Owen and I are both just a tad on the congested nose/coughing side of health right now. It's not fun feeling like your sinuses could at any moment cause serious brain damage because the pressure is so big... I took some medicine this morning, and drank coffee... and thought about how the heck I would move on purpose today.
So tomorrow I leave for Florida to visit my family, including my new nephew, I am very pumped. Needless to say today needed to be a packing/cleaning day. (It's 4:30pm, bags are still not packed.) My friend called around 10:30am and asked if I would be up for going to Millenium Park Beach today (not Chicago... I wish! It's a local park with a beach on a lake). I said that maybe this was the incentive to get stuff done today. So I started laundry and organized all Owen's clothes... Then got the two of us ready for the beach. On the way to the beach I decided I would swim when I got there for my movement of the day.
I pulled up to the round-a-bout thingy hoping that Theresa would be standing there ready to grab Owen, so I pulled his carrier out, and my bag and then a cop pulled up in his golf cart and I was all worried because it said, "No loading or unloading" right where I was parked. So after unloading Owen and my bag, I loaded both back in the car and sped away to the parking lot. This made it necessary for me to carry my bag and Owen in his carrier all the way to the park... Most mom's are saying, "Why didn't you have the stroller?" and at the time I was thinking the same thing. Then I began to feel the burning in my arms and realized I was exercising without even realizing it! SO, keep that in mind the next time you go to the grocery store, carry the carrier into the store instead of grabbing a cart in the cart corral... it will make you feel accomplished!
So when I made it to the entrance, my dear friend Theresa was there with $3 cash for me to get in (thanks Theresa!) and she took my beach bag... but I still lugged the infant carrier with sleeping Owen down to the beach. Which by the way is very nice! BUT you may not swim past the knee high area... so much for my laps.
So Owen napped for an hour in his car seat while I chit chatted and then drove home. An hour in the sun can make you feel like sleeping all day. But I still felt like I had to do something to blog about. This blog thing really works to keep you in check!
Since we are leaving for Florida tomorrow and I need to do loads of laundry, I went downstairs to fold laundry and began doing lunges while folding - voila! Exercise! Real exercise while I work. As soon as I began to feel the "burn" so to speak, I realized that it is possible to fit in bits of exercise here and there! In my mind I picture Jillian from Big Fat Loser (a.k.a. Biggest Loser) yelling at me so I keep pushing through the burn.
Note: Even mental images of Jillian yelling at you work for motivation!
I have also spent a lot of time on the floor of the nursery today playing with Owen who will not take an afternoon nap. While there I did some sit-ups too... thought I'd throw those in as well. I don't think I looked quite like the magazine women who do this next to there babies, but it was an attempt.
Theresa suggested I write about what I am eating too... I guess that may have something to do with losing weight as well! I've never been a fan of diets, I think I am more of a fan of being conscious of what you eat, and making sure there is some healthy stuff in there!!! So here's what I've had so far - an organic pop-tart for breakfast with coffee, a chicken sandwich with lettuce and light mayo (made from dinner leftovers) and an apple for lunch with grape juice, another pop-tart for a snack... and I am thinking frozen pizza for dinner! Something easy - if it changes, I'll let you know.
Owen's clothes will be finished soon, so I have another set of lunges to attend to!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Starting to move...
I went to the doctor on Monday because I felt terribly sick and was worried that little Owen may become sick too, so of course they took my blood pressure and weighed me.
The scale blinked between 170 and 171 and the nurse said, "One seventy one" and wrote it down. I don't know if she doesn't feel like most women do about weight, but come on lady, it was blinking between the two numbers, give me that pound!
So I am going to start at 170... I am 170lbs, with a current BMI of 25. I am squishy.
My goal is to be 145lbs, with a BMI of 21. I would like to be tone.
This is my simple goal - to shed 25lbs and be less squishy.
Yesterday I swam across the lake at my inlaws house. I was tired at the end of that! But I had moved on purpose and that's my goal.
Afterward I took Owen on a walk to my friend's house a mile away. So that's two miles of walking under my belt.
This morning I got up, pumped (pumping is one of the weirdest things to do for a new mom... love the invention, hate the concept... it makes you feel sort of like a cow, which is the very animal you do not want to be associated with after giving birth) fed Owen, put him under his gym thingy, walked back in the bedroom and told Brandon (my husband) I was going to go for a run. Who knows what inspired this insane idea, but it was on this run that I was inspired to blog, so maybe it was a good thing.
I knew I wouldn't be out for long, I knew I'd be home before Brandon had to leave for work, because let's face it, I haven't run in over a year probably, and I was about to use muscles that had gone into hibernation.
I got my old running shoes on (I haven't felt the need to buy new ones yet, because I wonder if I will really keep running... I know that you need good running shoes to run well... I ran cross country for 7 years and coached it for 3... but they are expensive!) squeezed an old sports bra over my nursing tank... My boobs are huge (let's be honest) and I am not used to running with huge boobs, so I had to contain them. I also squeezed into some spandex to put under my shorts... to prevent chaffing. Because you know that's going to happen with the gorgeous thighs pregnancy gifted me with!
And then I walked out the door and just started running. Oh my goodness. I felt so weird. I was moving at a snail's pace, but kept telling myself that you have to start somewhere. I ran around the block. Maybe a little over a half mile. I stopped once to walk and catch my breath and then continued on. It wasn't much. I was gone for all of 10 minutes, but I moved on purpose!
And so my journey begins...
The scale blinked between 170 and 171 and the nurse said, "One seventy one" and wrote it down. I don't know if she doesn't feel like most women do about weight, but come on lady, it was blinking between the two numbers, give me that pound!
So I am going to start at 170... I am 170lbs, with a current BMI of 25. I am squishy.
My goal is to be 145lbs, with a BMI of 21. I would like to be tone.
This is my simple goal - to shed 25lbs and be less squishy.
Yesterday I swam across the lake at my inlaws house. I was tired at the end of that! But I had moved on purpose and that's my goal.
Afterward I took Owen on a walk to my friend's house a mile away. So that's two miles of walking under my belt.
This morning I got up, pumped (pumping is one of the weirdest things to do for a new mom... love the invention, hate the concept... it makes you feel sort of like a cow, which is the very animal you do not want to be associated with after giving birth) fed Owen, put him under his gym thingy, walked back in the bedroom and told Brandon (my husband) I was going to go for a run. Who knows what inspired this insane idea, but it was on this run that I was inspired to blog, so maybe it was a good thing.
I knew I wouldn't be out for long, I knew I'd be home before Brandon had to leave for work, because let's face it, I haven't run in over a year probably, and I was about to use muscles that had gone into hibernation.
I got my old running shoes on (I haven't felt the need to buy new ones yet, because I wonder if I will really keep running... I know that you need good running shoes to run well... I ran cross country for 7 years and coached it for 3... but they are expensive!) squeezed an old sports bra over my nursing tank... My boobs are huge (let's be honest) and I am not used to running with huge boobs, so I had to contain them. I also squeezed into some spandex to put under my shorts... to prevent chaffing. Because you know that's going to happen with the gorgeous thighs pregnancy gifted me with!
And then I walked out the door and just started running. Oh my goodness. I felt so weird. I was moving at a snail's pace, but kept telling myself that you have to start somewhere. I ran around the block. Maybe a little over a half mile. I stopped once to walk and catch my breath and then continued on. It wasn't much. I was gone for all of 10 minutes, but I moved on purpose!
And so my journey begins...
Why I am blogging
So the reason I began this blog is to catalog what I do on a daily basis to shed that pregnancy poundage. I am not a crazy exerciser,
I enjoy
I believe I am normal and in being normal I wanted to speak out for the rest of us. The women after pegnancy that don't get into those cute exercise outfits and work out with their baby laying next to them like some of the magazines show. Are you serious?!
So this is a journey of a real woman... who really wants to get back to her normal size, but do it in a way that doesn't make me superwoman. I just want to feel like superwoman, and be me.
I enjoy
- playing with my three month old
- reading
- walking the dogs (okay, I don't walk them, my hubby does, but we walk together)
- playing with my five year old (stepson... whom I will simply refer to as mine from now on... his name is Logan, I've known him since he was 2 1/2 and I love him to death!)
- going on facebook
- watching t.v.
- planning for next year (I am a teacher)
- cleaning my house (yes I like doing this, it's somehow a stress reliever for me!)
I believe I am normal and in being normal I wanted to speak out for the rest of us. The women after pegnancy that don't get into those cute exercise outfits and work out with their baby laying next to them like some of the magazines show. Are you serious?!
So this is a journey of a real woman... who really wants to get back to her normal size, but do it in a way that doesn't make me superwoman. I just want to feel like superwoman, and be me.
Before I began to move...
I am currently reading Julie and Julia and was inspired to start blogging in order to motivate myself.
Owen Seth Gasper was born three months ago on April 26. He is a new joy in our lives and I didn't know I could love such a little being so much.
I also didn't know that being pregnant would allow my body to expand (not contract) in ways I had never imagined.
Now you must know something... I am almost 5'9" - I like to say "Five Nine" when people ask how tall I am... it implies that I am tall and slender. There's something so beautiful about the number "9" don't you think? ANYWAY, before I was pregnant I was 5'9" and 145 lbs... at one time. I think that the real weight that I carried around was 153 when I got pregnant, and since I am writing this blog to keep myself honest, let's start there! I don't own a scale, so I honestly don't know, but I have that number filed away in my brain somewhere, so I think that's it.
So my BMI before I was pregnant was somewhere around 23. 23 is good, average, normal. There's something comforting about being that person. You just fit in.
I must rewind and tell you that during my first few months of pregnancy, I gained weight at a normal pace... a few pounds here, a few there, a beautiful baby boy was growing inside me and I was eating normally... maybe a few extra things here and there (let's be honest) but nothing insane.
Then all of a sudden the third trimester came and POW weight was attracted to me like bees to honey. I read in a book (one of the many that sat on my nightstand that I would go to for comfort but rarely find any when it came to my third trimester of pregnancy) that in the last month of pregnancy most women do not gain weight or sometimes LOSE it! WHAT?!?! During my last month of pregnancy I gained 3 or 4 lbs a week. No joke. It was unbelievable, I was like a balloon. That's about 12 extra pounds that the normal woman does not gain.
So let's start there. Let's start on the last day of my pregnancy, which happened to be my 30th birthday. I had notions in my head for much of my twenties, that my 30th birthday was going to be a BIG BASH. All my friends would come over, we'd toast my twenties and welcome my thirties. There would be dancing and talking and eating... there was eating.
What actually happened on my 30th birthday was that my wonderful husband and stepson made me a three layer yellow chocolate cake. (For those of you that know me and know my aversion to cake, yellow chocolate cake is the only cake I eat, and it is delicious!) I waddled my 205lb self (yes that was the last weight taken of me before Owen was pushed into this world!) around the house. My grandparents and aunt and uncle came over and sang happy birthday to me, which, if you know my mom's side of the family, is quite a treat because it's harmonized. And my grandpa ended it with "hip hip hooray!" which is another family tradition. It was a great day, not the day I imagined, but wonderful none the less. Little did I know that the next day I would shed 20lbs... 8lb 11oz of that would be Owen. He was a gorgeous new born... I know I am biased, but I am also honest, and some newborns are down right weird looking. Owen was not, I don't know how I got lucky in that arena!
So on April 26, 2009 a new journey began for me I became a mom to a newborn... and a woman with a BMI of 27 - which is definitely in the overweight category. It was a new beginning.
Owen Seth Gasper was born three months ago on April 26. He is a new joy in our lives and I didn't know I could love such a little being so much.
I also didn't know that being pregnant would allow my body to expand (not contract) in ways I had never imagined.
Now you must know something... I am almost 5'9" - I like to say "Five Nine" when people ask how tall I am... it implies that I am tall and slender. There's something so beautiful about the number "9" don't you think? ANYWAY, before I was pregnant I was 5'9" and 145 lbs... at one time. I think that the real weight that I carried around was 153 when I got pregnant, and since I am writing this blog to keep myself honest, let's start there! I don't own a scale, so I honestly don't know, but I have that number filed away in my brain somewhere, so I think that's it.
So my BMI before I was pregnant was somewhere around 23. 23 is good, average, normal. There's something comforting about being that person. You just fit in.
I must rewind and tell you that during my first few months of pregnancy, I gained weight at a normal pace... a few pounds here, a few there, a beautiful baby boy was growing inside me and I was eating normally... maybe a few extra things here and there (let's be honest) but nothing insane.
Then all of a sudden the third trimester came and POW weight was attracted to me like bees to honey. I read in a book (one of the many that sat on my nightstand that I would go to for comfort but rarely find any when it came to my third trimester of pregnancy) that in the last month of pregnancy most women do not gain weight or sometimes LOSE it! WHAT?!?! During my last month of pregnancy I gained 3 or 4 lbs a week. No joke. It was unbelievable, I was like a balloon. That's about 12 extra pounds that the normal woman does not gain.
So let's start there. Let's start on the last day of my pregnancy, which happened to be my 30th birthday. I had notions in my head for much of my twenties, that my 30th birthday was going to be a BIG BASH. All my friends would come over, we'd toast my twenties and welcome my thirties. There would be dancing and talking and eating... there was eating.
What actually happened on my 30th birthday was that my wonderful husband and stepson made me a three layer yellow chocolate cake. (For those of you that know me and know my aversion to cake, yellow chocolate cake is the only cake I eat, and it is delicious!) I waddled my 205lb self (yes that was the last weight taken of me before Owen was pushed into this world!) around the house. My grandparents and aunt and uncle came over and sang happy birthday to me, which, if you know my mom's side of the family, is quite a treat because it's harmonized. And my grandpa ended it with "hip hip hooray!" which is another family tradition. It was a great day, not the day I imagined, but wonderful none the less. Little did I know that the next day I would shed 20lbs... 8lb 11oz of that would be Owen. He was a gorgeous new born... I know I am biased, but I am also honest, and some newborns are down right weird looking. Owen was not, I don't know how I got lucky in that arena!
So on April 26, 2009 a new journey began for me I became a mom to a newborn... and a woman with a BMI of 27 - which is definitely in the overweight category. It was a new beginning.
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