Week Three......

Wow.

It's been ANOTHER week.

The time seems to be flying by.

This was another hard week for me. I have reached a point with my body that it fights me to shed every ounce. I think it's because I'm breastfeeding and my body is the type that likes to keep a layer of cushion on. Either way, I would get up every morning and weight myself and become so discouraged because I felt like here I am following a regimen that I've seen others have great success with and I'm BARELY losing anything.

Couple that with the fact that every time I try to go to the gym and put my girls in the kids room, I get paged about twenty minutes later to come and get Ari who is screaming BLOODY MURDER. So, I managed to get two thirty minute workouts done at the gym this week (they were INTENSE though). I also got a bicycle trailer to pull my kids (I like to call it a mini rickshaw) and managed to bike about 15 miles total this week too.

Saturday evening I had eaten my allotted points for the day and then did a bad thing. I had a big bowl of Raisin Bran. It. Was. delicious. But not delicious to gain THREE pounds over! I know it can be water weight and other factors, I KNOW. But still. I was SO discouraged. I said EFF IT and ate more pizza than I care to admit to last night. And I felt like even more of a loser. But went to bed with the mentality that tomorrow was a new day and a new week and I would start fresh. And LO AND BEHOLD I LOST three pounds by this morning! I have no idea how that worked but I'm all cool with it.

So, I'm back on track today with the diet. getting ready to head to the gym and make the most of the fifteen or twenty minutes I get there. I'm praying that she gets better and gradually I can have an hour or so there.

I have to remind myself that this is a gradual process and just take one day, one meal at a time and do the best I can.

I have begun to add supplements to my diet and feel a noticeable change in my overall happiness and feeling of well being. They are: Magnesium, Fish Oils, Flax Oils, extra Iron, vitamin D, B complex, and take two glasses of diluted Apple Cider Vinegar daily.

Week three, here it is:

WEIGHT LOST WEEK THREE: .5lbs (Notice that that is POINT 5 lbs)

GRAND TOTAL: 5lbs

Week Two

Well, it's been two weeks since I started this journey. I've come to stop looking at the big picture and take one day at a time. I tell myself, let's just get through this day, and then we'll focus on tomorrow. And it's working!

I remember when I had Ellie, my mom kind of laughed one day as she said, "Well that's the last hot meal you'll ever get." And I think as mother's of small children, it's easy to form the habit of wolfing down your food in order to be able to eat it before someone needs something. At least I know that's a habit I had formed. So this past week I have really focused on savoring each bite for its flavors and textures instead of simply shoveling food into my mouth to achieve a sense of fullness.

This week brought with it some nice days outside and I took advantage of them with my new bicycle trailer. And NO, I did not spend that much money on it. I found it on craigslist. Because we have had two rounds of colds in this house, I haven't been able to get to the gym. So, I've just tried to incorporate as much activity into my life as possible. Like walking to the store, taking a bike ride, and parking far away at the stores. Everyone's well now so this week I plan to go to three classes at the gym. I'm also riding the bike with the kids in tow to the library for our weekly visit. It's about a 6 mile round trip.

It hasn't all been easy though. I am still breastfeeding Ari, and contrary to what everyone told me (EH-HEM MOTHER!!!) the weight doesn't just fall off of me and I can NOT just eat whatever I want. It's just the opposite in fact and my body seems to ( at this point) cling to every last ounce for dear life. I also at times experience those ravenous pangs of hunger like nothing I have ever felt before. So, I try to combat them with a piece of fruit and tell myself to just keep on keepin on and it will gradually get better.

This week I had my husband home for three days and while it was such a gift because while he's in this residency at the Naval Hospital we usually NEVER see him, it was also at times very difficult. Because this man has the metabolism of a Kenyan marathon runner, I have to really refrain from snacking with him ( he's ALWAYS eating) and not to snack on what he's eating.

I learned, a little too late, to look up the points of something BEFORE I eat it. Who would've thought that a quarter of a Red Baron cheese pizza is 9 points! IT WAS LIKE THE SIZE OF MY HAND! After I had eaten it and found out how many points it was, I started to think about all the other things I could have chosen for that many points that would have filled me up much more. Like SOUP.

Well, that was this week. Here we go again. One day at a time.

WEIGHT LOST WEEK TWO: 2.5lbs

GRAND TOTAL: 4.5 lbs

Oh...PS, I also taped a picture of Kim Kardashian in a bikini to my fridge so I have to look at her every time I want to get something out. Needless to say, my Husband doesn't mind that at all. ;)

Week One...

WHEW!

I'm sure glad that's over!

The past week was very difficult for me at times. I've had to deal with two sick kids, cabin fever, and a budgeting SNAFU (my fault...paid the wrong bills at the wrong time) that caused me to play "What Meals Can I Make Out of What's In the Pantry".

Side note: THIS site has an excellent tool at the top where you can enter ingredients you have on hand and it searches it's database of , like, a KA-TRILLION recipes and gives you a list of all the ones you can make with what you have. That saved my ample butt this week.

OK, back to the week. As I said before I started out doing the South Beach Diet. This diet has worked well for me in the past when I had only one child. I've never been successful on it with two kids. I was trying so hard to follow it and pretty much had to make myself a separate meal every time I made food for the rest of the family. That really blew....along with taking up precious time I didn't have, it was torturous to watch everyone eat really good stuff while I had vegetables and chicken.

So sometime Tuesday morning I had a mild breakdown over both of my children screaming inconsolably for what seemed like FOREVER for who knows what reason. And, like alot of people do, I found comfort in the bottom of a pint of Hagen Daaz. And NO, I did not eat the WHOLE pint....just most of it.

That was the point that I decided that I needed to switch gears for my own sanity and the well being of everyone in the line of my sugar deprived firing range. I switched over completely to Weight Watchers, which is the system I used to lose 50 pounds after Ellie was born.

LET ME TELL YOU:

I am a much happier person because I did this.

I only have to make one meal at dinner. I don't feel deprived. AND....I even had pizza Friday night with my family.

Oh, and I went to the gym once and did a spin class. IT NEARLY KILLED ME. But I felt pretty good afterward. I couldn't go for my other scheduled times because the kids were sick, but hopefully next week will be better.

That's my story for the first week....STAY TUNED

WEIGHT LOST WEEK ONE: 2LBS

GRAND TOTAL: 2LBS

Introductions Are in Order

Hi.

My name's Jill.

Some of you may know me from my other blog, here.

In the past three years I have had two beautiful children, gained and lost substantial amounts of weight due to these pregnancies and the chaotic life that ensued.

I used to work out a lot.

I used to look good in shorts.

I used to be able to fit into all my jeans from high school.

Those things haven't been true for a while now.

But, I'm about to change all of that.

I am reclaiming my body once again.

I want not only to look good in my shorts again, but I want to FEEL good. The kind of feeling good that comes from being healthy, and taking care of my body like I used to.

It's hard to find the time when you have two or MORE (GASP!) small children for yourself. But you know what I decided? How can I be of service to anyone else, if I forsake taking care of myself?

And so I begin what may be a long and painful (at least at first) journey. The purpose of this blog is to encourage, inspire, motivate, and just share sympathy with the other women who are embarking on this journey with me. There are about 10 of us so far (HI LADIES!) and our ranks are growing daily. Some of us are embarking on this journey with different goals and different strategies, but we all have a common goal. To look and feel better.

To begin, I'll tell you where I'm at and my goals...and I'm even going to post some UNFLATTERING PHOTOS of myself! DUN DUN DUN!

I have given myself until June first to reach my goals.

Currently, I'm 5'8" and a (tight) size 10 (NO, I am not giving you my exact weight)

I would like to lose 25# and fit comfortably back into my size 6 clothes.

I am doing the South Beach diet and my goal is to go to the gym 5X a week.

For the first month I am just going to do one group fitness class a week.

I'm going to update this blog once a week (or more if I need to) with my progress or pitfalls. Please feel free to comment who you are (if you want) and where you're at and where you'd like to be. Or remain a quiet spectator to my journey. Whatever you do, wish me luck!

NOTE: I am having computer issues, so those unflattering photos will have to wait until my tech (Husband) gets home.