appearance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, had notoriously plumped up in the late 1990's and early 2000's, then lost 75 lbs as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.
Poor Kirstie has hit a new low, er, high, er, whatever, after severing ties with the company. Here is an article from People about her fall from grace.
KIRSTIE ALLEY: "YES, I GAINED 83 POUNDS" by Elizabeth Leonard, 5/6/09
When Kirstie Alley stepped on the scale for the first time in 15 months, it wasn't pretty. "I started screaming," recalls Alley, sipping homemade fruit-infused water in her Hollywood kitchen. "It said 228 lbs., which is my highest weight ever. I was so much more disgusting than I thought!"
But looking back, Alley, 58, is hardly shocked. During her three-year stint as a Jenny Craig spokeswoman, she famously trimmed down to 145 lbs. after losing and keeping off 75 lbs. But since parting ways with the company in 2007, she had not worked out and banished her gym equipment to the garage. As for her diet, her small, low-calorie portions gave way to Chinese takeout and pasta drenched with butter. "I fell off the horse," says the 5'8" star.
Today, Alley says she is primed to hire a trainer, toss the butter and sign up for a triathlon in order to whittle her "schlumpy" figure back down to a bikini-ready 140 lbs. "I'm going to have to work harder than last time," she says, but "I'm way excited." In a candid interview, Alley sat down with PEOPLE's Elizabeth Leonard to talk about how she piled on the pounds – and how she plans to get her body, confidence and – yes! – even her groove back.
Okay, how did this happen?
It started with New Year's [2008], right after leaving Jenny Craig. When you're a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, there's responsibility. You have a person every week standing over you when you get on the scale, and I did it naked because those panties could weigh 30 lbs.! It was amazingly successful. But the first nail in the coffin was that I didn't have to weigh in. I just sort of went wild.
Did you go right back to indulging in cakes and pies the way you did the first time you let yourself go?
It wasn't the exact same M.O. My food demons are Chinese food, sugar, butter. A lot of butter. If I'm at the movies, usually I eat popcorn without butter, but I'd say, "I'm at the movies, so who cares?" And toast with butter. Or let's say I had two cups of pasta and six tablespoons of butter on it. There was a lot of butter going on.
What else would you eat?
For seven months I was a vegetarian, and I can't tell you how much weight I gained being a vegetarian! A vegetarian would probably be eating vegetables. But to me being a vegetarian meant I'm going to eat enchiladas with no meat, and I'm going to eat lots of bread, lots of carbs.
What weight do you want to get down to?
I have to be below 140 to really look good. I have to work my legs like crazy. Actually, do you want my real goal? My real goal's always too low. I love the way I look at, like, 128. One time on Cheers, I weighed about 148 lbs., and they told me to lose, like, 20 lbs. Now, I'm 5'8", so at 148 lbs., I wasn't fat. But they're saying, "You know, you need to lose 20 lbs." So what does that put me at? 128. That's where I keep getting this number.
Are you self-conscious?
I'm totally inhibited. When I'm overweight I will not go out. With my closest friends, yeah. But you wouldn't see me at a premiere.
But you seem ready to turn your life around.
I'm ready to work. I messed up along the way, but I'm not going to concentrate on that. I'm gonna go, "You know what? Get back on the horse, lose the freakin' weight, and then just move forward!"
My story isn't all that dissimilar from Kirstie's, except for the whole being a famous actress part. I too am about 5'8", and I too went from about 150 lbs (my high school graduation weight) to a low of 125 lbs (when I had an eating disorder) and all the way up to over 220 lbs (when I realized I looked HORRIBLE and had to do something to change it). I also have an addiction to the kinds of food that pretty much make it impossible to lose weight: Chinese food, carbs, butter, starches, sugar, all the good stuff.
So, if Kirstie can try to lose the weight again, why can't I? What does she have that I don't have? (Besides the money to pay a personal trainer and a personal nutritionist and a personal chef, that is.) *sigh* Me and Kirstie, starting over.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Day 125 - 5/5/09
Weigh-in: 196.6
Crap.
Some big disappointments lately. Obviously one would be my weight. Despite my working out four times each week, I haven't lost a lick. It's very frustrating. Clearly I need to rethink my diet. That HAS to be a significant part of the problem.
The other disappointment is my blood pressure. I have been taking a fairly low dosage of Lisinopril for several years, but I know that blood pressure medication is something they prefer a pregnant woman not take due to its possible effects on the fetus. So I was curious the other day to see what my unmedicated pressure might be. I hadn't taken my medication for several days, so I took my bp. 146/98. The first number is definitely high, but that could be attributed to my being overweight and having eaten Chinese food the night before. But the second number, which is the one that tends to be more heredity than anything else, was WAY too high. Very unfortunate. I was hoping I had made more progress than this.
So I still have lots of work to do, and I have made pretty much ZERO progress. And now I have less than three weeks until school gets out. Guess I need to revamp my goals, AGAIN. *sigh*
Crap.
Some big disappointments lately. Obviously one would be my weight. Despite my working out four times each week, I haven't lost a lick. It's very frustrating. Clearly I need to rethink my diet. That HAS to be a significant part of the problem.
The other disappointment is my blood pressure. I have been taking a fairly low dosage of Lisinopril for several years, but I know that blood pressure medication is something they prefer a pregnant woman not take due to its possible effects on the fetus. So I was curious the other day to see what my unmedicated pressure might be. I hadn't taken my medication for several days, so I took my bp. 146/98. The first number is definitely high, but that could be attributed to my being overweight and having eaten Chinese food the night before. But the second number, which is the one that tends to be more heredity than anything else, was WAY too high. Very unfortunate. I was hoping I had made more progress than this.
So I still have lots of work to do, and I have made pretty much ZERO progress. And now I have less than three weeks until school gets out. Guess I need to revamp my goals, AGAIN. *sigh*
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Day 118 - 4/28/09
Weigh-in: 197.2
Eh. I was sick most of last week and didn't work out much or very hard. Ate badly all weekend, ate pasta and bread for dinner last night. So I guess that's about where it's at. I need more work. I need to eat better.
Great article on ParentingHelpMe.com about parents and privacy: Responsible Mom vs. Cool Mom
She does a great job of explaining how you can still be somewhat "cool" and yet have control of your child's Internet access and computer usage. I think it's really important to remember that your job as a parent is not to be a friend, but rather BE A PARENT.
Eh. I was sick most of last week and didn't work out much or very hard. Ate badly all weekend, ate pasta and bread for dinner last night. So I guess that's about where it's at. I need more work. I need to eat better.
Great article on ParentingHelpMe.com about parents and privacy: Responsible Mom vs. Cool Mom
She does a great job of explaining how you can still be somewhat "cool" and yet have control of your child's Internet access and computer usage. I think it's really important to remember that your job as a parent is not to be a friend, but rather BE A PARENT.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Day 113 - 4/23/09
Weigh-in: 194.2
This ties my lowest weight to date (man, that's sad). It was a little gratifying yesterday to go to the doctor and at least find out that, even clothed, I was four pounds lighter than the last time I'd been there, back in November. But that's pretty mortifying too. Four pounds in five months. That means I'll be my target weight in only...5 years! Ouch.
Anyway, not much to report on the pregnancy scene. We are still in a holding pattern, based on finances and location. However, my hubby has gotten a few nibbles in the job market, and will be scheduling some phone interviews. So far, none of them are in the location we most want to move to (Boise, ID), but they aren't bad, and they've gotta be better than the dirty South.
Did read one thing that surprised me: studies have shown that women who use a hot tub or jacuzzi while pregnant are as much as twice as likely to have a miscarriage than women who do not use a hot tub. That's BIG. While I am not a huge hot tubber, I have been known to sit in them occasionally. Apparently the heat affects fast-growing cells and can damage the development of the fetus. Guess that means avoiding a really hot bath, too. I can't imagine a short shower would cause any harm. But I'm sure a lot of pregnant women have looked to a hot tub for some back relief. Scary. I guess they do usually post warnings, though. But still.
Been sick this week--bronchitis--so I haven't worked out much. Hopefully next week will be better.
This ties my lowest weight to date (man, that's sad). It was a little gratifying yesterday to go to the doctor and at least find out that, even clothed, I was four pounds lighter than the last time I'd been there, back in November. But that's pretty mortifying too. Four pounds in five months. That means I'll be my target weight in only...5 years! Ouch.
Anyway, not much to report on the pregnancy scene. We are still in a holding pattern, based on finances and location. However, my hubby has gotten a few nibbles in the job market, and will be scheduling some phone interviews. So far, none of them are in the location we most want to move to (Boise, ID), but they aren't bad, and they've gotta be better than the dirty South.
Did read one thing that surprised me: studies have shown that women who use a hot tub or jacuzzi while pregnant are as much as twice as likely to have a miscarriage than women who do not use a hot tub. That's BIG. While I am not a huge hot tubber, I have been known to sit in them occasionally. Apparently the heat affects fast-growing cells and can damage the development of the fetus. Guess that means avoiding a really hot bath, too. I can't imagine a short shower would cause any harm. But I'm sure a lot of pregnant women have looked to a hot tub for some back relief. Scary. I guess they do usually post warnings, though. But still.
Been sick this week--bronchitis--so I haven't worked out much. Hopefully next week will be better.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Day 110 - 4/20/09
Weigh-in: 195.4
Hmm. Shouldn't have eaten pizza this weekend. Oh well.
Read an article on CNN.com today about obesity and its effects on global warming. Basically, the upshot is this: if you are fat, you are contributing more to global warming than a skinny person would. You are pretty much ruining the world. It costs more to transport and feed a heavy person (more fuel) and more to maintain the health of a heavy person. So, if you are fat you are draining the healthcare system and poking a hole in the ozone layer at the same time.
As Rex said in Toy Story, "Great! Now I have guilt!" Guess I need to lose weight to save the environment.
Of course, I could embrace the concept of Happy Fat instead...
Hmm. Shouldn't have eaten pizza this weekend. Oh well.
Read an article on CNN.com today about obesity and its effects on global warming. Basically, the upshot is this: if you are fat, you are contributing more to global warming than a skinny person would. You are pretty much ruining the world. It costs more to transport and feed a heavy person (more fuel) and more to maintain the health of a heavy person. So, if you are fat you are draining the healthcare system and poking a hole in the ozone layer at the same time.
As Rex said in Toy Story, "Great! Now I have guilt!" Guess I need to lose weight to save the environment.
Of course, I could embrace the concept of Happy Fat instead...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Day 108 - 4/18/09
Weigh-in: 194.4
Sweet. Of course, I just went and ate two big pieces of deep dish pizza to celebrate. Naturally.
Just a brief note for entertainment. I found a site of a guy whose parenting philosophy stems from his life philosophy: Don't do anything that will embarrass you on the nightly news. He asked for some examples of embarrassing stories people had heard on the news. Not all of them are parenting related, but they're all pretty funny.
Just Don't Wanna End Up on the News
Sweet. Of course, I just went and ate two big pieces of deep dish pizza to celebrate. Naturally.
Just a brief note for entertainment. I found a site of a guy whose parenting philosophy stems from his life philosophy: Don't do anything that will embarrass you on the nightly news. He asked for some examples of embarrassing stories people had heard on the news. Not all of them are parenting related, but they're all pretty funny.
Just Don't Wanna End Up on the News
Friday, April 17, 2009
Day 107 - 4/17/09
Weigh-in: 195.8
That was a pretty nice surprise this morning, especially since I had two ice cream sandwiches yesterday and burritos for dinner last night (which are almost always the kiss of death for my morning weigh-in). I'm actually down three pounds from yesterday's weigh-in. Of course, there are many possible reasons: I took some Excedrin last night, which may have dehydrated me a bit and lowered the water weight; I'm coming to the end of my TOTM so the bloating may be going back down; perhaps the exercising I've been doing has actually been helping. Who knows?
I have been pretty good about working out this week. Nothing Monday (why ruin a perfectly good day off?), but I've hit the gym twice before work this week to lift weights, and I've been doing 30-minute walking and kickboxing cardio workouts with some coworkers during one of our planning periods at school (four times a week) for two weeks now. I've enjoyed it so much that I actually ordered some of the kickboxing videos (it's called "Turbo Jam", and it's a set of five videos for only three payments of blah blah blah) so that I can keep doing this at home during the summer. I can definitely feel the kickboxing workouts the next day.
Anyway, on to other topics.
Found an article today on ParentingHelpMe.com that is really interesting from a parent/teacher perspective. It's about children and social media (like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, etc.). While I don't have kids of my own yet, I do teach high school and am very aware of my students' relationship to their social networks.
The article is very brief--apparently it is a follow-up to another article, which I will have to look for--but cites some interesting statistics about kids on the computer. According to the article, about 3/4 of kids ages 12-17 are regular online participators, and and almost 2/3 of those kids have acknowledged that there is some information on their social networking site that could be embarrassing or harmful to them, if not now then when they grow up. The upshot of the article is that parents need to take an active role in their children's use of any and all social networking sites, to be aware of what information their child is posting or receiving and to actually limit or control harmful activity. The example the article used at the end was how unfortunate it would be for a picture of your son with a bong to show up on the Internet and harm his reputation or career, as in the case of Michael Phelps. This is a lesson I've been trying to impart to my students, but I don't know how successful I've been, because I refuse to be "friends" with any of them on Facebook.
That was a pretty nice surprise this morning, especially since I had two ice cream sandwiches yesterday and burritos for dinner last night (which are almost always the kiss of death for my morning weigh-in). I'm actually down three pounds from yesterday's weigh-in. Of course, there are many possible reasons: I took some Excedrin last night, which may have dehydrated me a bit and lowered the water weight; I'm coming to the end of my TOTM so the bloating may be going back down; perhaps the exercising I've been doing has actually been helping. Who knows?
I have been pretty good about working out this week. Nothing Monday (why ruin a perfectly good day off?), but I've hit the gym twice before work this week to lift weights, and I've been doing 30-minute walking and kickboxing cardio workouts with some coworkers during one of our planning periods at school (four times a week) for two weeks now. I've enjoyed it so much that I actually ordered some of the kickboxing videos (it's called "Turbo Jam", and it's a set of five videos for only three payments of blah blah blah) so that I can keep doing this at home during the summer. I can definitely feel the kickboxing workouts the next day.
Anyway, on to other topics.
Found an article today on ParentingHelpMe.com that is really interesting from a parent/teacher perspective. It's about children and social media (like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, etc.). While I don't have kids of my own yet, I do teach high school and am very aware of my students' relationship to their social networks.
The article is very brief--apparently it is a follow-up to another article, which I will have to look for--but cites some interesting statistics about kids on the computer. According to the article, about 3/4 of kids ages 12-17 are regular online participators, and and almost 2/3 of those kids have acknowledged that there is some information on their social networking site that could be embarrassing or harmful to them, if not now then when they grow up. The upshot of the article is that parents need to take an active role in their children's use of any and all social networking sites, to be aware of what information their child is posting or receiving and to actually limit or control harmful activity. The example the article used at the end was how unfortunate it would be for a picture of your son with a bong to show up on the Internet and harm his reputation or career, as in the case of Michael Phelps. This is a lesson I've been trying to impart to my students, but I don't know how successful I've been, because I refuse to be "friends" with any of them on Facebook.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Day 104 - 4/14/09
Today's Weigh-in: 198.2
I think; honestly, it was so long ago this morning I hardly remember. But that sounds right.
Started my rededication today. Since it's been 100 days with no progress, I'm basically finding myself starting over. So this morning I did it right: weights at the gym for an hour before work, and a 30-minute cardio workout during my planning period. Now it's back to the gym for more cardio. Wonder if I can keep this up?
I had an interesting discussion with my husband. We were joking about the potential gender of our potential children (no, still not working at the whole preggers thing; still just trying to lose the weight), and I commented that it was all up to my husband. "No," he said, "Women can influence the gender of the baby." I was unbelieving, but he said, "Look it up. It's all about eating cereal."
And gosh darned if he wasn't right. Well, it isn't ALL about cereal. But I've found numerous articles online that suggest that women who eat diets that are high in potassium, and women who eat higher calorie diets in general, are more likely to have boys than girls.
Sweet. So, I shouldn't be avoiding calories at all then--I should go on the Twinkie diet!
Not really, but I would like to have a boy at some point. I'm not good with the girly stuff. I have two nieces who are all about the pink and purple and sparkles. No thanks. Not that I don't love my nieces, but I wouldn't want to have to braid hair every day. Sheesh.
I think; honestly, it was so long ago this morning I hardly remember. But that sounds right.
Started my rededication today. Since it's been 100 days with no progress, I'm basically finding myself starting over. So this morning I did it right: weights at the gym for an hour before work, and a 30-minute cardio workout during my planning period. Now it's back to the gym for more cardio. Wonder if I can keep this up?
I had an interesting discussion with my husband. We were joking about the potential gender of our potential children (no, still not working at the whole preggers thing; still just trying to lose the weight), and I commented that it was all up to my husband. "No," he said, "Women can influence the gender of the baby." I was unbelieving, but he said, "Look it up. It's all about eating cereal."
And gosh darned if he wasn't right. Well, it isn't ALL about cereal. But I've found numerous articles online that suggest that women who eat diets that are high in potassium, and women who eat higher calorie diets in general, are more likely to have boys than girls.
Sweet. So, I shouldn't be avoiding calories at all then--I should go on the Twinkie diet!
Not really, but I would like to have a boy at some point. I'm not good with the girly stuff. I have two nieces who are all about the pink and purple and sparkles. No thanks. Not that I don't love my nieces, but I wouldn't want to have to braid hair every day. Sheesh.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Day 103 - 4/13/09
According to a study in the UK, pregnant women have an alarming chance of developing an eating disorder during the course of their pregnancy. Obviously, this is a major concern, because if women are either not consuming enough calories or purging them out using laxatives or vomiting, it could contribute to low birthweight in babies or even possibly premature birth.
Part of the cause could be general stress during pregnancy. Women have reported being stressed about the usual things, such as money, work, family issues, etc. Some became stressed about issues surrounding the birth of the baby--they feared that they would not love the child or the child would not love them, or that their spouses wouldn't help out enough, or that they would do things wrong in the raising of the baby. And one of the most significant causes of stress is the concern that the woman won't be able to get back down to her pre-pregnancy weight after the baby.
So, how does one keep from getting stressed while pregnant? It must be weird to have a life growing inside you. Ever see Alien? Wonder if that's how it feels? Hope not. That would be weird.
The Telegraph
Part of the cause could be general stress during pregnancy. Women have reported being stressed about the usual things, such as money, work, family issues, etc. Some became stressed about issues surrounding the birth of the baby--they feared that they would not love the child or the child would not love them, or that their spouses wouldn't help out enough, or that they would do things wrong in the raising of the baby. And one of the most significant causes of stress is the concern that the woman won't be able to get back down to her pre-pregnancy weight after the baby.
So, how does one keep from getting stressed while pregnant? It must be weird to have a life growing inside you. Ever see Alien? Wonder if that's how it feels? Hope not. That would be weird.
The Telegraph
Friday, April 10, 2009
Day 100 - 4/10/09
I didn't realize until I typed in the title of today's post that today was Day 100. I had hoped that my weigh-in this morning would be something fantastic, something in the 175 lbs range, since I've been trying to lose weight for more than three months.
So this is a bit of a disappointment.
Weigh-in: 196.4
Eh. At least I've been getting 30 minutes of cardio several times each week. I've been working out with some fellow teachers during our planning period, and we've been doing some of those walking workouts. They've actually been a lot of fun, and it's been nice to share my workout with some people without having an actual trainer yelling at us. Sort of fun. I don't see anything with the weight loss yet, but it feels good to do it each time.
On to the info. I posted last time about the possible dangers of too much folic acid. I got this info in an e-mail that was sent out from my fitness club. Here's what they said about vitamin B (which includes folate/folic acid).
Regular exercise can increase your need for many nutrients. Because of your commitment to your exercise routine, eating foods high in Vitamin B may have a positive effect on your well-being and your workout.
Healthy Lifestyle Tip: Benefits of B
There's a new kind of comfort food in town. To feel better, eat plenty of foods rich in B vitamins. Along with reversing moodiness, irritability, impatience, tension, anger, and depression, B vitamins may increase energy and promote a sense of well-being. Stock up on some of the best food sources of B:
For B1 (thiamin): wheat germ, peas, long-grain brown rice, lentils, and whole-wheat bread
For B2 (riboflavin): fortified cereals, milk, almonds, and broccoli
For B3 (niacin): tuna, chicken, salmon, and fortified cereals
For B5 (pantothenic acid): yogurt, avocados, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and chicken
For B6: fortified cereals, bananas, salmon, and spinach
For B12: chicken, turkey, milk, and eggs
For folate: fortified cereals, lentils, garbanzo beans, orange juice
Source: webmd.com
So this is a bit of a disappointment.
Weigh-in: 196.4
Eh. At least I've been getting 30 minutes of cardio several times each week. I've been working out with some fellow teachers during our planning period, and we've been doing some of those walking workouts. They've actually been a lot of fun, and it's been nice to share my workout with some people without having an actual trainer yelling at us. Sort of fun. I don't see anything with the weight loss yet, but it feels good to do it each time.
On to the info. I posted last time about the possible dangers of too much folic acid. I got this info in an e-mail that was sent out from my fitness club. Here's what they said about vitamin B (which includes folate/folic acid).
Regular exercise can increase your need for many nutrients. Because of your commitment to your exercise routine, eating foods high in Vitamin B may have a positive effect on your well-being and your workout.
Healthy Lifestyle Tip: Benefits of B
There's a new kind of comfort food in town. To feel better, eat plenty of foods rich in B vitamins. Along with reversing moodiness, irritability, impatience, tension, anger, and depression, B vitamins may increase energy and promote a sense of well-being. Stock up on some of the best food sources of B:
For B1 (thiamin): wheat germ, peas, long-grain brown rice, lentils, and whole-wheat bread
For B2 (riboflavin): fortified cereals, milk, almonds, and broccoli
For B3 (niacin): tuna, chicken, salmon, and fortified cereals
For B5 (pantothenic acid): yogurt, avocados, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and chicken
For B6: fortified cereals, bananas, salmon, and spinach
For B12: chicken, turkey, milk, and eggs
For folate: fortified cereals, lentils, garbanzo beans, orange juice
Source: webmd.com
Monday, April 6, 2009
Day 96 - 4/6/09
Weigh-in: ???
Not sure. Haven't had a weigh-in recently. We have had houseguests, and since our scale is in a public room, and I traditionally weigh in au naturale, it seemed rather inappropriate to weigh in until our guests had departed. I will give it a shot tomorrow morning and see where I stand.
I have been working out; some teachers with whom I work have started a "work out club" during one of our shared planning periods, so I've gotten to do some of those Leslie Sammons 30-minute walking workouts. So far, so good.
On to interesting news. I read an article from the most recent issue of Nutrition Reviews regarding folic acid.
I did not even realize that folic acid was not a natural substance. Folate is a form of vitamin B. It helps prevent certain cancers and helps in the neural development of fetuses. However, folic acid is a synthetic form, and may actually aid the development of some cancers if taken in excess. Most Americans and others who live in well-developed countries get enough folic acid, despite suggestion to the contrary. So any folic acid taken in beyond that might actually be detrimental.
I guess this is why they suggest talking to your doctor before taking ANY prenatal supplements of any kind.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Day 90 - 3/31/09
Weigh-in: 196.2
A bit of a bummer--I was 194.4 two days ago, but I haven't manage to make it to the gym yet this week (I did great last week), and time at the driving range just does not compensate.
Saw this the other day and thought it was a hilarious depiction of the difference between a child's perception and an adult's. While you might both be speaking English, you obviously aren't speaking the same language.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Day 84 - 3/25/09
Weigh-in: 195.2
That's a manageable margin from yesterday--could be due to a variety of reasons, including pizza for dinner last night. I will soldier on!
I was reminded today of my baby names post. There are some weird ones out there, but there are some that I really like. I don't have an official list of baby names or anything, but there are a few I'm fond of, for girls. Not sure why I have girls' names and not boys', except perhaps for the fact that I'm exposed to so many more girls' names since I teach all girls.
I am very fond of Irish/Scottish names. This could be part heritage (I have a little of both in the ol' bloodline), or it could be because the names go so well with my last name (which is a "Mc" as I married a Scot), or it could simply be the teaching thing again (I teach at a Catholic school so I have a lot of Irish Catholic students).
Here's my list: kind of a mixed bag, to say the least.
Colleen--I love this name. My very best friend when I was an elementary school student was named Colleen. I'm not sure if it's a throwback to her or what.
Molly--I've had several students with this name, and they've all been pretty good kids. Plus it would go so well with my last name.
Siobhan--While I would not be unkind enough to saddle a child with this as a first name, it's a lovely, mysterious looking and sounding name (pronounced shee-van).
Noelle--Not Scottish or Irish, but still so beautiful. It has a nice, Christian feel to it. A bit Christmasy, perhaps, but still. This name is very personal to me. I had a dear friend named Noelle who was killed by a drunk driver when she was a senior in high school. We had joked at one time that we liked each other's names so much (she liked my middle name, Annette) that we would name our children after each other.
Sienna, or Sierra--A bit crunchy granola, perhaps, but pretty nonetheless. Although "Sierra Noelle" sounds like someone's country music Christmas album.
Kathleen--Back to the Scotch/Irish names. I like the versatility. She might be a Kathy, or a Kate, or a Katie, or a Lee. Maybe even a Kay.
Griffen--I taught a student named Griffen, and she was wonderful. The name is, too. I know a gryphon is a mythical beast and all that, but Griffen (or Griffin, I suppose) sounds tough but also light-hearted.
I've also had several students with what I had always considered to be boys' names (Kyle, Ryan) that were interesting--these girls were so pretty and feminine that their names were actually quite beautiful.
I don't know. Coming up with a good name is so darned hard. But I have plenty of time, as there is no deadline looming for me.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Day 83 - 3/24/09
Weigh-in: 194.8
Well, whatever I'm doing (I guess that would eating less and exercising, ha ha) seems to be working, sort of. I'm not going to win any speed contests for weight loss. I guess I should focus more on the fact that I've lost five pounds and not quite as much on the fact that I've lost five pounds IN THREE MONTHS. I'm such a slug. But hey--I've been to the gym two mornings in a row, which tops the number of times I've been since...well, I don't think I'd been to the gym since Spring Break started, so that's not bad.
Anyway, got to thinking about food cravings, since I already have them and I'm not even pregnant. What causes cravings? Why do people crave certain things, especially things they would never normally touch?
Certain cravings make sense. I myself crave bologna when my electrolytes get off-balance--it must be the salt, because it sure as heck isn't the flavor. I have not eaten bologna for enjoyment purposes since I was a kid and it was on my sandwich every day. Warm bologna, no. I also find myself craving steak upon occasion (well, a lot of occasions). I suspect one of two things: either a need for protein to repair muscle, or a low iron count in my blood (or the instincts of a raging carnivore--no vegetarian I). And it is true that around my TOTM I crave chocolate in greater levels than normal.
But why do women crave such silly, cliched things as pickles and ice cream? The ice cream I can handle, but pickles? Eww. I pick them off my hamburger. Why would I suddenly crave them if I don't like them? And why do some women crave outrageous things like dirt or paint chips? I'm really curious about the whole dirt thing, because I ate dirt as a child. Just sat down beside the driveway and crunched away. My mom got worried and took me to the doctor to have a bunch of blood tests, because she was just certain I had some terrible deficiency that was manifesting itself by making me crave dirt. The doctor ran all his tests and came back to my mother: "We've determined why your daughter eats dirt." My mother: "Why?" The doctor: "She likes it." I am not making this up. But I am wondering, could there have been SOMETHING missing from my diet to make dirt seem appealing?
A coworker of mine revealed to us all last week that she is pregnant, about 12 weeks along or so. I will be very curious to ask her if she has any cravings as she progresses. And perhaps someday I'll test myself to see what weirdness I might want. I like weird stuff anyway--Velveeta cheese with peanut butter on it was a childhood favorite.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Day 76 - 3/17/09
Today's weigh-in: 197.4
Well, it was expected. Water retention (TOTM) and Olive Garden make for a weigh-in nightmare, so really this wasn't bad at all. The weather is improving quite a bit (stuck in an ice storm last week), so hopefully working out will get easier and more interesting with the addition of outdoor activities.
Got to thinking about children's names again today. I did some searching a while back about popular children's names and the dilemma parents face when naming the kiddos. Do you go classic and sometimes boring? Or do you go modern and occasionally weird?
There's a lot of pressure for parents. This is the name the child will be known by for at least 18 years (at which point he or she could legally change the name if it's really bad), so you'd hate for the poor kid to be the laughing stock of the playground because his/her name rhymes with something unpleasant.
Here in the South many of the girls have family names, either really old-fashioned first names or family last names (often on the mother's side) as middle names.
As a parent, you want a good, positive, strong-sounding name with no negative connotations. (I'm pretty sure most families with the last name Manson will never again name their kid Charles.) The name should be interesting, but not freakish. And, at least for me, the desire is there to not come across as a total granola-munching hippie.
I've noticed that celebrities don't seem to have the same name worries as the rest of us do, since they seem so eager to give their kids WEIRD names. Here are just a few of the stranger ones:
-Arthur Ashe, the famous tennis player, has a daughter named Camera. At least it's not Racket.
-Erykah Badu, who is a victim of her own naming misfortune, has a son named Seven Sirius and a daughter named Puma. Just because you have a bad name doesn't mean your kids have to suffer as well.
-Nicholas Cage named his son Kal-el. For those who are culturally challenged, that's Superman's given name. No pressure there. Should've named the kid Clark instead.
-Cher's son's name is Elijah Blue, and her daughter's name is Chastity. How's that working out for her?
-Bob Geldof has three daughters: Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom, and Little Pixie. I know the man did a lot of drugs, but DAMN.
-Michael Hutchence, from INXS, named his daughter Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily. I could make a very tasteless joke here, but I will refrain. Instead, I'll point out that the mother is also the mother of Bob Geldof's poor girls. Could it be the mother's fault?
-Penn Jillette, the magician, has a daughter named Moxie CrimeFighter. How do you explain that to your kindergarten teacher?
-Simon LeBon from Duran Duran named all his girls after items in nature: Amber Rose Tamara, Saffron Sahara, and Tallulah Pine.
-Actor Rob Morrow named his daughter Tu. Get it? Tu Morrow? That's just mean.
-Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter's name is Apple and her son's name is Moses. These kids will have complexes later.
-Remember "Puck" from an early season of The Real World on MTV? His sons are Bogart Che Peyote and Rocco Kokopelli. I think a clue might be in the first boy's name.
-Actor Ving Rhames has a daughter named Reignbeau and a son named Freedom. What, no time to come up with a clever spelling for the boy?
-Robert Rodriguez, a movie director, decided to keep the monogramming cheap around his house by giving everyone the same initials: Rocket, Racer, Rebel, Rogue, and Rhiannon.
-Shannyn Sossamon, whose parents obviously had trouble spelling, named her son Audio Science. Apparently Shannyn has more problems than just spelling, as one could probably tell from her outfits and hairstyles in A Knight's Tale.
-Sylvester Stallone has been punched a few too many times in the head: Sage Moonblood, Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose, Scarlet Rose, and Seargeoh. I think that last one is pronounced "Sergio", but does it really matter?
-I can't quite decide if I like Bruce and Demi's girls or not: Rumer Glenn, Scout Larue, and Tallulah Belle. I secretly love the name Scout, since To Kill A Mockingbird is my favorite book, but I just don't know if I'd saddle a child with it.
-Of course, winner of the weird name parade still has to be Frank Zappa. His children are, bless their hearts, Dweezil, Ahmet, Moon Unit, and Diva Muffin. Wow.
I would mention Brad and Angelina's kids, but I've lost track of how many there are, and I'd hate to make this a long post...
Monday, March 16, 2009
Day 75 - 3/16/09
Ok, first, to apologize for that last post. I was trying to post in the car from my iPhone. Unfortunately, the phone would let me enter text in the "title" and "labels" boxes, but not in the actual box for the post itself. But somehow, since the post was labeled "failure", it seems just as appropriate to leave the post itself blank. Sort of sums it all up, really.
First order of business:
Today's weigh-in: 196.6
That's actually not bad. We had a lot of food on our trip this past weekend, good food like pasta, hamburgers, steak, that sort of thing. And I ended up kayaking only one day of the four that we were there, which means my activity level was not what it should have been. It could have been a weekend where I gained quite a bit, so I'm at least pleased that I actually had a small loss.
But small it truly is. I had hoped to have enough of a weight loss by now to start considering the idea of pregnancy, but since I've essentially made no progress at all that isn't yet an option. Also, we are holding off for at least a few more months to make a little more financial progress in the paying off of credit cards and other obligations. Hopefully we can start tucking some aside to save up for a time when we'll have to survive off one income.
So, it's kind of a moment to start over for me. I have ten weeks now until my summer break from school, and I hope to have made some weight loss progress by then. Cross your fingers.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Day 62 - 3/3/09
I thought this was pretty funny. I remember poking my fingers under the bathroom door, trying to get my mom's attention, because God forbid she spend five minutes alone anywhere in the house.
And then, the not-so-funny.
Yeah, I know.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Day 55 - 2/24/09
Weigh-in: 195.8
Well, I'm still hovering around the same basic weight from day to day, give or take, but that basic weight is very slowly dropping. I'm certainly not going to make the kind of progress I had hoped for, especially since it's only about two weeks until our big kayaking trip. But at least I am, for the most part, making progress.
But at the same time that I make this little progress, it seems that everything else is going backwards.
They always say "when it rains, it pours" and "bad things come in threes" and other such sayings about trouble coming in packs. It certainly seems to be true--celebrities seem to die in groupings, tragedies within a group of people seem to occur together. Here in our school community, we lose parents, cousins, grandparents, other family members, and friends in groupings.
But in regular daily life, it doesn't necessarily require "events" to cause pain and torment. Rather, it seems it's just a gradual increase of unhappiness, only needing one actual "event" perhaps to become the proverbial straw for the camel.
Every year we live in the South adds some unhappiness to our lives. We did not ever intend to live here this long. All the things we like to do (water sports, winter sports) are not easily found in the surrounding area. We've wanted to move for years, but we haven't ever found jobs or anything like that, and we don't have the money saved up to buy a house. So that's been frustrating; we've only recently begun trying to save for that.
But as we've stayed, we've grown less and less happy with our jobs. Oh, mine is fine, for the most part; I love teaching, but I'm tired of having technology shoved at me and forced into my curriculum. My school is very "cutting edge", and the teachers are expected to use as much technology as possible, with less regard for the actual usefulness. It's all about appearances. All this has eaten into my planning periods and my free time, time I would normally use to plan lessons and grade papers. It's also very stressful; we all feel like maybe our jobs could be in question if we don't utilize all our technology. I doubt they'll actually fire anyone, but it's still disconcerting.
My husband's job is even less happy. Changes in ownership and management have changed the power structure of the company; although my husband has technically received "promotions", he has actually moved down the power structure. He used to be included in planning and implementation decisions; now he feels he's been reduced to a button-pusher. He's looked for jobs, but the economy and job market being what they are, he hasn't found anything in any of the markets where we'd like to relocate. And he's being sent to FL, where the company's corporate headquarters are located, for a week and a half, at pretty much the worst time they could send him--I'm also supposed to be out of town, and then we're supposed to go kayaking; we're going to have a hard time paying for these tickets even though we get reimbursed for them after the fact, and who is going to watch the dog for this period of time?
Sorry, this whole thing probably seems really incoherent, but I'm just really disappointed with how everything is working out (or not working out), and I'd really like to do something to make my husband happier, but I don't know what to do. I'm just frustrated, and tired.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Day 51 - 2/20/09
Weigh-in: 195.0
Wow. Didn't expect that. And then I went and f***ed it up by going to a Chinese buffet for dinner tonight. I'm expecting 198 tomorrow morning--that'll teach me.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Day 50 - 2/19/09
Weigh-in: 196.8
Not sure what did it. I did eat a little earlier than usual yesterday and then went to kayaking roll class at a local pool, so perhaps it was that combination. Or maybe I just got really super dehydrated. Anyway, I'll take it.
Have you ever considered all the stuff you have to buy when you have a child? I'm not even talking about things like diapers, clothes, food...I'm just talking furniture. Think about all the items you should have in the baby's room.
Crib--you know, for hundreds of years parents have tossed their babies into cribs with nary a second thought. But now they have all these regulations about the cribs. No pillows, no big stuffed toys, no bulky blankets. Make sure old cribs don't have lead paint. Don't use cribs with cut-out openings or space between slats big enough for the baby's head to get stuck. No decorative attachments or finials that can catch on the baby's clothes. How did any of us ever survive? At this point, a cardboard box sounds safer. Oh no, wait...fire hazard.
Changing Table--washable. Padded. Tall rim around the outside so baby can't roll off. Security straps to put on baby, just in case. And never, ever leave baby unattended. Well, duh! Seems to me the security straps are just as dangerous as the drop to the floor might be. You need somewhere to store the diapers, creams, wipes, and powders that you can access but baby can't. And it might help if the design can be converted into a dresser or desk for when baby grows older. I didn't know Transformers made furniture. What exactly does this magical table look like? And does a kid really want a desk that he or she has pooped on?
Rocking Chair--if you don't have one of these in the child's room, you are a fool. Why lug the kid all through the house when you can rock him or her back to sleep and pop the little nugget back in the crib? Again, no lead paint of course. Long, fairly flat rockers so the child can't climb up on the chair and flip it as he/she gets older. Comfortable enough that you are not going to get pressure sores on your butt from all the sitting and rocking you are going to have to do.
And that's not even getting into the non-permanent furniture items, such as the high chair, bassinet, play pen, baby bouncy seat, car seat, stroller...
How much money is this going to cost?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Day 47 - 2/16/09
Weigh-in: 197.4
Well, this whole thing has been a total failure so far. I have been unable to motivate myself to work out. With only three weeks left before my Spring Break and the two trips I'll be taking then, it is unlikely that I will be able to lose significant weight by then. But I can't give up. If I don't do this, I'll never get to the point, health-wise, that I can have kids. So I have to figure out a way to do this.
I took some measurements today in the hope that I can give myself more motivation and more ways to gauge my progress.
Upper arm--15 inches
Bust--46 inches
Chest--38 inches
Waist--39 inches
Belly--43 inches
Hips--48 inches
Upper thigh--27 inches
Calf--17 inches
I at least made a surprising amount of progress this past weekend, somehow. I didn't think I ate particularly well--lots of pasta and bread--and I didn't get a whole lot of exercise other than walking a few blocks too and from my car. But somehow I ended up two pounds lighter than when I left. Not sure how that happened. If I can duplicate that every four days, like this past weekend, I can still lose 12 lbs by the time I go kayaking.
Let's see if I can get off my fat ass.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Day 40 - 2/9/09
Weigh-in: 198.8
Well, I got a little help from a rather unexpected (and unwanted) source yesterday. Went kayaking with my husband and some friends. Well, I say kayaking, but must less time was spent actually in the boat with paddle in head than I spent either swimming in the river (in February in Missouri, with ice floating downstream) or climbing the bluff alongside the river and hiking through the forest to get to where my boat had stopped to wait for me. Meh.
Anyway, it's over a 1 lb drop from the day before, so I'll take it. But I sure am tired and sore today.
I'm supposed to be starting my "12 weeks to weight loss" plan from About.com today, but I'm struggling with that age-old problem of motivation. Will I give in to temptation and just go home to my husband, dog, and television? Or will I battle on and fight the Monday night crowds at the gym? Stay tuned.
Oh, on another note, I found a BMR calculator online. BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It's supposed to show on the average how many calories your body uses daily, just to remain the same. My BMR, for a 34-year-old overweight female, was 1680. That means if I were to not exercise at all beyond my day to day activities at work and home, I would stay completely the same weight if I ate 1680 calories each day--no loss, no gain. Now, a more active person will have a much higher BMR, since they're burning more calories each day. The higher your BMR, the better shape you are in. I'm sure Michael Phelps has a BMR of something ridiculous, like 6000 (and that doesn't count the munchies). Anyway, for the most part I am not staying under that 1680 calories, which is where the exercise comes in. Again, we'll see what I can do today. I'm sore and beat up from my swims and hikes of yesterday, so I can't promise anything fantastic.
Oh, on another note, I found a BMR calculator online. BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It's supposed to show on the average how many calories your body uses daily, just to remain the same. My BMR, for a 34-year-old overweight female, was 1680. That means if I were to not exercise at all beyond my day to day activities at work and home, I would stay completely the same weight if I ate 1680 calories each day--no loss, no gain. Now, a more active person will have a much higher BMR, since they're burning more calories each day. The higher your BMR, the better shape you are in. I'm sure Michael Phelps has a BMR of something ridiculous, like 6000 (and that doesn't count the munchies). Anyway, for the most part I am not staying under that 1680 calories, which is where the exercise comes in. Again, we'll see what I can do today. I'm sore and beat up from my swims and hikes of yesterday, so I can't promise anything fantastic.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Day 38 - 2/7/09
Weigh-in: 200.4
It could have been so much worse. We had Pizza Hut's ultimate bacon-mac-and-cheese for dinner, along with breadsticks and their little mini fried apple pies. Yum! But oh so bad. Today probably won't give me good results tomorrow. Didn't eat healthy (although I had a lot of salads today), and the only exercise was an hour at the driving range. Not really a cardio activity.
I'm trying something else new. I Googled "weight loss fitness plan", and came up with a search result for About.com. When I looked at it, it offered a free 12-week weight loss plan, complete with exercises, dieting tips, and a calendar to track progress. It asks for you to start out by recording your weight and measurements. While I am painfully aware of my weight, I have not done any measuring of myself. I guess I need to do that; it should give me another way to tell if I'm having any success.
The first day, which will be Monday for me (we'll be kayaking tomorrow), focuses on interval training for cardio. It also suggests starting out just journaling the food consumption but not changing anything about the diet yet. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the food issue this week. Perhaps I can make a few dishes at the beginning of the week and stretch them out across the week. We'll see.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Day 36 - 2/5/09
Weigh-in: 200.4
Yes, I know. I have made zero progress. I have not been to the gym in weeks now, and I'm running out of excuses. I guess that could be a good thing. I do plan on going today after work, and I'd like to go tomorrow morning and then maybe hit the driving range in the afternoon. We did that last weekend, and it was nice to get out.
I've been really down lately. I've been unhappy about my weight, unhappy about my work, and I've just sort of let my emotions spiral down the toilet. I didn't realize that I was neglecting my husband so badly until last night when we had the first long serious talk we've had since...well, I guess since our drive in December where we discussed the idea of children. We had some disappointments lately--trouble with our house and landlord, family issues, money problems, and a job possibility for my husband in the town we'd love to move to that ended up washing out--and I guess I've let it get to me in more ways than I had realized.
Anyway, it was nice to talk to my husband and get some of these worries and concerns that we both have but hadn't shared with each other before out in the open. It made me realize that we were actually both stressing about some of the same things, but we hadn't talked to each other about them. My husband is my best friend, and when I come to the realization that I haven't been sharing my troubles with him, well, that's when I realize my priorities have gotten seriously out of whack.
So I've thought about the things in my life that I really need to focus on.
1) Family
I need to make sure that I always make time for my husband. It isn't fair for me to wallow in self-pity every day, dragging myself out of bed in the mornings, spending my evenings with my face glued to the computer, and burrowing into the bed at night without talking to him and finding out about his day. I also need to do a better job of communicating, with him and with the rest of my family. Since my mom died, my contact with my family has been my weekly phone call to my dad (which might last between 15-30 minutes for most weeks) and the occasional random e-mail or phone conversation with my brother. I really think I might have only talked to him twice last month. As my husband pointed out last night, sure he doesn't always call me, but when was the last time I called him?
2) Health
I need to take better care of myself. No more letting my bad eating habits gang up on me. No more workout avoidance. If I can't do something to help myself, I may have to spring for a fitness trainer. I can't move on with my life if this is the best I can do, because it will always end up consuming me (the irony, I know).
3) Finances
I need to stop spending. That movie Confessions of a Shopaholic is out in theatres, and I'm not really needing to see it because, heck, I've lived it. I love to buy things. Not just clothes, things. Books, movies, CDs, video games, etc. I'm always itching to spend money on something. Well, we'll never be able to afford to move to a better house, buy nicer furniture, or have a kid and the expenses that come with it if I can't get a rein on things. We did come up with a plan, sort of, that involves using our tax refund (thank God that's coming) to pay off some credit cards, funneling the money from those payments and our truck payment (since it's almost paid off) towards other cards and savings. Maybe in a few years we'll be lucky and persistent enough to have saved for a down payment on a house (assuming housing prices don't rocket backup).
4) Work
I've been half-assing it for a while at work, I guess, and I didn't realize it until this year, when I finally had to compare myself to another teacher who teaches the same class I do (I've never had to share a class before). She's efficient, she's organized, she prepares everything well in advance...basically, everything I DON'T do. She'll ask me for lesson plans or a syllabus so she can pattern her class on mine, and I'll have to whomp one together because I don't have one. Her class is way ahead of mine when it comes to the texts they're reading, and even she admitted to me the other day that she was "worried they wouldn't get it all done" before the end of the year. Well, if SHE'S stressed about packing it all in, imagine how I've been feeling! I've got to start preparing ahead of time and sticking to the plan. I guess I shouldn't really teach by the seat of my pants, as it were.
5) Home
I need to plan out some basic chores at the house--dishes, laundry, trash removal, dusting, vacuuming--and do them at the same time each day or each week. Otherwise things pile up and get nasty, and the more nasty they get the less I want to take care of them anyway. Maybe my house wouldn't be such a piece of crap if I tried to take better care of it.
Well, these are the things I need to focus on. I hope I can. Otherwise, my mental health will become more of a problem than my physical health has become.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Day 34 - 2/3/09
Weigh-in: 198.4
Yeah, I know. It's all the same. To be expected. I'm working on it. The usual, you know. But in the meantime, I thought the above cartoon summed it all up.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Day 32 - 2/1/09
Weigh-in: ???
I forgot to weigh in this morning. I'll have to weigh in tonight, but it'll be weird because it'll will include all the food and beer I consume today during the game. Well, at least it'll make it easy to lose weight this week. Of course, I haven't lost any weight the rest of the time, so it's making it that much harder to get to my goal by the middle of March. *sigh*
Here I am, first day in February, and I have nothing to show for the month of January. I did well the first week working out, did so-so the second week, and did nothing the rest of the time. I had so many excuses--sick, busy, I'll do it later, I'll eat better instead--but excuses won't do anything for my weight loss plan.
So I need to get back on it tomorrow, regardless of how late I'm up tonight and how tired I am in the morning.
Meh.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Day 28 - 1/28/09
Weigh-in: 197.6
Huh. Well, it seems that perhaps my little diet strategy is already working. And I didn't even completely stick with it yesterday! I made it to the afternoon, and when I was going to drink my second SlimFast shake, instead I went with a coworker to Backyard Burger and got a almost certainly horribly bad for me gouda burger with fries. You'd think it would have been the death knell for the day. But no, instead I found myself almost two pounds down from yesterday. Heck, if it keeps up, this whole weight loss thing should be easy! (No, I am not foolish enough to think that this is even close to real. I'll probably gain it all back tomorrow.)
On to other things. I thought it might be fun to look up baby names, even though I am not pregnant and have no immediate plans to be in such a state any time in the next few months. I went to Babynames.com (how DID people used to do this in the Stone Ages when we didn't have internet?), and looked up the most popular names from 2008. I don't know HOW they know these are the most popular names, and I don't know if this is an American site or if they consider names abroad too. But anyway, here's the listing of the top ten for boys and girls (various spellings of the same names are counted together):
Boys
1. Aiden
2. Ethan
3. Noah
4. Caden
5. Caleb
6. Braden
7. Jacob
8. Landon
9. Liam
10. Lucas
Interesting. I don't have much contact with little boys, since all my students are girls and I have only nieces in the family, but I do know a Noah, a Caleb, and a Jacob just within my husband's family (all 12 years or under). I also teach an Aidan, although she's a girl, not a boy.
Then we move on to the girls' names.
Girls
1. Ava
2. Isabella
3. Madeline
4. Emma
5. Abigail
6. Olivia
7. Lily
8. Sophia
9. Chloe
10. Ella
I know LOTS of these. My nieces are Chloe and Lily, and one's middle name is Isabelle. Within the family we have an Emma and an Ella. I have taught numerous Madelines, Emmas, Abigails, Olivias, Lilys, and Chloes.
It is an interesting departure from people my age. Boys when I was growing up were John, Mike, Dave, Brad, Chris, Jim, Matt, Dan. Girls were Jennifer, Heather, Lisa, Amy, Michelle, Angie, Kim, Melissa, Becky. While you do still hear some of those boys' names, the girls' names really seem to have shifted away.
I don't really know what names I like. Although I'd like to be different, I'd hate to saddle a child with a name that people will giggle over and harass forever. I went to school with a kid named "Justin Quiring" (get it? Just...inquiring?) and I always felt bad because people would make jokes. I wondered if his parents intended it to be funny, or if they simply weren't thinking?
It will take some pondering and some research.
Huh. Well, it seems that perhaps my little diet strategy is already working. And I didn't even completely stick with it yesterday! I made it to the afternoon, and when I was going to drink my second SlimFast shake, instead I went with a coworker to Backyard Burger and got a almost certainly horribly bad for me gouda burger with fries. You'd think it would have been the death knell for the day. But no, instead I found myself almost two pounds down from yesterday. Heck, if it keeps up, this whole weight loss thing should be easy! (No, I am not foolish enough to think that this is even close to real. I'll probably gain it all back tomorrow.)
On to other things. I thought it might be fun to look up baby names, even though I am not pregnant and have no immediate plans to be in such a state any time in the next few months. I went to Babynames.com (how DID people used to do this in the Stone Ages when we didn't have internet?), and looked up the most popular names from 2008. I don't know HOW they know these are the most popular names, and I don't know if this is an American site or if they consider names abroad too. But anyway, here's the listing of the top ten for boys and girls (various spellings of the same names are counted together):
Boys
1. Aiden
2. Ethan
3. Noah
4. Caden
5. Caleb
6. Braden
7. Jacob
8. Landon
9. Liam
10. Lucas
Interesting. I don't have much contact with little boys, since all my students are girls and I have only nieces in the family, but I do know a Noah, a Caleb, and a Jacob just within my husband's family (all 12 years or under). I also teach an Aidan, although she's a girl, not a boy.
Then we move on to the girls' names.
Girls
1. Ava
2. Isabella
3. Madeline
4. Emma
5. Abigail
6. Olivia
7. Lily
8. Sophia
9. Chloe
10. Ella
I know LOTS of these. My nieces are Chloe and Lily, and one's middle name is Isabelle. Within the family we have an Emma and an Ella. I have taught numerous Madelines, Emmas, Abigails, Olivias, Lilys, and Chloes.
It is an interesting departure from people my age. Boys when I was growing up were John, Mike, Dave, Brad, Chris, Jim, Matt, Dan. Girls were Jennifer, Heather, Lisa, Amy, Michelle, Angie, Kim, Melissa, Becky. While you do still hear some of those boys' names, the girls' names really seem to have shifted away.
I don't really know what names I like. Although I'd like to be different, I'd hate to saddle a child with a name that people will giggle over and harass forever. I went to school with a kid named "Justin Quiring" (get it? Just...inquiring?) and I always felt bad because people would make jokes. I wondered if his parents intended it to be funny, or if they simply weren't thinking?
It will take some pondering and some research.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Day 27 - 1/27/09
Weigh-in: 199.4
I know; I'm a bad person. I've been negligent in every way--not working out, not eating well, not posting anything. Bad me.
But why report the massive amounts of failure?
Anyway, I'm trying something new this week. For the next few days, I'm cutting down to about 1200 calories, through strategic spreading out of snacks and meals, with heavy usage of SlimFast and Special K products. Now, this is not a diet I would or should rely on for any length of time, as it does not include any vegetables, just a glass of fruit juice in the morning. But I'm curious as to whether or not I can lose weight simply by cutting back the calories, and I haven't had time to figure out a better diet that includes vegetables. Maybe next week.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Day 24 - 1/24/09
Weigh-in: 198.0
Didn't get around to posting yesterday. It was too busy all day at work, and once I got home I loaded up on NyQuil to fight off the nasty cold I'd been wrestling with all week. It's a mean one. It started Tuesday evening; I noticed going to bed that I had a bit of a sinus headache and my throat was a little sore. Of course, I talk all day long at school, so I didn't think much about it, and I knew I was doing my little experiment with my blood pressure, so I attributed my headache to the lack of blood pressure medication. But when I woke up on Wednesday, my nose was definitely draining, and my throat was really sore. Thursday it started moving down into my chest too, and by Friday my head was full of yuck, my chest hurt, and I woke up every half hour or so because I could feel my nose running all over the place. Eww.
Today's weigh-in is an improvement over the rest of the week, but there's no guarantee it's actually weight loss, because I started taking my blood pressure medication again yesterday. It's likely that these two pounds are just water weight coming off from the diuretic effect of the blood pressure medication.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day 22 - 1/22/09
Weigh-in: 200.0
Great. It's taken me all week just to get back down to what I was almost three weeks ago. Whoopee.
No time for anything else...got a swim meet to run tonight, so I'll get home late. Maybe all this running around will shed some poundage. Gotta hope.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Day 21 - 1/21/09
Weigh-in: 201.0
Well, at least it's .4 down from yesterday.
And I was right about the blood pressure. I took my bp this morning, and it was 139/95. The first number, the systolic pressure, measures the maximum pressure in the veins when the blood surges from being pumped out of the heart. The second number, the diastolic, measures the minimum pressure in between pulses. The upper edge of an "average" healthy blood pressure should be 120/80. An increase of 20 points on the first number or 10 points on the second number is an unhealthy development. I have both.
First of all, I definitely need to make sure I'm exercising. That's the number one way to reduce blood pressure. (Makes you lose weight, which also reduces blood pressure.) Then, I need to cut back on sodium and caffeine. That's where the potassium will need to come in. I need to get myself some bananas.
At this rate, it's gonna take FOREVER before I lose weight. *sigh*
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day 20 - 1/20/09
Weigh-in: 201.4
OK, I didn't eat that badly yesterday. I have to assume that blood pressure has something to do with this. Between blood pressure and period, I am certainly retaining water. When blood pressure rises, fluid is forces through the walls of small vessels and capillaries into the surrounding tissues. That's water retention. Getting blood pressure down requires several things. Two suggestions are to reduce the amount of sodium ingested and increase the amount of potassium. Some of the foods that are high in potassium include raisins, baked potatoes, dried fruit, wheat, bran, and bananas. What's funny is, many of the foods on the high potassium list are starchy foods, which I'm supposed to avoid because of the carbs. I just can't win.
I will take my blood pressure tonight before bed. I'm curious what it looks like, unmedicated.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day 19 - 1/19/09
Weigh-in: 200.6
Yeah, I know. It sucks. I knew it would be bad. I hadn't been to the gym since Wednesday morning, and I ate poorly all weekend and drank beer. But I didn't see almost two whole pounds in a single day. I suppose some of it could just be water retention, since it's the dreaded TOTM. Also, since I haven't taken my blood pressure medication, I'm sure I have more fluid in my system from that as well. So anyway, I'm thinking that there was still a weight gain, but maybe it isn't as bad as I fear it could be.
We'll see.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day 18 - 1/18/09
Weigh-in: 198.8
Well, it's an improvement over yesterday, but I still have a long way to go. And tomorrow's weigh-in probably won't be this good, with a day of beer and chili on the couch in front of the football games. Oh well.
I have heard, off and on, people referring to "volumetrics". I thought it was just a general concept, but apparently someone actually coined the phrase and wrote several books, with recipes, about it. The concept is simple, though. You want to fill up on large volume, low calorie foods. Water, of course, is the prime example; it can make you feel full, but contains no calories at all. A big pile of raw veggies might contain the same number of calories as two chocolate chip cookies, but you might still feel hungry after the cookies, while all the veggies fill you up. It all makes sense. And really, there isn't anything here that doesn't apply to most of the other common sense diets--eat more fruits and veggies, eat less sugar and fat, and drink lots of water.
But what do you do when you still crave those stupid cookies?
On a different topic, I'm trying an experiment. I mentioned before that I take blood pressure medication for hypertension. Well, I need to refill the prescription. But I decided to try going a few days without it before refilling it. Since my ultimate goal is to drop the meds entirely, I need to know where I stand right now, before the weight loss. So I plan to skip the blood pressure med for a couple days, and take my blood pressure at home using an automatic pressure cuff I got when the doctor first put me on the med. I want to get a baseline for my blood pressure without the med. That way, I can tell if I'm improving, by taking a few more days at the end of the next month to do the same thing.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Day 17 - 1/17/09
Weigh-in: 199.0
My total weight loss since I started weighing daily on January 4 is...one whole pound. Yippee. At this rate, by the time the middle of March rolls around and I have to spend four days in a row paddling, I'll weigh...195 lbs. That's still ten whole pounds beyond the maximum recommended weight for my kayak. I learned the hard way when I was even heavier than this that when I was overweight and coupled it with all the cold weather gear one must wear for winter paddling, I did not have fun. Instead, I felt claustrophobic and smothered. I HAVE to do better than this. I can still save this attempt; I can still decrease my calorie intake and increase my daily calories burned. I'd really love to be at 185 or lower by then.
But I have a long way to go.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Day 16 - 1/16/09
Weigh-in: 198.4
I guess it was too good to last. Up a full pound today from yesterday's weigh-in. But I haven't worked out since Wednesday afternoon, I had pizza for dinner both Wednesday night AND Thursday night, and I've had some extra snacks that I probably shouldn't have eaten, so really I'm lucky it wasn't worse than a pound. And this very well may just be a leveling out of the unusual and inexplicable drops from the last two days. It's really hard to know exactly what my body is doing, watching my weight fluctuate so drastically from day to day. But I'm entering my daily weigh-ins (weight and also fat % and hydration %--I have a cool scale) and making weekly averages, and I'm also calculating weight loss from the first day of the week through the first day of the next week, and also from my first official weigh-in on Jan. 4. If I just go day to day, it's hard to see if there really is weight loss occurring, but by comparing to other weeks and to the beginning, I'll be able to see if there really is change.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Day 15 - 1/15/09
Weigh-in: 197.4
I really have no idea how I did this. I've lost over two pounds in two days. No clue. Seriously. Knowing my luck, I'll probably weigh-in tomorrow morning at 200 or something. My body confuses me.
This is good, I know; almost 3 lbs down...uh...a bunch to go. I don't really want to contemplate how far away I am from my ideal weight. I'm several small children away, let's just leave it at that.
No new research today--Thursdays are my busy day, so I don't have a break in which to look for anything interesting. One item of note: recently I learned to crochet, and I will soon be making a foray into the world of afghans. The first one I will make for a friend who recently had a baby, but if I can get good at it I'll start cranking out baby stuff. I can already make hats and scarves and such. I'm not very good at it, but I can't imagine a kid would mind.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Day 14 - 1/14/09
Weigh-in: 198.2
I have no idea how that happened. That's about a pound and a half difference from yesterday morning. I didn't do anything special; I ate pretty much the way I always eat. So it's a mystery. I hope it's a mystery that repeats itself!
I started looking up information regarding taking medication during pregnancy. I have a vested interest in this, because I currently take two prescription medications and two OTC daily. One of the prescriptions is birth control; that certainly will not be happening while I'm pregnant. But the other prescription is for high blood pressure, which is a medical condition that can make pregnancy much more dangerous. One OTC is for heartburn. The other is a fiber supplement. Both of those are also issues that can tie in with pregnancy. So I needed to find out some specifics about medications and pregnancy.
The main rule seems to be: TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. Some health problems are severe enough that you must continue to take a medication, despite what some of the risks may be. But the second most common thing I found seems to be that it's best to take as few medications as possible. If you can live with that stuffy nose, then do it.
As far as my medications go, they seem to fall in to three categories. Actually, there are many categories. They are as follows:
A--these are medications where there has been lots of research proving no significant risk to the mother or fetus if taken during pregnancy. Many vitamins fall into this first category.
B--these are medications where there isn't much research to go on, but based on the findings so far there is no significant risk to human mothers and infants (it's possible there was some risk found in animals). Some things that fall into this category are things like antibiotics and insulins.
C--these are medications where this is some risk potential, but the benefits of the medication outweigh the dangers of the risks. For example, some asthma medications are in this category. If you have a major asthma attack, you can die; obviously the possibility of risk is overshadowed by the possibility of death. Prozac is in this list too.
D--these medications definitely have side effects that affect the fetus, but the effect they have on the mother's health is still considerable. For example, some other medications for depression can be found in this list, as can many cancer treatments. Yes, these can harm your baby, but so can your death! However, these medications are serious business; you can't take them lightly (literally).
X--these are the no-nos. There is no benefit great enough in taking them to outweigh the dangers to the fetus. Remember thalidomide? People took it for a skin disease. Well, it ended up causing babies to be born WITHOUT ARMS AND LEGS. That's major, people. You can live with your annoying skin disease for the sake of your baby.
Ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin, and even caffeine are all on the questionable side. Do you really need them for something? If you are in pain, they suggest taking acetomeniphen (Tylenol) instead. No caffeine too means I'll need to stop taking Excedrin for headaches, and no more diet cokes. I'm going to be drinking a lot of milk when it gets to that point.
My fiber supplement falls into the A category. No need to stop taking it, although it's probably better to get my fiber from real food. I'll have to consider that.
My heartburn medication is a B. No one has shown or even suggested that there is a danger to taking medication for your tummy (like antacids or Pepto). Generally, stuff that's meant to stay in your tummy won't cross the placenta and affect the fetus.
My blood pressure medication is a D. I really shouldn't take it unless I NEED it. Drugs that make the mother's blood pressure go down also make the fetus' blood pressure go down. That's bad--the baby needs all that blood to circulate and bring oxygen and nutrients to its growing, dividing cells. My goal with weight loss isn't just to make myself more comfortable; by losing weight I will hopefully bring my own blood pressure down naturally, so I won't need the medication anyway.
So, that's the meds, in a nutshell.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Day 13 - 1/13/09
Weigh-in: 199.8
OK, so I didn't do a very good job yesterday. I didn't go to the gym in the morning OR the afternoon, and my husband sweet-talked me (although he didn't have to try hard) into dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I am a major carnivore, and I do my steak the way God intended: RARE. Mooing. Limping. I want it to fight for its life on my plate. So, after no working out and a dinner of red meat, a salad smothered in cheese and ranch (how can you make lettuce any better?), some of their brown bread (loves me some of them loaves), and a nice heap of garlic mashed potatoes, I should be pretty freakin' happy that my weight didn't jump back over 200 lbs. I did make it to the gym this morning, and I'll probably just have a sandwich for dinner tonight, so hopefully I can undo whatever damage has been done. Sad that it's only Tuesday and I already have this defeatist attitude about my weight for the week. We'll see what the rest of the week will bring.
Anyway, I visited Baby Center today and looked up the topic of weight gain. They suggested that a woman like me (read: fat) should really only gain no more than 15 lbs during pregnancy, since I'm already carrying more than I need. According to their BMI scale, I am technically obese (thanks for the vote of confidence, people). It sounds like I can use a lot of the reserves I already have for the baby's sake. Which makes me wonder again, do you suppose I could actually LOSE weight by being pregnant? I don't suppose I should try. But the article did say that a pregnant woman should be more concerned with eating healthy than with gaining weight, since it's pretty much a given.
I've done a little searching into a recommended diet for a pregnant woman. Most of what I've found just generally suggests the usual--a diet high in fiber and lower in fat, and one that includes milk and milk products. I wondered about the possibility of encouraging or creating a food allergy in a child based on the foods the mother eats prenatally, but so far everything I've seen suggests that it is unlikely that foods absorbed in utero might contribute to allergies, except possibly peanuts in families where peanut allergies exist. I don't have any food allergies at all, and neither does my husband, so I'm hoping that means I really don't need to worry about food allergies. Heck, the only allergy at all in our family is my husband's nasty case of hay fever. Bummer for him.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Day 12 - 1/12/09
Weigh-in: 199.4
Eh. I guess I should've seen it coming--I didn't do a very good job sticking to my diet yesterday. Based on the way I ate today, tomorrow's weigh-in won't be a picnic either.
Among the many other things I'm contemplating, thinking about pregnancy, I'm wondering what I'm supposed to eat, and what I'm not. Several questions come to mind.
1) How much weight gain is "recommended"? I've seen a few things that say you really aren't supposed to increase your caloric intake much, by about 100 calories per trimester. Well, what about those of us who are already overeating? Can I just stick with the amount I'm consuming? Could that make me lose weight? Wow. That would be way cool.
2) What foods are recommended? Is there a balance of carbs, fat, and fiber that a pregnant woman is supposed to consume?
3) And what about foods that AREN'T recommended? Are preservatives really bad? Could a woman actually give her child a food allergy based on what she consumed (or didn't consume)?
Also, I'm wondering about medications. Certainly you shouldn't take much in the way of medicine, definitely with regards to prescriptions. But what about over-the-counter meds like ibuprofen or aspirin?
These are some of the things I will be researching this week. I hope to find some reliable information out there.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Day 11 - 1/11/09
Weigh-in: 199.2
Yay! That's my lowest weight since I started weighing myself last weekend! So, I guess since last Saturday I've lost a grand total of... .8 lbs. Hmm. I was sort of hoping for more, but at this point I'll take what I can get. I'd really just like to end each week lighter than I started it, even if it's just .2 lbs.
Strangely, I'm sort of a grandma now, without having any kids of my own yet. A girl my husband and I used to coach when she was in high school and we were first married just had a baby this week. She used to call us her parents as kind of a joke (although we looked out for her a lot more than her real parents ever did), and so now I guess that makes me a grandmother. Who knew?
So this has been a good week. My friend has a new baby, I've lost a tiny bit of weight, and I managed to work out for seven straight days in a row at least once per day. I hope this next week goes as well.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Day 10 - 1/10/09
Weigh-in: 199.6
I was curious, in all my exercise endeavors, to know what I can and cannot do once I become pregnant. I already mentioned things they do recommend (and things they don't), but then it hit me: what about your abs? I mean, those are some of the most important muscles, pregnancy-wise. That's what you'll push with, right? So, how do you exercise your abs without accidentally pushing too hard?
I found three exercises. The first is simply to sit on the floor with your back against the wall, cross-legged. Using your abs, pull your stomach in towards the wall. Hold it for a few seconds, then release and keep breathing. The second is to rest on your hands and knees, keeping your back flat. Using your abs, pull your stomach up towards your back. Hold for a few seconds, then release and breathe. The final exercise is a mini crunch. Sit on the floor with your knees bent in front of you and your feet flat. Then lean back at an incline, onto perhaps some pillows or something. Using your abs, lift your upper body off the pillows, hold for a few seconds, and lower yourself back down. Full sit-ups (all the way up to your knees) are not recommended.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Day 9 - 1/9/09
Weigh-in: 200.0
I was wondering yesterday about my two weigh-ins, the early one at 200.2 and the one two hours later at 199.4, and which one might be more accurate. It turns out, I didn't have to worry about that, because I screwed myself back into the 200's for today anyway. After not working out yesterday morning, I DID swim yesterday afternoon, but then we went out to dinner. I wish I could just make myself order a salad like I always SAY I'm going to, but instead I had rolls (O'Charley's--I LOVE their dinner rolls), soup, a sandwich covered in ranch, and smashed potatoes. Not really a light-weight dinner. So whatever the "real" weight was yesterday, it didn't matter.
In my quest to find out as much as I can about pregnancy and all that jazz, I've been wondering what kinds of exercises I'll be allowed to do. Certainly high-impact stuff is out, but I got to thinking about weight lifting, since I've been doing some. I'm not talking about the stuff those no-neck, bicep-popping freaks who spend all day at the gym lift; I'm simply thinking about resistance strength training. I found the following info at BabyCenter.com.
First of all, check with the doctor first, which I'm sure you have to do for pretty much EVERYTHING when you're pregnant.
Next, stick with the "lighter weights, more reps" approach. Avoid moves that put significant pressure on your abdomen (certainly don't let the weights come in contact with your abdomen), avoid stretching or twisting too much (including the pelvic area--they said NO lunges), and don't lift from flat on your back.
Most importantly, they suggest that you pay attention to your own body. If you are feeling tired, weak, or overly strained or stressed, stop and move on to something else. As they say in their article, "Pregnancy isn't the time to push yourself to your limits."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)