Adding exercise

So 1.5 weeks down and I have not lost any weight. This could be due to a few factors:

1) I did not track my calories over the weekend
2) I did not exercise and my 1600-1700 calorie limit is not low enough to be a calorie deficit without exercise
3) I made up for any lost calories during my weekend. I did not overeat too much, but I definitely drank a bit and ate desserts.

So I have added back in some workouts. I ran Saturday morning, and did yoga Sunday morning. I am going to try to run again tonight- even if it is a short run. Two days on, one day rest.

I am also shopping around for a new gym. Two new gyms are opening pretty close to where I live and I am excited about the promise of ASHTANGA yoga at one of them! I really miss it and all the local studios have switched to entirely Mysore style, which is not going to work for me.... I also like the option to have a place to do spin classes, try out a Zumba workout, and other group exercise.

5 year anniversary diet

And we are back.

At the 5 year anniversary of starting my CR diet I am back to the weight I was when I started and I am motivated to GET.IT.OFF! This is what must be my breaking point. My clothes don't fit, I feel uncomfortable and I am ready to take back my body!

TE and I are doing this in two ways. First is Intermittent Fasting. Nothing crazy, but I am not eating after 9pm and before 11am. 14 hours of no food-- coffee is okay (even with milk), diet sodas (I don't really drink these anyway) are okay, and so is sugarfree gum during the fasted time. This is another way to get at the benefits of CR as well as a good way to cut down on the "feeding" time to help reduce intake.

Next is simply counting calories. I am aiming for 1700. Yesterday was close, 1772 and today is 1829- but my fiber has been low so I think that is why I am feeling hungry. So it is a work in progress- we will see what it looks like after week 1.

I will also start posting some of my recipes. We have been making some cool things lately!

Motivation and Gains

I am so not in this weight loss game. 

I wish I was, I wish I could just not think about eating and lose weight but alas I am not 23 years old and not as active as I once was..... Though carrying around a 19lb baby should count for something?!!? :-D

Weight watchers online did not work for me, I am back to counting calories, something that makes sense to me. I am using My.Fitness.Pal on my smartphone and so far so good, though I may have to drop below 1600 calories or start exercising more because I am not losing (in one week).

I was thinking about how I worked really hard at CALERIE and how whenever I work hard at something, it feels really good once it is over or once you see the results of what you worked so hard for. Last week I prepared a talk for my friend's college level class inherited genetic diseases that cause psychological impairments and I worked for 2 days on the talk (it took some time dusting off those power point wheels!) and once it was over I felt SO great, mostly for having accomplished it and and also for preparing a good talk (and not just winging it). 

I wish weight loss was not such a slow process and that food was not so much a part of life enjoyment! Weekdays tend to be easier and I know what I need to do but my motivation is lacking and my attention to myself is almost non-existent. I really do not care as much as I used to about how I look. I am trying to shift that mindset though to health. I want to be a good role model of health and self-value to my daughter so she can be careful and mindful of her health and appearance without being vain. I also want to get sick less, and live a long healthy life for her (not to mention look good in all the upcoming wedding photos!)- so let the calorie counting resume! 

I also want to implement a few realistic goals:

1) Drink 64oz (2 nalgene bottles) of water per day (not including my decaf coffee, and seltzer)- my water intake has dropped drastically since I stopped pumping

2) Go to bed/be in bed at 10pm

3) Stretch/do 10min of core exercises before bed (my diastasis is still not healed and when I went to a bootcamp class last week I pulled my back out making it impossible to work out for the rest of the week. This NEEDS to heal!!)

And with that I leave you with a happy baby photo!

Mom- get your butt in gear!

Stuck

4lbs lost. Total. Still.

I admit I am not trying as hard as I could.. and it has been rough lately-- fitting time in to work out and not snacking.

I need some new motivation.

One day last week I ran with the King Pup the 1.25mi to pick up the Little Miss and I am planning to do that again today. I started a "restore the core" class to fix my diastasis (separation of my ab muscles from the pregnancy) and build up my core strength so I can get as much as I can out of my yoga classes.

So these are all moves in the right direction, but the amount of food/lack of exercise is the issue.

Last night, TE and I were reading in a magazine about some new, hokey, gimmick diet. Basically they say they will sequence a few (80) genes to find out if you should be on a low-fat, low-carb, Mediterranean or balanced diet. It costs $400 and I think is a bunch of crap. :)

In the CR study we tried the low fat, Mediterranean and what was probably the balanced equivalent to see how satisfied we felt with each. I am a volume eater so I did better when I stuck with low fat, but usually kept it pretty balanced with a 50% Carb, 25% Fat/Protein ratio.

TE does not like to be controlled as to portion sizes, so he does better on an elimination diet (low carb) and he has been having good success with that. I am doing as well as I am simply because he has been making my food for the most part every day.

Breakfast is typically egg whites and kale with mozzarella cheese and sometimes sausage. Lunch is a salad with chicken, cottage cheese and hard boiled egg. Dinner is a meat and veg combo (unless we get take out- which we are trying to minimize). Not bad, but I need about 5 meals per day and have been filling in the gaps with nuts, fiber one brownies/granola bars, yogurt, and chocolate. And usually we have dessert at night. So my calories are not near where they should be for weight loss. So I need to bump up my exercise since I am not going to change our eating habits too much....

Minus 4

I have lost 4lbs in 6 weeks. Not great, but not terrible either. At least it is a loss.

And sadly it took me getting sick to really drop a chunk of weight. Whatever helps though...

I am still plugging along. Slowly but surely this weight will come off!

Motivation

So in my first week doing weight watchers, I gained 0.5lbs. I feel kinda bad about it, and kinda not. I know I "overgained" with my pregnancy but when I see how perfect the Little Miss is, it is hard to feel negatively about my body. I mean, it made this little, happy human- who I love more than I thought was possible-- how can I have any negative thoughts about my body image?! But I know come wedding and bathing suit season, I will feel much better back at my "fighting" weight. So I persevere! One minor setback/slow start will not stop me!

Thanks Mel for the photo! And for the onesie (it says "nice genes!")

And to help motivate me to want to lose weight even more -- I have added in a bonus for myself. Once I hit the 10lb weight loss point I will buy myself a pair of these snazzy crops. I love lulu. It can motivate me to do anything-- and the best part is that they are calorie free!!

Weight Watchers

Diet starts today!! I am doing the diet with my dear friend KBW- I need the accountability! Also my coworker is going to recount the meeting topics to me after she attends the meeting each week! I like all this support I am getting :)

Reading through their method of how they calculate points- I am not sure I am in complete agreement (since I did spend 2yrs just counting calories) with their logic- they explain that a 270 calorie croissant is higher in points than an egg/ham breakfast plate of equal calories since it takes your body more work to break down the proteins in the egg/ham (is that not how a calorie is counted the scientist in me wants to know?!?!?! Foods of equivalent calories should expend the same energy to be broken down...?). But alas, I am putting my diet into their hands, for the next 4 months.

My goal is to lose 10-15lbs- here we go!!!

Breakfast cookies

Breakfast is not the easiest meal now that I am working and doing daycare drop-off. I usually manage to make myself a pot of decaf coffee and grab a granola bar/bag of dry cereal/etc. Not too satisfying. So I purchased some Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies to have something a bit... more... to eat with my coffee. But when my coworker and I were looking through the ingredient list, we knew I could make something way better.

So I present to you: Quinoa Breakfast Cookies!

I am trying out a new web based calorie counter/recipe calorie calculator so I do not have to have CRON-o-Meter on my computers. I think so far it is working out well. I will upload some nice photos TE took of the cookies tonight when I get home- I only have the website link for you today.

Enjoy!

Working Pitfalls

Every company/workplace has their "thing" (or at least everyplace that I have worked)- some food item (or items) that people love and bring in to boost morale. It is a bad precedent but it always seems to be food, never joint walks during lunch or something else healthy.

At my work it is two things: M&Ms (typically peanut and most recently peanut butter!) and Goya Maria cookies. Of course two things I love and have a very hard time resisting...

Weight watchers online diet starts..?!?! TE got a nasty stomach bug this weekend and I ate less just because I did not want to eat around him-- but I keep "forgetting" to step on the scale... Stay posted for more updates soon!

Back with a goal!

Hello readers (if there are any left out there!)

I am here to report that I am one day away from losing a fatbet challenge. I had planned to lose 45lbs of my baby weight (yes I gained 50!! pounds) by tomorrow. I am hovering around the 35lb weight loss mark.

So I am starting again. My goal is to lose 10lbs in the next 2months. Final weigh in day: June 4th.

I am not sure how I am going to do it (weight watchers has a plan to include lactating moms, calorie counting, or to cut out certain foods...) since I can not really restrict my diet too much without affecting my milk supply (which is already troublesome). I think I am going to start by cutting out/minimize baked goods/unplanned snacks.

Already I am eating well for breakfast and lunch (thanks to the fact TE has been making me a salad every day!) but the snacking is really hurting me (I think...). I need to get back in control of my snacks. Being back at work has been helping to regulate my eating times and I can keep lots of snacks here.

Currently I have oatmeal, fiber one brownies/granola bars, nuts and dried fruit, and 100-calorie packs of cookies! Other snack ideas to keep here include: yogurt and bran buds, veggies and hummus, laughing cow cheese and crackers...

Well, it is a start-- I will be posting here to help keep my focus and accountability!

New Blog

Howdy faithful readers!

The little miss has not made her grand appearance yet- so in the meantime I thought I would start a new blog in her honor! I will post photos of her here throughout her first year (or more!).

This is the address http://littlemissewen.blogspot.com/

I will also put a link on the sidebar for easy access. Enjoy!!

Silver Hammer

So I have been given the words to live by for my next ~5weeks- No more weight gain!

I have hit the 41lb weight gained mark and my midwife thinks that is good enough. Also, I still have my sugar sensitivity (no gestational diabetes- but every time I eat/drink sugar at breakfast (OJ, pancakes, etc.) it shows up in my urine) so she wants me to cut back on simple sugars, eat more protein and complex carbs, and try to walk every night after dinner.

She also "yelled" at me for another silly thing I did this weekend- I was at Whole Foods checking out where I saw a lovely candy selection by the conveyor belt- and hey, it is candy season and I love candy-- so why not?! So I picked out some gummy stars and went on my way.

Driving home, chewing away on my delicious gummy stars-- what do you think happened next!? Well a gummy star pulled my crown right out! Luckily I did not swallow or crack it (those are some expensive metals!) and was able to save it. When I looked at what was left of the tooth in my mouth I lost most of my optimism... I immediately knew I was in for a root canal.

I told my midwife this morning I was not in fact going to work after our appointment but to a new dentist that specializes in sedation dentistry (thanks Kate!!) because I pulled my crown out on a piece of candy-- she promptly instructed me to not eat any more candy- ever!! I guess that goes along with the weight gain...

So no more weight gain and no more candy. I think I can handle that for 5 weeks (or less!!)... I hope! But the hard thing will be how to manage my hunger. I am CONSTANTLY hungry. Probably because I have let my fiber intake drop as well as my protein intake. But I have two years of practice in managing hunger-- and thankfully I kept a ton of recipes, hand outs and blog entries to keep me going again! So here we go, let's see how I can do keeping my weight gained for the last few weeks minimal.

Oh! I was right about the root canal, but they won't perform it until after the baby is here. So now I something else to look forward to!

Updates

Howdy readers (are you still out there?!),

Things are good here in my world, the baby girl is growing rapidly (only 6 weeks left!) and I have reached the insatiable hunger/uncomfortable part of the pregnancy! Sleeping is minimal (practice for when she arrives?!), muscles ache... typical pregnancy symptoms. But I am still upbeat and I have a lot of energy which has been directed at nesting- either through bedroom renovations or baking! (*photo from the beginning of September, I am bigger now!)

It is pumpkin season (my favorite baking ingredient!!) so I have already made 2 batches of pumpkin muffins! I have not made any pumpkin pies (whoopie or other) or pumpkin cookies yet, but those are on the to-do-list.

I also made my first ever carrot cake! I followed the Cook's Illustrated recipe (to the letter!) and it turned out very well. Although the next time I will surely be including raisins (the recipient whose birthday it was, did not like raisins in their carrot cake!).

Other than that, not much else is new here. I have recently been given the opportunity to think about foods pregnant women like to (or hate to eat), so I thought I would sum up my vague conclusions here (readers- feel free to add in your comments too):

Primarily, I hated the smell of food being cooked. Any food. If food appeared in front of me I could (usually) eat it. So in the beginning, it was mostly microwaveable items, no cook foods (cereal), toasted bread products and generally very bland items. Anything that left any taste in my mouth was eliminated (no coffee, garlic or onions- 3 of my favorite things!).

Carbs. Carbs are a safe bet for early pregnancy- plus they do not smell strongly when you cook them. Veggies were out- I handled frozen string beans well enough, but other than that I could not stomach any other veggie.

Processed foods are a safe bet as well. Don't ask me why, but I have never loved "childhood" foods so much: animal crackers, cheese sticks, sweet yogurts, ice cream, mac and cheese (from a box!), peanut butter and jelly, hot dogs, and pizza.

I also loved fruit throughout the whole pregnancy, but I have friends who could not even look at fruit in the beginning.

After week 16-- things started improving gradually and now I eat salad with gusto (when I can find the will to make myself one), decaf coffee is back in, I can eat complex flavored meals, and I cant eat A LOT!

I would find in the beginning I would have to eat many small meals throughout the day, and if I ate too much I would get terribly uncomfortable. That stopped after week 14ish but is now back again (much less room for the stomach to expand now!).

Those were my basic thoughts. Feel free to add in yours! Above is the King Pup ready to help open presents at my baby shower- he has no idea what is in store!!

Tofu Pad Thai

I am really happy with this recipe. If you ever cook tofu again do it this way!!

So easy and SO good!
Here is what I did:

Drain Tofu
Purchase firm or extra firm tofu
Drain from the storage water and place on a plate on top of 2 paper towels
Top tofu with another 2 paper towels and a second plate
Place a weight on top of the tofu "sandwich"
Leave here for 30min - 1hr

Slice Tofu
I cut mine into 4 steaks

Salt Tofu
Simple, add salt to the surfaces- we used Kosher salt but any salt works

Heat Pan
This is *very important*
TE gets very upset when I do not wait until the pan is fully heated to start cooking

Add Oil
You really only need a little bit

Add Tofu
And cook it! Simple!

I ate mine with quinoa pasta (yum!) and a store-bought pad thai sauce (eh)
We also added scallions and grape tomatoes for some color, enjoy!

Sugar Addict

At my last prenatal visit my healthcare provider found excess sugar in my urine. A symptom of gestational diabetes. They were not too concerned since I was (at the time) only 23 weeks and I had orange juice for breakfast (even though I have 4oz of OJ with breakfast every day- and before other appointments- for a folic acid jolt!). I have since learned that they like to catch GD before 28 weeks to be able to get the blood sugars under control and make sure the baby grows at a normal rate and does not get too big for delivery.

She is supposed to be around 1.5lbs now (25 weeks) so I would guess a bit more weight now (the baby gets bigger/fatter since she is getting all my undigested glucose) would not impact the birth weight too much-- but I want to do what I can to keep my glucose handling under control as much as I can before I get my official diagnosis (27 weeks). Toward that end, in the mornings I have eliminated all juice and refined carbohydrates. I am trying to eat eggs/egg whites and a slice of high fiber toast, high fiber toast and peanut butter, or another old protein rich favorite breakfast. Apparently the hormone levels are highest in the morning and make for the worst glucose digestion so I have been "saving" my glucose rich foods for later in the day.

Since I have started this diet adjustment I have realized how terribly addicted to sugar I am! I have always known that I prefer sweet to savory- but I did not realize how much sugar I am eating these days! So much for my mindful eating CALERIE days...

Whenever I talk about starting a new low-sugar-diet my friends and family are always quick to remind me how I cut back my calories for 2 years for this study (and loved it!) and 3 months of healthy eating won't hurt too bad. I know that if I had to do it full-time (once I find out if I have GD for sure) I will embrace it not just for my health but for the health of baby E. A fat baby may be cute, but I could never willingly put her at risk for glucose intolerance and a scary sugar crash after birth.

Stay tuned for a yummy tofu recipe- yes the veggies are back! I am happily eating everything again :)

It's a.....

GIRL!!!

TE and I are very excited to share the news. She behaved very well, moving all around during the ultrasound and we got to see all the major organs, her skeleton and even her little toes! The radiologist and technician were smitten as well.

More food updates to come :-)

Salad Woes

Being all confident after one week of feeling "better" (my 16th week- and everyone said if you are not better by 12 then for sure by 16- so I was perfectly on schedule) I ate a salad again.

Now, I love eating salad. I don't feel gross while I am enjoying the farm fresh greens-- but after a few hours of salad digestion, bad things happen- TE and I have decided that this baby does NOT like salad. At least not yet anyway. I won't be eating a salad again for another month or so.... Will need to find veggies in other ways.

But on a happier/more funny side. I am thinking of starting a series of "Things Pregnant Girls Like to Eat" (or at least this pregnant girl). For today's edition I even have a recipe!! Be forewarned, it is not healthy or gourmet or something to be proud of (unless you are entering a comfort food contest). But here it is, and it was soooo good!

Homemade Cheeseburger Helper (made 5 servings)

8oz Pasta of your choice, cooked
1lb of lean ground beef, cooked and drained

Cheese Sauce: Modified from here

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 1.5 cups half and half, 1.5 cups skim milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes (will turn golden in color). 

Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk and cayenne. 

Stir in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Fold the macaroni/beef into the mix and serve!

Predictions

* Totally not food related*
A fun thing happened today- I had my tarot cards read by my boss! He was taught the skill quite a few years ago and once the coworkers found out that I am pregnant the predictions began! Pretty much everyone has their idea about what TE and I are having (hopefully a healthy baby!) but my boss wanted to make a "real" prediction!

So I held the cards in my pocket for over an hour, then shuffled them, and he laid the cards out to answer my questions (What gender is the baby? Will it be healthy and will the pregnancy go well?). The over-arching theme was very good and the head card was the Temperance card. And from what I can gather from wikipedia the key words associate with predictions involving this card are:

• Temperance ----- Harmony ----- Balance ----- Health

• Moderation ----- Joining forces ----- Well-being ----- Recovery

• Equilibrium ----- Transcendence ----- Unification ------ Healing

• Synthesis ----- Bringing together opposites ---- Feeling secure

Pretty good I say!! I am not usually superstitious and I do not buy into a lot of magic/fantastic things, but I will take all the good predictions I can get! Anything to ease my mind, right?! The rest of the cards were equally good and positive, so that was an added bonus!

We will find out in less than two weeks the gender and see if everything is growing and developing appropriately and according to schedule. We will then learn (hopefully!) if the majority (predicts girl) wins or if it goes to the two dissidents (TE and my sister)!

*Food related*

Watermelon. Oh how I love watermelon. 

I am on a serious fruit kick. Mel told me other other day that a local store had lychee fruit. I was there faster than she could say lychee fruit! In the past two weeks I have spent more money on fruit than on any other food item! But it has been amazing to have so many wonderful fruits in season and available to me at this stage of my pregnancy. 

Aside from fruit, the general palate has not changed much. I am still eating pretty bland foods.

Breakfast consists of cereal with fiber, almonds, and whatever berry we have washed and available or an english muffin with peanut butter and apple butter.

Lunch is variable every day. It is typically pretty big and spread out throughout the entire day. I usually have yogurt with fiber cereal, crackers and hummus, a Trader Joes meal of some kind (today was Indian: chicken tikka masala), a granola bar, and fruit!

Dinner is variable in size and selection. The "no cooking" rule is still in effect (unless it is mac & cheese or other pasta dish) and some days I can eat a lot (last night!) and other days I eat almost nothing. 

Once I start cooking/baking again I will return with recipes and food pictures!

Weight Gain

I have a very good excuse though...

I am growing a "little bug*" inside me! (*The in utero name is still undecided- I hope this is no indication of how real name picking is going to go... but I do believe it will not be easy!)

The weight gain is not that bad- ~3lbs gained for almost 15 weeks!

So yes, around December 3rd-- TE, the King Pup and I will welcome this new addition to our family!
And since this is a food blog I will tell all my readers about my food adventures as I continue to grow :)

In the first trimester, I felt good during the day -- but come night time (starting between 4-7) I felt as if I had come down with the flu. Every night. And if that was not bad enough, I could not eat enough to not wake up at 2 or 3am starving!! It took one email to dietitian extraordinaire LR, and a few late night experiments to realize nothing was going to help, just time, and getting out of the first trimester! Now I eat well, sleep even better (for the most part) and am ready for the growth phase!!

My clothes are already a bit too tight. I eat a lot of cheese and fruit. I can not (do not want to) eat coffee, onions or garlic. And I drink more water than I thought was possible. Excessive thirst was my first pregnancy "sign." Other than that things are pretty "boring" over here.

More updates to come!! I hope you are all still out there :)

Yo-Yo

I guess I failed to update my readers on the last two week's weigh ins... maybe my subconscious was forming a mental block.

I gained the 1.4lbs back last week, then lost it again this week. I guess things could be worse...?
I think strict counting is going to need to happen and I am going back and forth about how to best do it (paper method, online, CRON-O-Meter, etc...) But that decision is really just procrastination at its finest.

I also need to re-inspire myself with the science of calorie restriction. I looked back at some old posts recently and I remember now how hard it was to start counting and how hungry I actually felt in the beginning- and what really motivated me was the science!

Also back then I had people supporting me 3x/week (people I miss terribly! I ran into one of the study scientists the other day and I resisted the urge to yell- "TAKE ME BACK!!!" hahahaha) so now I am faced with the ongoing battle of how to do something difficult for myself. With no one benefiting from it but me.

Tonight I am making an oldie-but-goodie recipe. Turkey meatloaf. I remember enjoying it and I have all the ingredients- so that is on tonight's agenda. Also, my "scarf" (or linear piece of knitted yarn) is coming along very well, only 2 holes so far! I will say though, it is far less satisfying than baking-- maybe once I get better at knitting and I can produce something that will distract me from baking... maybe.