Go away baby weight! - Part 2

So, I said I would talk about my eating game plan when it came to losing my baby weight and guess what; it’s not going all that well. What I’ve discovered is trying to follow any kind of eating plan is quite the challenge, yet, going into it, I knew that it would be. That’s why when I committed to losing my baby weight, I focused first on getting my workout routine in place. Now that I have a routine down, since I workout four or five times a week, I've turned my attention to eating better.

Mmm, breakfast! Try with reduced fat peanut butter!

Basically, what I’ve been trying to is eat lighter and eat more often. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I start with an Eggo whole wheat breakfast waffle in the morning, have some kind of snack mid-morning like grapes or carrots, then for lunch I go with a turkey sandwich on wheat bread (skipping the mayo and substituting mustard) or a Lean Cuisine, have another snack mid-afternoon, and then at dinner time, I try to eat a balanced meal with a protein, a starch, and some kind of vegetable whether it be a salad or something cooked like green beans or peas. Along with trying to eat better, I’m also trying to drink a bunch of water, cut down on the alcohol intake, and skip high sugary drinks like Gatorade and juice. Occasionally, I will have a soda and yes, I still drink coffee in the morning. I know I should stop, yet, sometimes green tea just doesn’t quite cut it and I need that cup of Joe.

For the most part, I’ve been sticking to the meal plan during the day, but what’s really been killing me is trying to follow it at dinner time. At the end of the day, I’m tired and I just want to relax with a beer and fill my belly with food that tastes good. Yes, I guess you would say that I am an emotional eater and if I’ve had a rough or long day, I typically want to eat and drink things I like to feel better. Therefore, it can be hard to eat chicken, rice, and a side salad with water when my head and belly want a grilled cheese and a Miller Lite! What I’ve come to the conclusion with the dinner time meal is to just kind of go with the flow. If I want to indulge a craving, I try not to go overboard and overeat. Like, if I want a grilled cheese and a beer, I try to eat just one grilled cheese and be done with it instead of eating as many as I can. Or, if I want a beer, I just drink one to savor it. I’ve also discovered my love for wine again and will substitute a beer with a glass of Cabernet or Merlot. Both are tasty and in moderation, are actually good for you.

Me giving into a craving, oh well, you live and you learn!

There are times though when limiting myself at dinner doesn’t work either and I end up eating and drinking too much, however, I try not to beat myself up over it and tell myself that tomorrow is a new day. I figure it’s all about taking tiny, positive steps in the right direction and I keep telling myself that it’s a process and that I’m not going to be able to change overnight. A Facebook friend helped me realize that. She said that it took me nine months to put on the baby weight and that it will take some time to lose the weight too. I thank you for the advice and the support because sometimes I forget that I need to be patient and not get discouraged. We all know that when it comes to weight loss, if a person gets discouraged, he or she generally gives up and I’m not prepared to do that, not at all. I want to feel and look good again and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make that happen. :)

Well, that’s about all that I got for today when it comes to eating and weight loss. If you’re interested in some low fat meals along with workout tips and routines, check out a few of these sites:

Places to find low fat recipes

• http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/mealplanning/u/easyrecipes.htm 
• http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-living/low-fat-recipes/main.aspx
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/low-fat/index.html 
• http://www.sparkrecipes.com/

Workout routines and tips

• http://www.workoutbox.com/workouts/ 
• http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/10-workout-secrets-expert-exercise-tips 
• http://www.health.com/health/fitness 
• http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles_list.asp?iSel=17

With that, I bid you farewell and until next time, this is Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

So much to talk about, so little time!

You would think that since I’m at home all day long that I would have all sorts of time to do things. Well guess what folks, that’s not the case at all! :) And what’s worse is that my time with Ryan is flying by and soon I’ll have to go back to work, super yuck!

Anyway, with my griping now over, it’s time to go through some of the milestones that Ryan, Dave, myself, and the rest of the family have had over the last couple of weeks. So, here they are:

• Ryan was baptized! It was such an awesome experience and all of our family and friends were there. My brother Craig was his godfather and Emily, Dave’s daughter, was his godmother. The mass was very beautiful and the party after at my parent’s house was great. Thanks to everyone who attended!
  

We love the little guy!

• I got my sense of smell back! Sure, this might sound pretty trivial, but it’s been pretty crazy for me because of everything I can smell again. I had no idea how much I couldn’t smell things until I could start smelling them all again. Some pleasant things I’ve encountered so far are Dave’s cooking, the flowers outside, Ryan’s cute baby smell, fresh brewed coffee, and baked chocolate chip cookies. Some horrible things I’ve smelled so far are Ryan’s gross poop diapers, the skunk outside, garbage, and bad perfume!
  
• Ryan kinda slept through the night a couple of times! I say kinda due to the fact that it wasn’t the whole night that he slept, just part of it. For the past few nights, he’s been sleeping about four or five hours straight. Hopefully, the trend continues and he eventually gets up there to like six or seven hours, that would be so wonderful!
  
• Speaking of sleep, we’ve figured out a sleeping schedule that let’s both Dave and I get more sleep. The thing is, more doesn’t necessarily mean enough sleep and there’s been times where we’re like the walking dead. We’re getting through it though and what I’m taking from it is that what doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger! Hear my roar!
  
• I worked out for the first time! It was both fantastic and horrifying. I mean, it felt great to get moving again and workout, but then it was not so great when I couldn’t breathe and wanted to stop after like five minutes. Oh well, baby steps I guess.
  
• Ryan ate rice cereal! Yes, the little guy is only seven weeks old, yet he has such a super huge appetite that we had to try something to fill up his little tummy other than formula. He totally likes it and it’s so cute when he eats it! It’s like, num, num, num…rice cereal all over his face and then eventually, he swallows a little bit. Dave and I feed him together because it’s definitely a two person job!
  
• I’ve managed to figure out how to go grocery shopping and run errands all on my own with Ryan in tow. It’s a bit of a chore since his car seat is so freaking heavy! So my game plan at every store we go to is to park next to a cart rack with carts in it (because if there are no carts, what good would that do?), get a cart, put Ryan in said cart in his car seat, and then head into the store. We’ve been to all sorts of places together and now when he gets fussy at wherever we might be, I either bust out the nookie or the bottle and we’re good to go!
  
• Ryan has out grown some of his clothes! I knew it was going to happen and the fact that it’s happened this quick is pretty crazy! We now have a box for all the stuff he can’t wear anymore and plan on donating it to people in need. 

Scooch, scooch, scooch!

• The little guy has started to scooch across the floor, can almost roll over, moves his arms and legs like he's swimming, and with some help, can stand up. Granted with the standing, he can’t do it on his own, however, his little legs are super strong. Basically, he just stands on my lap while I hold him and looks around. It’s cute! 

• I’ve learned how to cook and make Dave dinner now and again. Tonight, I’m trying this crazy pasta bake thing that I’m going to create from scratch, we’ll see how it turns out!
• Ryan now smiles when he’s happy and has all sorts of facial expressions from grumpy face to pouty face to what the hell are you doing face to the I’m a cross between being happy and not happy and the I’m tired face, but don’t want to go to sleep! It’s interesting to see the little man he’s becoming and how expressive he can be. I just love being able to watch him and take it all in!

Well, that’s just a few milestones that we’ve all had over the last couple of weeks. Sorry that I haven’t posted more, but like I said, I’ve been super busy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to start blogging on a regular basis again. So until next time, it’s Carla the tomboy and new mom saying farewell!   

Working out makes me happy!

Just like the subject line of this blog post indicates, working out makes me happy and it’s one of the things I’ve been trying to do on a daily basis during my pregnancy.

What’s been hard about working out is that sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it, especially as of late since I’ve been getting bigger and find that I’m totally self conscious about doing it in front of other people. I feel like they’re staring at me. And who can blame them, I have a big belly and I’m sure that it looks pretty damn funny! Especially when I lose my balance and almost fall off the machine I’m on! J So to combat that, when I work out at the YMCA I go back to their little private workout area that’s somewhat shielded from the rest of the world. However, then what ends up happening is I’ll be the only person back there minding my own business, and then someone else will show up to work out and plop right down on the machine next to me. It’s like, really, out of the 15 or 20 machines back here, you have to pick the stupid one next to me. What’s even worse is that person ends up being completely annoying, like they fart a bunch or talk on the phone or something and then I get annoyed and don’t want to finish my workout. I try to power through, but it can be hard. And to those people who are annoying, get a clue and stop being annoying! And yes, I just ranted and feel better.

Anyway, another thing I do to combat my not wanting to workout is to make sure my IPod has new music on it, giving me something motivating and interesting to listen to. Or if I’m working out at home, I make sure that I digitally record shows in advance so I can watch them when I’m working out. It keeps my mind busy and prevents me from thinking about how long I have yet to go, how tired I feel, or how much I would rather be sitting on the couch eating Cheetos!

I’ve modified the workouts that I do now too and instead of cycling outdoors, which I’m sad that I can’t do, I ride the stationary bike in the house. Or, if I lift weights, instead of going all hardcore and pushing myself to lift as much weight as possible, I lift less weight and do more repetitions. I find that using the elliptical is a good alternative to running and that walking the dog up and down a bunch of hills makes for a good workout as well.

One of the 1980's weights I use when I lift! LOL!

Like I said before, I have found when I do workout, I’m much happier afterwards and that’s why I’m committed to doing at least a little something each day. My OB said that I can work out as long as I feel comfortable. I’m sure at some point I won’t be comfortable working out, yet hopefully that happens later rather than sooner.

If you’re pregnant and looking for some modified exercises or workout tips, check out: http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-best-kinds-of-exercise-for-pregnancy_7880.bc.

Or, if you’re not pregnant, but need some motivation, another good site to check out is: http://www.sparkpeople.com/

That’s about all I have for now, so get moving! I know that as much as I don’t feel like getting in a workout today after I post this, I’m going to make myself do it because it’s going to bring a smile to my face!