Pics and Stones

A New Me: Take 2--Day 8! We are both on track for our weight loss goals after one week, and have no intention of stopping!

I've even made some sub-goals that I'll tell you about next time, but for today, I just want to bask in my successful week, despite being out of town and having an annoying cold last week.

Here are this week's new pics, as well as a reinstatement of the stones from my S4L days. I just love moving them from one cup to the other! Don't mind the hair; I woke up just for these before my hubby left for work and went straight back to bed...

Day: 8 Weight: 268 Pounds Lost: 1.5 Pounds to Goal: 43

One pound gone! Can't wait until their contents are switched!

A New Me: Take 2

I've decided it's about time to get serious about losing this weight. My hubby and I are both more than we want to be, so after some prayerful consideration this weekend, we are restarting our weight loss goals.

I will be posting some of our favorite recipes as well as my progress here. Today is day 2 (yesterday was pretty busy and I didn't get to post) of our new plan: a hearty breakfast of filling yet healthy foods, a light lunch, a sensible dinner, healthy snacks, and a taste of dessert each day, so that we don't feel like we're depriving ourselves. I made these fake Reese's eggs yesterday, which will be our first test of our wills. I already froze half the batch and we plan to eat a tiny piece each day, no more.

I feel like this will work. It will be hard, and I will be inclined to veer off the plan every once in a while, but it is doable. Especially with two little boys, I think this is better than a strict diet of no processed foods and struggling with meal planning constantly. I am giving myself until November 24 (my birthday) to lose 44.5 pounds. That is a pound every 5 1/2 days. By eating better, exercising more (which we're able to do now that it's nicer out), and nursing 2 babies, I think I can do this.

A Challenge

March is over halfway through (happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way!) and I've done nothing but gain weight this month. I'm almost as heavy today as I was when I first started Slim4Life, and I'm miserable.

I'm still wearing all of my maternity clothes (mainly sweats) because that's all that fits, and I have a wedding coming up this weekend that I have no idea what I'm going to wear. I'll probably look like I'm still pregnant in whatever I find in my closet that fits.

My children are almost 5 months old, which means that I'm carrying around nearly 25 pounds of "baby weight" that should be on its way out the door, yet I've gained 15 pounds since my gall bladder surgery in December. I'll admit, I'm not watching what I eat at all, I exercise very infrequently, and I don't get a full night's sleep ever, due to the frequent pumping sessions to feed my sons.

I thought that by breastfeeding 2 children I would be able to at least maintain my weight loss after their birth, if not lose weight. I am afraid of exercising too much, because I don't want it to affect my milk supply, but what I'm doing now is not working. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I'll have to start with changing my diet, at least, and hopefully that will start some downward movement.

The Best Date Ever

As I mentioned last week, I wanted to tell the story of how I shared with my hubby when we became pregnant. This is more relevant to this blog than you might think...

You might recall that while on Slim 4 Life I was not allowed to eat most of my favorite foods, such as pasta, most breads, bananas, sweets, and all cheese. This was such a trying period because of the dairy limitations, so as soon as we started trying to get pregnant, I told my husband the first thing I would do when I found out I was pregnant was go out and buy a big hunk of smoked cheese!

A few short weeks later, I saw the positive readings (I took 2 to be sure!) on a Saturday morning before my husband had to go to work. I was relieved to have the morning to myself to plan how I was going to tell him, so I couldn't wait until he was out of the car after I dropped him off. That was an excruciatingly long and awkward car ride! I finally got to drop him off, and, knowing that I was pregnant, I wanted to celebrate by eating something I hadn't had in a very long time: biscuits and gravy! I hopped across the street to the Big Biscuit and ordered a half size order (knowing that we would be eating well that afternoon). I think I was more nervous and excited than hungry, so I barely tasted the food, but the idea that I could eat what I wanted for a while satisfied me.

I only had a few hours to prepare for the day and the big announcement, so I had no time to waste. I had heard about a consignment sale in our area that week, and not knowing at all what we were expecting, I stopped to look more than anything, but found a cute jumper with a giraffe on it (our nursery theme) and drove home. I had been formulating how I wanted to tell my husband since before we started trying, but didn't know all the details of how to pull it all together. I got on the trusty Pinterest and found an idea I thought would work great.

Since it was the day before St. Patty's, there were all kinds of ideas pertaining to leprechauns and rainbows and pots of gold (much like today!). I ended up stumbling across this idea for a rainbow scavenger hunt. I had wanted to take him to all of the places where we had meaningful milestones in our relationship, and the colored paint chips would help to tie it all together. I had a short time to shower and dress in one of his favorite dresses, and put a special something under his pillow before I had to go to finish my preparations.

I stopped by the WalMart to pick up the paint chips and a delicious block of smoked gouda (his favorite!), because, where else can you buy cheese and paint at the same time? Then it was time to pick him up from work...

When I picked him up, he was very surprised to see me dressed up  and was curious about what the day's plans held. I had told him on the way to work that morning not to plan for anything after work, because I was planning a special surprise. He hadn't gotten to eat lunch yet, so we went to QuikTrip and picked up a hot dog and some gas, and then started on our date.

The first stop on our trip was the Subway across the street from his work. I directed him to drive there and gave him the yellow chip. Then I reminded him (as if he could forget!) why that place was so special to us: it was our first real date. We had gone there the day after his car had been stolen and I treated him to lunch, and we both stated our intentions of courtship to each other. He had no idea what else was in store for the day, but knew we weren't going to reenact our date because we had other places to go.

Next, was the Auditorium where I invited him to hear my choir perform Messiah the November before we started dating. I handed him the red chip and told him that this was the place that I first realized that I loved him. I could barely choke out the words, thinking about that intermission and how happy I was to see him there. I can't believe how much my life has changed since that night. We also had a wonderful time afterward, going out for shakes, where I inadvertently insulted him and made him fall in love with me at the same moment. He still teases me about that.

Then we moved on to the dam at Longview Lake, one of my favorite places to go. It's secluded and beautiful, and that was the night that I finally let on (after 9 years!) how I felt about this man. I handed him the blue chip and we sat in the car and stalled until it was time for our next stop by answering some questions I had printed off.

We finally got to leave after about an hour, and ended up at Cinzetti's, our favorite New Year's pasttime. I handed him the green chip and told him how much I enjoyed visiting this place with him, even when we were friends. Besides their AMAZING food, this was the place that I felt like more than his friend for the first time. He was so used to being shuttled off to other stops by now, that he started to get back in the car when I asked him, "Don't you want to eat?" We have only ever eaten there on New Year's Eve, so he was completely surprised and stoked that we were going to be going in.

Green chip at Cinzetti's

We had the most delicious meal, and although I was still so nervous, I enjoyed every last bite of pasta and sauces, and their delicate canolis and even a crepe! For the first time in weeks it felt great to eat something until I was full, and not worry about gaining weight!

Finally, we made our way home, after a wonderful and reminiscent date. When we got out of the car, I handed him the cheese and the orange chip, which he thought was nice, since we both love cheese, but he still had no clue. He just though it was another lovely part of our date.

We came inside and I had saved the last chip until we made our way into the bedroom, where we both lay on the covers, full and exhausted. My heart was pounding when I urged him to look at his pillow, where he found this:

I handed him the purple chip and told him he was going to be a daddy, and we both laughed and cried for the rest of the evening.

Thus began my journey into pregnancy. We started with a wonderful meal and have been enjoying the tastes of our favorites ever since. I went in to Slim4Life that Monday and told them I would need to put my account on hold, and the management was very happy to oblige.

One Week Already!

This week flew by! I meant to post on Friday, but the weekend was over before I knew it.

Our boys have made it to the 4 month checkpoint! Which means that I am 4 months out of pregnancy and need to seriously start doing something to get rid of this baby weight before my metabolism gets stuck here.

I have decided to break my weight loss down into 2 main goals, so that I have a realistic and attainable deadline for reaching my "ideal" weight (set by me, not some chart).

My first goal is my birthday, November 24. This gives me a little less than 9 months to lose nearly 45 pounds. If I were strictly doing Slim 4 Life, I think that would be a very easy feat (except for the strict diet!), but I'm currently nursing exclusively, which makes the diet and supplements out of the question. I'm going to have to do it the old-fashioned way, by eating better and exercising. Hopefully nursing 2 hungry boys will help speed the process, but I don't want to constrict my diet so much that it affects them.

I will be going back on Slim 4 Life, although it will be a modified plan, after the boys start solid foods and don't depend on me for all of their nutrition. I've already talked with the wonderful manager at our local branch and discussed how that might work, although I don't have any details at this time. I am excited to have some accountability and advice from them again.

I suppose that is the update from me for this week. With a rough start to last week (lots of rich foods and sweets!), I broke even by making some good choices this weekend. We plan to do a better job of choosing healthy meal options and having more fruits and veggies with our meals, instead of the carb-heavy entrées we've been eating. I'll be posting some fun recipes along the way!

Make sure when you set goals for yourself, whether they be fitness, business, spiritual, or anything else, always make them attainable and measurable, and have a reliable and assertive accountability partner. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for failure. Good luck!

18 weeks post-partum: 268 pounds

Monday, Monday

After a very productive weekend, I am feeling a bit tired today. Part of my purpose in continuing this blog is for accountability. Even if no person other than myself (and probably my husband) ever reads these posts, I know that by posting publicly, there is a bit of pressure to do well from my audience. Everyone wants to see success stories, not some low-life that continues to fail at following through with their hopes and dreams. We experience that too much in our own lives, why would we waste our time reading about other people who are in the exact same position? I normally post weekly progress pictures on Monday, but since I am so tired, I didn't get up in time to have my hubby take them this morning. I will try to get them done before we go to bed tonight, so I can post them either today or tomorrow.

Part of the reason I'm so tired today is because of the haunting images of one of my closest family members. To protect the innocent, they will remain anonymous. I was thinking the other night of our boys and how I want them to remember my family. I have such fond memories of holiday gatherings with all of my aunts and uncles, my many cousins, and my grand and great-grandparents. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without each one of these people, yet I can't shake the idea that my children will not have the wonderful experience that I was blessed to have. One of my family members is very obese. I have always been overweight (except a few years in high school where I made some very dumb decisions); everyone in my immediate family has been overweight. We were active (I have great numbers from blood work), we just didn't eat healthily or do much to overcome the weight problems. This one particular member has deteriorated so much over the past few years, I am afraid that they will reach retirement and continue to gain weight with nothing to keep them active, and we will eventually be calling a crane company to cart them out of the house, like the people you hear about on TV.

I am determined that I will not end up this way. I want nothing more than for this person to change their ways and be there for my sons, to be able to play and chase after them, that they have great memories of all the things they got to do together with, not just a memory of the person that we sometimes mention, because they are gone. If I have learned anything from this person, it is how I do not want to end up, and what I do not want for my family.

I am a fan of Dave Ramsey's teachings on finances, and one thing that he often says comes to mind in this case: change your family tree. I am determined to do this. Not just for me, but for my sons and any other children I may have. To change the way I live so that they can learn my healthy habits and not have to live with the ridicule and problems that come with obesity.

Here are the photos from today. My journey starts over here.

17 weeks post-partum; 268 pounds

A New Me...or, Rather, Two New "Me's"

I realize that it's been almost a year since my last update. It's not because I haven't wanted to write, it's that my life changed so much after March 4, 2013 that I couldn't even wrap my head around it to put into words. The most amazing thing happened: I am now a mother of beautiful twin boys!

We had been trying for a very short time, and all of a sudden, in the middle of March, our dream came true! I got the positive reading and praised God for making me a mother, then I spent the entire morning preparing a wonderful date for my husband, at the end of which I shared the good news with him. More about that later...

We were ecstatic about our little one's arrival, when we went to hear the heartbeat for the first time and the doctor told us he couldn't hear it. Immediately, I thought the worst, but the doctor assured us this happens frequently, especially when the placenta is in the front. He scheduled us for a sonogram and we found out that day that our dreams had been doubled! There is a pretty funny story behind that, which I'll have to share another day.

After a nearly full-term pregnancy, we are the proud parents of two charming, healthy, and lovable little men, hence two new mini-me's. Now I begin the journey once again to reaching my goal weight, after gaining over 50 pounds during my pregnancy. I hope you'll come along for the ride!

16 weeks post-partum; 265 pounds