Day 29 - 1/29/09

Weigh-in: 197.8

Saw this on GraphJam this morning and thought it was funny...

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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*

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.  

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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."

Day 8 - 1/8/09

Weigh-in: 199.4 (but there's a story there!)

Weirdness.  Got up this morning at 4 a.m., which is what I must do in order to hit the gym before I go to work.  When I weighed in, I was 200.2, which is a .2 gain from yesterday.  Dammit.  We had chicken burritos last night at home, and I've discovered that Mexican food is just about the worst thing for me to eat.  When I get that fatty tortilla filled with fatty refried beans, fatty meat (although this was at least chicken; usually it's ground beef), fatty cheese, and fatty sour cream...well, combine that with my portion control problems and it's almost a guaranteed weight gain.  So I was disappointed, but not surprised.  I also disappointed myself by going back to bed.  I had stayed up past 10 the night before, which I simply cannot do and expect to get up at 4.  However, when I got up the second time, at 6, I weighed myself again, just out of curiosity.  The second weigh-in was 199.4.  I'm sure the difference was just water weight or something, but I can't believe that only two hours of NONactivity could really make nearly a pound difference.  Unless I just totally weighed myself incorrectly one of the two times, it doesn't make much sense.  I'll be very curious to see what my weigh-in is tomorrow, to see which of those weights was the "real" one for today.

Day 7 - 1/7/09

Weigh-in: 200.0

I'm at least back down to my Sunday morning weight.  Maybe I can ditch a little more this week.

Watched the new season of The Biggest Loser last night.  They've been advertising this as the heaviest season yet, and it certainly seems to be.  They have the heaviest woman they've ever had on the show, at almost 380 lbs, and the heaviest man they've ever had, at 450 lbs.  I must admit that, watching this show, my own struggle with weight seems, well, puny in comparison.  I'm 5'7", which is probably several inches taller than most of the women they have had on the show, and my heaviest weight was about 220, which is equal to or lighter than the women they have had.  So really, I have less to lose than they do.  However, my husband and I also realized that in a way we have a harder row to hoe than the contestants on The Biggest Loser because we're already sort of active.  These people on the show have not exercised in years and eat thousands of calories each day.  We, on the other hand, exercise at least occasionally, including walking the dog several times each day, and we eat less than 3000 calories (I hope, although I haven't kept a tally).  So we're unlikely to have the super huge losses that the show's contestants see on a weekly basis.  Oh, what must it be like to lose 20 lbs in a week?  I'd love to know.  As long as it doesn't involve some kind of terrible illness or the amputation of a limb.

Day 6 - 1/6/09

Weigh-in: 200.2

Well, that's at least .2 lbs better than yesterday.  However, it could and SHOULD be better.  I didn't do the gym yesterday afternoon, claiming to myself and anyone who would listen how terribly crowded the gym is on Monday afternoons and how much I HATE waiting for machines.  Right.  I should have just sucked it up and worked out.  So only one workout yesterday instead of two.  I WILL do two today.  I brought my swimming stuff this time, so if the gym is too crowded I'll just go hit the pool (and dodge the water aerobics ladies).  I have got to get this two-a-day stuff going, or I'll never lose enough weight to be comfortable kayaking in March, let alone be ready to gain it all back being pregnant.

On the exercise front, some interesting information.  While looking up information about prenatal exercises, I came across Kegel muscle exercises.  The Kegel muscles are the muscles that create the bottom, or floor, of the pelvic area.  These are the muscles that will essentially hold the baby in.  The article said to "find" your Kegel muscles you should try to stop peeing mid-stream.  Those muscles that clench off the flow are the Kegels.  To exercise these muscles, one should basically clench and release them over and over.  Sounds pretty basic to me.  But the article then went on to say that there were "exercisers" one could purchase to help with the Kegels.  They have barbells, springs, and rubber balls.  Apparently, you insert them and SQUEEZE.  The springs and balls are supposed to be good because you can tell how much pressure you are exerting.  The barbells can also (according to the article) be used as dildos.  Wow.  That was soooooo much more than I thought I was going to learn about Kegels.  I think I'll just sit and squeeze by myself, thank you very much.  Ick.

Day 5 - 1/5/09

Today was the day I started on the weight loss campaign.  The alarm went off at four, and I walked the dog, got dressed, and drove to the gym.  Yuck.  But before that, I weighed in.  200.4.  .4 lbs heavier than yesterday.  Bummer.  

In the mornings I'm going for a mix of exercises, but most of them are machine-oriented.  I worked my back, sides, and abs using various implements, I lifted weights using my lower body on some of the weight machines, and then I "gerbiled" on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes.  All told, it was a 60-minute workout.  This leaves the afternoons for lifting upper body and for less structured endeavors, like swimming or playing racquetball.  I need to make sure I don't just stick to the machines, since they train muscles in a limited range of motion.  

I haven't looked much into exercising during pregnancy, but I'm sure there has to be a lot of information out there.  I know the basics--don't do anything high-impact, don't do anything that will cause overheating, don't do anything that will squoosh the tummy too much.  I know several people who swam a lot while they were pregnant, which is fine for me--I like swimming, and I swam competitively in high school.  But I don't want to get bored, and I don't want to gain more weight than is necessary, especially if I'm going to go through all the trouble of losing it in the first place.  

Day 4 - 1/4/09

Well, I weighed in this morning for my official starting weight.  

200.0 lbs

Thankfully, I didn't gain any weight over Christmas break.  But I didn't lose any either, despite being far more active than I had been in the weeks leading up to the break.  We went ice skating, sledding, and skiing several times.  I also walked around the block (.6 miles) twice each morning.  So I can't just think that a slight change in my activity level will be enough for a weight loss.  I'm really going to have to pick up the pace, so to speak, on my working out, and I'll also need to be far more diligent about my eating habits.

On a separate note, I did a little research on prenatal vitamins last night.  I checked WebMD, which has traditionally been a pretty reliable source for health information.  According to their information, you should look for vitamins that contain high amounts of folic acid, iron, and calcium.  The folic acid apparently helps in the development of the nervous system and the connections between the nerves, especially in the development of the spinal cord.  The iron helps both mother and baby with blood oxygenation, and the calcium is primarily for the mother's benefit to prevent bone loss, since the calcium for the baby's development gets pulled from the mother's system.  

Here's the list of things they suggest you look for in a prenatal vitamin:

-4,000 and 5,000 IU (international units) of vitamin A

-800 and 1,000 micrograms (1 mg) of folic acid

-400 IU of vitamin D

-200-300 mg of calcium

-70 mg of vitamin C

-1.5 mg of thiamine

-1.6 mg of riboflavin

-2.6 mg of pyridoxine

-17 mg of niacinamide

-2.2 mcg of vitamin B-12

-10 mg of vitamin E

-15 mg of zinc

-30 mg of iron

I guess my next step will be to visit Walgreens and see if they carry anything that covers all those requirements.  

Day 2 and Day 3 - 1/2-3/09

Just a quick note to say that we made it home.  We drove for two days and 1500 miles to get from my in-laws' in the West to our place in the South.  The trip was full of convenience store snacks and fast food restaurants.  I will weigh in tomorrow morning for my "starting weight" on this little adventure...

Day 1 - 1/1/09

For Day 1, I'll have to give some background.

My dad has always had a bit of a pot belly, and my mother was pretty overweight (I think at her heaviest she said she was about 250 lbs, and she was only about 5' 4").  My family has always had health issues related to weight.  My dad had angioplasty to open some arteries when I was in junior high, and he's always had blood pressure and cholesterol problems.  While my mom was lucky enough to avoid most of the blood pressure and diabetes problems that her father had, she did have abdominal cancer, which studies have shown can be related to obesity.  

I myself was a chubby kid.  I played a few sports but was never particularly athletic.  After swimming and playing water polo in high school, I weighed about 155 lbs at graduation (I'm about 5' 7").  Sports kept me trimmer than I might have been otherwise, but I've always had padding around my waist, hips, and thighs.  I've also always been busty, with a 36 C cup when I graduated.  With that chest and my swimmer's shoulders, I tended to wear large or extra large tops.  I could wear 11/12 pants in high school, although I usually wore 13/14 because they were a bit roomier.

In college I stayed about the same, weight-wise, until my junior year.  After an unfortunate ending to a pretty unfortunate relationship, I developed an eating disorder.  Within a year I had dropped from about 160 or so lbs to under 125 lbs.  I felt like I was in pretty good shape, and I thought I looked pretty good too, but I knew that I had gone about things the wrong way.  With the help of my best friend (eventually my husband), I moved away from the eating disorder (with occasional slips that I still struggle with).  

However, I never really developed healthy eating habits.  I still eat too much, especially of the wrong stuff.  I don't miss meals, and I don't miss dessert if it's there to be had.  Although I wasn't sedentary, I certainly wasn't active enough to stave off some weight gain.  I didn't really weigh myself regularly, either.  So it wasn't much of a surprise when I finally DID weigh myself, I found my weight had ballooned up to over 200 lbs.  I had gained about 10 lbs a year, and weighed about 220 lbs.  My husband, who had been under 200 lbs when he graduated high school, had gained some weight as well.  

We decided something needed to be done.  We started working out regularly, and trying to watch what we ate.  With diligence, we both managed to lose some weight.  My husband lost quite a bit, and I got down to 175.  But somehow we lost our motivation.  We stopped working out as regularly, as often, and as hard.  We started eating out more.  Weight came back on.  My husband's weight crept back up almost to what it was before we started our original endeavor.  My weight snuck back up to about 200 lbs.  

Time and time again we've tried to refocus our efforts, but we haven't managed to do it.  It's been very frustrating.  My doctor has told me numerous times that I need to lose weight.  I'm on blood pressure medication at age 34, and I also take an over-the-counter heartburn medication daily.  With my own health a factor and my family history, I certainly need to lose weight.

Also, my husband and I enjoy activities that would be much easier and more enjoyable if we lost weight.  We like mountain biking and whitewater kayaking, and both of those are much more comfortable when one is slimmer.  

So there's plenty of motivation for us to lose weight.  But there is one more reason.  At age 34, we've finally decided that we should start thinking about a family.  I've been reminded by many people--my doctor, family members, friends, almost complete strangers--that "my biological clock is ticking" and that we need to think about having kids sooner rather than later.  Since I already have a blood pressure problem, and since the risk factors increase after age 35 for pregnancy, it would be a much less physically stressful pregnancy if I could shed some weight.

So here's where I find myself.  It's January 1, 2009.  My husband and I have a quasi-deadline in mind of March 12, 2009.  The reason for this deadline is a kayaking trip that will last 4 days.  I need to get rid of as much weight as I can between now and then and get in much better shape in order to make the kayaking more comfortable and easier to survive.  I plan on continuing my birth control (daily pill) until then to prevent possible pregnancy before then (can't really do whitewater kayaking if one is preggers).  After that trip, we'll reevaluate where we are, and hopefully I will discontinue my birth control.  I will be doing a fair amount of research between now and then, looking for prenatal vitamins, good pregnancy exercises, and all that other stuff that seems to occupy so many mothers-to-be.  I will also try to blog as regularly as I can to keep track of my progress (although I won't be able to post for the next few days because we'll be traveling home).  I look forward to seeing an experiencing the changes that I will be going through (at least, most of them).  I hope this will be fun.  Keep your fingers crossed, and away we go...