I've been working on my waistline alright

Expanding it, that is.....

So you may or may not have been wondering where I've "been" for the last month. I just sort of disappeared and stopped updating my challenge progress. And for good reason.

On April 15th, I received the surprising and yet happy news that baby #3 was in the oven! I hadn't planned on getting started on that project for another 6-9 months, but I think someone else had different plans.

So yep, I'm due 12/26/10. That puts me at 8w4d as of this post. Thus far, its been a fairly typical pregnancy. Morning sickness, but not nearly at the level I had with my first two when I had hyperemesis. Mostly just tired. And expanding. Way.too.fast. I guess the uterus just falls out by baby 3#? (Although, I think that picture makes me look way bigger than I actually am...).

We had an ultrasound on Friday, May 14th and saw ONE little gummy bear in there, measuring perfectly with a heartrate in the 160s! I have a history of miscarriage, so I've been on Prometrium, and probably will be for a few more weeks. No biggie.

So, now that the news is public, I can update more on here! 'Cause I know you've missed me so much, right????

Challenge Day 17

First off, I need to declare that I am NO LONGER OVERWEIGHT!!!! I weighed in at an even 136.0 this morning, which puts my BMI at exactly 25.0, which is the cut off for "normal"! Seeing the label "overweight" has been so difficult for me, so this is huge!

I ate well yesterday!
B - 1/2 bagel with cream cheese
S - plum
L - mixed salad with turkey and oil and vinegar dressing
S - a handful of almonds, banana
D - toast, two eggs, 2 sausage links and hash browns (yep, there is a story there)

Last night, I went with my mom to see Elizabeth Gilbert (author of "Eat, Pray, Love") give a talk. I left work early so I could spend some time with my babies, but didn't manage to squeeze in dinner before I had to leave. The talk was AWESOME - I think Elizabeth Gilbert is an incredibly compelling person. But, I was STARVING afterward. The only thing we could find open that late was Denny's!

Challenge Day 16

Finally, a good food day!!!

B - Kashi with blueberries
S - 6 almonds and 1/2 a cucumber
L - soup and a plum
S - greek yogurt
D - 1/2 a crab cake (Carter stole my other 1/2)

I'm still hungry, so I think I'm going to make a sandwich in a minute :)

No workout today. Bennett came in our bed in the middle of the night, then Carter this morning, and I wasn't about to give up my sleepy cuddles :) Too much work to do it tonight. Tomorrow morning, its ON!

60-20-20

Over two weeks into my "Get Fit Challenge" and I have to be honest and say its been a total FAILURE thus far. I've lost one whopping pound. Whoo-de-doo. **rolls eyes**

I try to lay blame on my crazy job for sucking all the energy and life out of me. But really, there is no one to blame by me, myself, and I.

I read somewhere that your physique is determined 60% by diet, 20% by exercise, and 20% genetics. I won't go into the genetics here. But, its been clear that my pitfall has been with the diet element. I could exercise from now until the end of time, and it will only account for 20%. I cannot make long term and sustainable (hell, even short term) progress if I don't get my act together and start eating right.

Generally, I would say that most of the time, I eat well. However, a single day has not gone by during this Challenge that I didn't splurge and eat something off plan. I want to kick myself in the butt now! If I add up all that crap I've eaten the past 15 days, I bet you that would account for MANY pounds I did not lose.

Planning is the critical element. I've been so pressed for time lately that I have really slacked on this element. Heck, I haven't even set foot in a grocery store in like a month. Bad. I HAVE to plan me food. If not, then I grab "whatever" and I guarantee you, "whatever" isn't good for the waistline.

Another issue is that I usually splurge out of emotional eating. FOOD IS FUEL, NOT MEDICATION! I need to emblazon that on my forehead. I eat when I am stressed. I eat when I'm sad. I eat when I want a pick-me-up. This pattern is definitely not healthy.

Anyone else like that? How do you overcome that? Logic says that one should recognize the triggers and come up with alternative coping mechanisms. Sounds good, but what exactly do you do?

I've got to do it ladies. I have just GOT to. Nothing will ever truly change unless I do!

29

Today is my 29th birthday. How is it that I feel so old, and yet, so young at the same time?? I'm definitely on the younger end of my "mommy friend" peers. I guess its just something about teetering on the edge of moving into a new decade that makes me feel like I'm almost grown up. SO much has happened in my 20s! I graduated from college, got married, went to law school, had a baby, graduated law school, passed the bar exam and started practicing law, had another baby. Phew! Its been a busy decade!

I have one year left. Which leads me to think - how do I want to end this decade?

The thing that pops foremost into my mind, is that I want to really "regain" control over my life again. The past two years have been a whirlwind, a true blur. I've definitely been off my game. I've been basically struggling to "survive" - and I hate that! That just isn't me.

I want to go into my thirties as the woman I KNOW I am inside - strong, organized, efficient, energetic, positive!

I also find it sort of "funny" as I reflect, that throughout my 20s, I've been very focused on tangible accomplishments. And I've accomplished quite a lot. When I think ahead to my 30s, there really isn't much left by way of a tangible solid goal that I want to do. I think more along the lines of "I want to be a more present mother with my children;" and "I want to enjoy the day-to-day business of life more." I'm still pondering whether that stream of thinking is the problem or the cure.

Well, nothing like a birthday to make you contemplate your life. And your wrinkles and gray hairs :)

By the way - I love my husband, but he SUCKS at birthdays. In the 14 years we have been together, he has completely forgotten my birthday three times. A handful of other times, he's barely acknowledged its passing. This is one of those years. I got a "happy birthday" this morning, and that's it! Hmpf.

Ketchup

Hello all. I'm a few days behind, huh?

Let's see Day 12 (Saturday), I had a pretty good day, all things considered. I had Kashi for breakfast, and then a salad for lunch, when I met my best friend to celebrate are very close-together birthdays. For dinner, I had some pansit (Filipino noodle and veggie dish), and that's it. Then I had a beer. Oh, and I think I ate some of Carter's Yan Yans. No exercise, but did spend lots of time running after kidlets!

Day 13 (Sunday), I don't remember breakfast. I think I made eggs. Yep, eggs. Lunch was a turkey sandwich with pepper relish. Dinner was pizza. I didn't work out, but Ace and I spent 3 hours doing carpentry work together!

Day 14 (Monday), I ate really really well! I had Kashi with blueberries for breakfast, some whole grain crackers for a snack, some soup for lunch with celery sticks, a plum for a snack, and then I split a small dish of pesto cavatappi with chicken with Bennett for dinner!

I also tried out Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, Level 1 workout. These workouts sound so alluring. They are 20 minutes a piece, and have intervals consisting of 3 minutes of strength training (resistance and some free weights), 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. The Level 1 workout didn't really challenge me much. And with only 6 minutes of cardio total, I am skeptical that it would actually make me lose weight! I plan to try out the Level 2 workout tomorrow. This would probably be a good thing to do for days where I don't have a full hour to workout, or I'm kind of tired, and would otherwise skip my workout.

Day 15 (Tuesday) - MY BIRTHDAY!!!! So, all bets were off. I won't even go into it. Thanks Ann Ann (my darling sister in law) for the "razbaby" ice cream cake!!!!

Challenge Day 11

Diet:
B - bacon, egg and cheese biscuit
L - Lean cuisine
S - almonds
D - Mushroom and swiss burger and a few bites of chocolate

No exercise today. Total exhaustion has set in. Way too much work. Hopefully, tomorrow.