Baby #2 is here!

Stephen Patrick arrived on January 3, 2008 and weighed 7lbs 3oz!!  He is absolutely adorable and I can't believe he's six months already!  It's unbelievable that I'm now a mom to two gorgeous little boys, but it's true.  And it's also high time I get back to focusing on getting to a healthy weight and staying there.  So here we go around again, it's good to be back!!

You Lose Some, You Lose Some

Well, finally updated with a solid internet connection here at the house.  I was going crazy only being able to log on every once in a while.  I have entirely too much venting to do to put up with that! I'm down to 160, which is great, the lowest I've been so far, though I must admit I'm praying each time I get near the scale that I'll break into the 150's.  On the upside, my doctor did advise that this slow steady weight loss is the best way to insure that I won't simply pack all the weight back on once I reach my goal weight.  That was good to hear, and helped me get focused once again.  I actually managed to put on a pair of size 12 pants the other day and I'm ecstatic!  I'll be even more ecstatic when I'm wearing them regularly, but for now I'll take what I can get.  Hubby and I have decided that once I reach my goal weight we'll decide when we want to start trying for baby #2.  I know that seems weird, get where I want to be weight wise and then get big again, but I want to lose the weight mostly to be more healthy during a second pregnancy, and to make shedding the post baby pounds easier.  Hopefully the second c-section will go much better than the first and I won't be stuck laying on the couch for three months with an incision that won't heal.  Gross.

I Want To SCREAM!!!

I was doing great, seeing slow but steady weight loss and the inches were dropping as well.  But this past week I seem to have hit some sort of plateau.  I went back up just a slight bit in weight, but it's just frustrating as h*ll to not see any change taking place on the scale.  I been told it's not smart to live attached to the scale, but right now I just can't help it.  I've tried flucuating may calorie intake to keep my metabolism going, but no real luck.  Anyone have any helpful tips before I start pulling out my hair?

Getting Settled

Finally getting settled in the new house.  Still no internet service, but we should have that hooked back up next week after the closing (yay! sold the house in Augusta!).  Right now Alex keeps me on the move, and I've done well with getting at least 30 minutes of cardio done each day with the gazelle.  Hope to catch up with everyone soon!

Moving Bites

Well, I'm down to the wire on our move.  We're supposed to close Friday on the new house, and move in HOPEFULLY Saturday, but may be Monday depending on the movers.  As of tomorrow I will have no fridge and no washer and dryer as they are loading those early, which is going to make it a bit tough on the avoiding fast food idea, but I'm putting some healthy things away in a cooler and hopefully I'll be so busy I won't have time to run out and get anything.  I really enjoy seeing the weight drop each morning, even when it's just a little bit.  So I'm really trying to keep up with my water intake and walking every other day.  I'll miss a day or so in the middle of the move, but am hoping the extra back and forth I'll be doing during that time will make up for it.  I've also purchased a set of adjustable ankle weights and have been wearing those when I walk.  Those definately make you feel it, and they help get my heart rate up too.  Plus if I don't want a crazy sweaty workout I can always just strap them on under my jeans when I go to the mall and I'm still burning more calories while doing my shopping!

I hate BMI

The weight is slowly coming off, but as long as I can see improvement, even if it's only half a pound, that's motivation to me.  I am still at 30.2 BMI though, still hovering right over the edge of obese and I can't wait until I see it drop down into the next category.  That's still overweight, but for some reason it will make me breathe easier.  Then it's down to the the next level, and so on.  I may be without internet access for a few weeks as we get settled into the new house.  It's difficult enough to carry two mortgages, and we haven't had so much as one showing in the last two weeks, which is driving me nuts.  Just not a great time right now, what with schools starting and everything.  Not too many people looking around to move right now.  Anyway, in an effort to limit as many bills as we can, I won't be getting a cable modem again for at least a few weeks, maybe more.  I WILL be back though, and hopefully with great news on the weight loss front.  Keep up the good fight while I'm gone, and think skinny!!!

Stay at Home Mom Equals Low Self Esteem?

I just had to share this with everyone.  I was watching Dr. Phil the other day and this woman mentioned she was "JUST a stay at home mom".  She was very down on herself ( mostly because her jack*ss of a husband went on national tv to tell her he wasn't attracted to her because after having 3, count them, THREE of his children, her legs were too heavy for his liking.  Never mind the fact that the guy was a chunker himself, and that is wife was actually really hot).  Anyway, Dr. Phil said something that really made me stop and think.  When she said she was just a stay at home mom, he said something along the lines of  "Don't you realize, that your children believe you get up before them every day and make the sun come up?  They think you create the world every morning.  And you do." 

I never realized, but I have had this issue with not working myself.  I always felt as if I was failing to contribute just because I wasn't bringing in a paycheck.  And that made me feel down on myself, and perhaps not consider my own health and fitness as much as I should have due to my self esteem.  But I realized, after hearing that, and after hearing my husband out of the blue thank me for being such a wonderful mother, and for having as he put it : "A 24 hour a day job instead of just an 8 hour one."  I realized that what I am doing is the most important thing in the universe.  I am shaping a mind and guiding a new soul. 

I mean no disrespect to those Mom's that do work.  I understand finances often require it, and even if they don't there are those with such a drive that they simply must work to be happy.  I can understand all of this, and I don't attempt to diminish what they do in any way.  But I am tired of having my own role as a full time mother diminished by society as a whole.  I am tired of people who look at me sideways in the store because I have spit up on my shirt or a pacifier hanging out of my purse.  I'm irritated by the people who don't have kids and who give that little smile when I mention I stay at home with my son, as if they somehow think I'm doing pilates and getting massages all day. 

Those of us who are stay at home moms put in some serious hours.  24 of them a day to be exact, and we do it without thanks, without expecting any.  I don't see anything wrong however, with expecting to be treated as if we contribute just as much as the next person.  If anything, we contribute more, and it is high time the rest of the world realized that.

New Resolve

Okay, so I know we've all made mistakes and mis-stepped a time or two along this LONG TORTUROUS diet journey, but I really think I've finally made a breakthrough to myself.  Last night I wrote an open letter to myself.  No, I'm not going crazy (at least not yet), but as a writer it's so much easier for me to put things down on paper than it is to come up with the spoken words.  Don't ask me why, it's just something in my cosmic makeup.  Anyway, I was honest, not brutal or condescending, but honest and open, and I explained (to myself) what I wanted, why I wanted it, and that I realized it may take a while to get there, but I was more than willing to try.  I'm going to keep the letter with my weight loss journal/meal list.  I'm also going to create a chart to put on my refrigerator where I can record any and all exercise I am able to complete.  Hopefully even just wanting to put something on that blank page will get me out of the house and moving, even if it's only around the block a time or two!

Backpedaling

Okay, this is really frustrating.  I just typed this long rant about how I'm not getting anywhere in my weight loss goals, and when I went to preview it, the site lost it and now I have to do it all over again.  Well, too bad, it's past my bedtime and I'm beat.  So suffice it to say I'm not anywhere near where I wanted to be at this point, though I will say I am much more calorie concious these days.  I'm just not getting anywhere with the exercise, so the weight isn't coming off how I'd like.  Once we get moved I think things will be a lot easier as I'll have a lot more options for exercising available in my home as opposed to out at a gym or packed away somewhere per the realtor's recommendation. 

In the meantime, how do I keep myself from cheating with fast food????

Shoot

Already off my schedule and I only started a few days ago!  Had a friend over today to do some scrapbooking, and the baby didn't wake up until past our normal walk time, so I feel bad I didn't get that in.  I had some shopping to do this afternoon, and then washed the car (inside and out) for about an hour this evening, so hopefully I burned some calories if even just a little bit.  It's back to the schedule tomorrow though, at least in the morning.  We're headed to the inlaws for the weekend and my MIL and I have already decided we'll keep up with the walking while there since she's trying to lose some too.  Will keep ya posted!