Weight Loss Success

I haven't written about my weight loss in a while and so I thought I would put in a little update. According to my book I have been doing this for 11 weeks. And I have lost (drum roll please) 17.8 pounds. I will post a picture with every 20 pound loss, so stay tuned. This past week was awesome. Last Sunday I turned 35. And just because I am on Weight Watchers doesn't mean that I can't have birthday cake. I had two pieces on my birthday, some the next day and pie on Tuesday. The best part was I lost 2.6 pounds this week! I have been mall walking three or four days a week at work. I have also have been doing what I can at night. Which sometimes isn't a lot because if I am too tired I don't work out. I do a Weight Watchers kickboxing video at home, when Brian is working, or I still go to the gym for a run. I am really behind on my training, but my parents are coming in a couple of weeks and I know I will get in some good working out that week!

I Am Failing as a Mom

Today I had to take my three and a half month old to physical therapy. You heard right, physical therapy. My child has a torticollis, which means he leans his neck to one side. Plus he has a flat head. I feel like I have failed my child already. Right now I have a whole list of things I need to do with him (along with the daycare provider) so we will see how it goes. This weekend should be interesting because we need to stop having him laying down and it is hard when I am by myself. I am praying that he improves in the next month and we don't have to go as often.

Trying to Lose the Weight

It has been 9 weeks since Logan was born, which means I am cleared to lose the weight. I already know that there are challenges. First, it will be more difficult to work out since I have the little one at home and Brian isn't always home to watch him when I want to work out. Second, food is still my weakness. I know what foods to avoid and which ones I should eat, but it is still difficult for me to be good. And lastly, I am always tired these days. I know that losing weight will give me more energy, but I have to fight the urge just to rest instead of going to the gym.

I have decided to share my experience in hopes that someone will read this and give me the encouragement I need. Let's face it, my husband doesn't remember that I am trying to lose weight. So here are the facts:

Plan following: Weight Watchers

Start weight: 248.2 (only 7 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant, but more than 25 pounds heavier since the miscarriage)

Goal weight: 165 (I can't remember the last time I was there)

Date started: June 3, 2012

I took measurements, but I don't know if they are correct. So I am not posting them. I will just let you know monthly how they went down.

Here I am on June 3rd:

I am going to weigh in every Saturday and attend meetings when I can. It is hard with the baby. I did weight in on June 9th. I now weigh 243 (lost 5.2 pounds). My next weigh in was June 16th and I was only down .4 pounds. It isn't the number you want to hear, but it is still a loss. I will take any number as long as it is a loss! This week (June 23rd) I lost 1.4 pounds. So I am down a total of 7 pounds! Not bad for not even being on the plan a month. All of the baby weight is off. So it is time to tackle the big weight.

I have been meaning to post this for a couple weeks now, but I am just getting to it. So now I need to put a weekly report on here!

I am trying to work out as much as I can. This past week I went back to work. By the time I get home I am so tired and busy with the baby that by the time he is down it is time for me to go to sleep! But this week Brian is working days and I told him that once he gets home at 8:30 that I am going to the gym to do my half hour walk/run. Or I am going to start using my yoga DVDs. The reason I am worried about getting some activity in is not for the weight loss, but I am training for a half marathon! You heard me right folks, a half marathon. I am doing the Walt Disney World half marathon on January 12, 2013. Keep checking back on my progress!

I'm a Mommy Now

The word mommy just seems weird to me still. It has been a month today since my little man was born. He came into this world almost a month to the day early. Scared the crap out of me. I just wanted to be the best mom in the world and I felt like a failure that I couldn't carry him until the due date. You should have nine months to prepare and I didn't even get to nest. But I was lucky, he was born healthy for being so early. And he has brought joy into my heart and in our house. He makes me want to be the best person that I can.

I sit here at 3:30 in the morning wide awake while he fell back asleep after his feeding. I have great hopes and wishes for the little guy. I want him to grow up being happy and healthy. I want him to know that he has a family that loves and supports him in whatever he wants to do in the future. I am already exposing him to some of our likes. We watch Detroit Tigers games together. I read him Disney stories and tell him about all the great movies and theme parks that Disney has.

He is getting bigger by the day and I am going to enjoy watching him grow up! I look forward to writing more about being a mommy. And hopefully you will join my journey.

Giving it Another Go Around!

I have done it before. Heck, I have done it a hundred times in the last 6 years. I am trying to lose weight again. Yes, you heard me right, again. I am hoping to use my blog to get readers and encouragement that way. I will try to blog a couple times a week to let you know my thoughts and feelings, and also to let you know about the progress. We are leaving to go on a cruise in less than 2 weeks. I am crazy for starting this now, but why not?

Baby steps is the way I am going to achieve this, this time. Of course I am going to use Weight Watchers, that is my plan of choice. And I am going to include some exercise in there.

Goal One: Lose 15 pounds by December 17th

I have my cousin's wedding that day and I want to be comfortable in my own skin. I should be a dress size lower (right now I am a 18/20) and plan on looking pretty for the occasion. I am going to first focus on losing 15 pounds before I decide on my next goal.

As of today, I am starting. I am going to the gym tonight to do weight and 30-minutes on the elliptical machine. My biggest obstacles are motivation and writing down my food. Wish me luck!

Healing

I have noticed that after moving away from Michigan that I am a little less negative in my daily life. I have had people in the past make comments about the negativity that pours out of me at times. Recently I have had a friend make a comment that I have become less negative. Interestingly enough, last week I had lunch with a friend who lives in Michigan, but happens to live down here in Virginia Beach in the summers. We had a wonderful conversation about how negative people are in the Midwest (calling out Michigan for obvious reasons). This could explain how I have become a different person since I moved down here. Why? I really don’t know. I just have a more positive outcome on life. I think that one reason could be the fact we see the sun all year round and not just in the summer like in dreary, cold Michigan. Plus down here we are not surrounded by news stories that will make one cry. I watch the news every morning and they start out each segment with the weather, not who got murdered the night before. In fact, there are not that many deaths around here, with the exception of the female eagle who was hit by an incoming plane at the botanical gardens this week (and it was a top story).



I am bringing all of this up because I just want to talk a little bit about the horrible month I have just experienced. On February 25 Brian and I were surprised to find out that I was expecting a baby. We were really excited and shocked since we were not “trying”. Unfortunately on March 23 I had to go to the emergency room for bleeding. After five hours in the ER I was told that I had lost the baby. This was devastating to say the least, especially since I was the ER all by myself.


Less than a week before the ER visit I was in Urgent Care for a sprained ankle. On a trip to the bathroom at 2:30 in the morning down I went (taking a small table down with me). I am still recovering from this and my ankle is still swollen. I am just hoping that it gets better soon. I have resumed working out, but I still have some pain and discomfort.


Shortly after the ER visit it was time for my bi-annual dentist appointment. No surprise, and the reason I why I have dual coverage, I need a crown. Sounds like it wouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong. I needed to go to a periodontist because my gums have receded so much around the tooth that they wouldn’t touch the tooth until I had a consultation. I was shocked when I called to make an appointment that I got in right that week. Even more shocking is that I found out that I need gum grafting on 5 teeth. Of course I can’t afford all of that at once, so I opted to get the tooth done that I needed to get the crown on. On April 15th I went in for my procedure. Two weeks later, I still have swelling and am considering not having the other four teeth done. I have had 3 oral surgeries, including the wisdom teeth, and I will gladly go through that over having a gum grafting procedure done!


So that is end of my rant. My ankle is slowly getting better, and so is my mouth. Brian and I decided on my follow-up visit to the doctor that we are going to try right away again for a baby. I am still healing, but I can get through anything!

New Year's Day

It is that time of year, well I guess New Year. Are you going to make some resolutions? I don't know if I am going to make any or not. I know that I want to do one. And that is to be able to run an 8k. I am pretty sure that I am going to sign up for the Shamrock marathon weekend in Virginia Beach. I know I won't be doing a marathon or half for that fact. But they do have an 8k. I think that last year I had too many "resolutions" and didn't even complete one of them. But if I make this one and let people know about it than others can hold me accountable. I am going to start training after the 1st. Right now I am just working the elliptical since I hurt a hip muscle in my first 10k and aggravated it during the last 8k it acted up. Plus I didn't run the entire race. I want to be able to run and entire race.

Starting Monday January 3rd I am starting a new routine to get me in shape in the less than three months I have to do this race. Wish me luck!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year! Brian and I are headed to DC for the weekend. So make sure you check out our blog for trip details.