Losing Baby Weight

I really do not want to be one of those girls who is constantly obsessed with her weight. But the days are over that I can say "Oh my body looks like this because I just had a baby...7 1/2 months ago!" I have no more excuses and it is time to get back on track. I'm no stranger to calorie restriction and not eating sugar, dairy, or alcohol for months at a time. Though I'm not quite ready to go to that extreme...YET.

Breast feeding officially ended after our trip to San Antonio. Since I didn't bring the pump with me, it just faded away. Now I can officially diet without affecting my milk supply. So a few weeks ago, DG and I started our healthy eating again with a simple 1,700 calorie a day plan. It came in a book with our Bosu ball of all things. So here is what I am currently doing, and it seems to be working as I am losing about a pound a week.

1,700 calories a day which includes the following per day:
10 complex carbs/starch (whole grain breads, bagels, pasta, brown rice, oatmeal, potatoes, corn, beans, etc.)
5+ veggies (one serving = 1C raw green or 1/2C cooked)
5 servings of lean protein (boneless skinless chicken breast, eggs, white meat turkey, salmon, shrimp etc.)
4 servings of fruit and/or sugar
2 servings of dairy (1C skim milk, 1 non-fat yogurt)
2 servings of fat (1 TBL salad dressing, 1 tsp butter, oil, etc.)

In addition to this plan, I am working out 4 days a week. Monday and Wednesday, I run 2.7 miles up around the park and back. I am happy to say that after a month, I can do the entire 2+ miles around the park. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I do a 30 minute sculpting video from On Demand cable. I currently like Jillian Michael's (the Biggest Loser trainer) 30 day shred work outs.

I officially have 15 lbs. to lose before I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. If the above ends up not working, I will do Slim4Life again.

I even did research on Nutrisystems and Medifast, both of which send you all your meals in the mail. Though I am sure that they both would work if followed, I do not want fake food to replace my meals with shakes and bars (Medifast) and the food on Nutrisystems does not look appetizing. Though I would love to have all of my meals made and sent to me.

The New Improved Me

DG took this photo at 11:15pm last night in the bathroom when I was getting ready for bed. Even though you guys were no help at all, I got a new shorter cut for the summer with some lighter highlights including a honey, blonde, and an auburn tint. (Sometimes a girl just has to try and feel pretty.) Hard to see the lovely colors in the bad bathroom light. DG got his haircut too, and our hairstylist at Grand, Jessica, lives near us and gave me a ride home after so I didn't have to take the light rail. Now that's service!

I proceeded to go out and strut my stuff at nine 75 to celebrate Meaux's big old 40th birthday! It was great seeing all of my old friends, who mostly now have kids. Three of us have babies just 2 months apart.

We had goat cheese ravioli, won ton tuna tacos, chipotle lobster tacos, and flash seared yellowtail sashimi to start. Then I had the shrimp and scallop risotto. I highly recommend this fun restaurant. Now I just need to go try and make it around the park again today though I'm still a little sore from earlier this week.

10,000 Steps a Day

In the "Why am I not losing any weight while I am breast feeding?" category, I've started to wear a pedometer around the house.

I asked for it for Christmas to see how sedentary I really am. Well I've been wearing it for 3 hours now and I've only gone 627 steps. This included the jumping jacks and running up and down the stairs that I did to get it started.

This means I'm going to have to go out for a walk today. But it's cooold out there. Can't I just run in place in front of the tv or something?

Damn You Infomercials

One of my downfalls of being up at all hours in the middle of the night is trying to find something on tv that makes the time go by faster. I have 4 channels that I surf to find movies that are playing, and on a bad night I'll watch boring CNN. As I was scrolling the other night, I came across the dreaded exercise DVD infomercial. I'm sure the channels are inundated with weight loss products right now, but this one I had to have.

When I started working at home and gave up my gym membership, I started doing some workouts from FitTV. My favorite one was from Chalene Johnson called Turbo Jam. It is a great all over body workout. Well lo and behold there are videos, diet outlines, and hand weights behind the brand as well. I've never been an exercise video person before, preferring the action of live classes, but being cooped up this winter and not being able to leave the house much, I've started to make excuses for why I need this product.

As I was telling DG about it the next day, he informed me that he had also seen an infomercial for a bionic air purifier that we needed.

We are suckers. Until I lose these 25 lbs. working out in front of the tv, and then we will be informed consumers.

A Visual Scene

I was running late today as I threw on my old trusty bathing suit to head to the rec center to make the open lap swim. After stretching the straps over my shoulders, I realized that I had pushed this bathing suit to the limit. It was so tight around the shoulders that my boobs could have flown out the arm holes. Not an easy task.

So I ran downstairs to get a bin of maternity clothes that Lora had given to me. I knew there were at least 2 maternity bathing suits in there. One of which Lora had mistaken for a going out top, but that's another story.

After trying them on, I wore the black bottoms of one and the leopard print top of the other. Beggars can't be choosers I guess. However, it wasn't until I got to the pool and put on my white swim cap and hot pink goggles, that I realized what a scene I was. I think the life guard may have giggled at me when he said hello.

Fun Week-end

You may remember Joy and Mark from a year ago when we went to their wedding on Monhegan Island in Maine. You may also remember Joy as MBFITW3, or from here, or here and here. They flew in on Friday for the week-end.

Our week-end started when we took the lightrail downtown to meet DG and get a tour of his office building. After dinner, our beautiful night ended with eating Spring Fling (our wedding cake) on the back patio late in the evening.



Saturday, we got up early and headed up to the mountains for a beautiful hike. DG posted the best shots here. After the hike, we grabbed sandwiches in Dillion and had a picnic on the lake there. Gorgeous. It's one of my favorite things to do.

Shuttlecock me

Walking into a sporting goods store last week, a sale immediately caught my eye and brought me back to childhood all in one minute. It was a 2-in-1 set of badminton and volley ball. After day dreaming about playing every summer with my parents, I ran next door to Ace Hardware to ask DG if we could please, pretty please, ::eyelash flutter:: get the set. I didn't want his permission so much as his acquiescence to erect the net. There was resistance at first due to our self imposed spending freeze, but he was getting a saw and wash bucket, so I thought a badminton set would make us even. Um yeah.

By Saturday evening, the games began with threats of ass kicking and total domination. I'm going to make a great parent. I did not let my legacy down in the match. Don't worry about DG though, he'll have the upper hand soon as my reflexes and ability to dive for the shuttlecock slow down.

The problem now is that all I want to do is play badminton. I want to roll out of bed and play. I could play all night and have been working on DG to install flood lights so we can play after the sun goes down.

The Line Judge - who got paid off in tennis balls and bull penises.

Dance Dance Revolution

DG recently signed us up for a dance class that one of his coworker's got him interested in. Over the next 4 weeks, we are going to learn strictly ballroom moves. During our first hour and a half we picked up the foxtrot and waltz. No sweat and no bruised toes. Ok maybe a few toe jams, but nothing serious.

The last time I waltzed, I was standing on my dad's feet. No, it wasn't at the wedding, I was little. It was like picking up where we had left off. Easy. I'm ready for some more moves.

Triathlon Training

I've hit it hard this week in training. Maybe I'm over zealous, but I hope I can keep it up. I have swam 3 times this week, practicing my counting and breathing. This is going to be my one downfall in the race as I am not a strong or fast swimmer. If I can make it through the swim, it will be all downhill. I think they put the swim first in the triathlon to prevent drowning. Seriously.

I will say though, if anyone has trouble falling asleep at night, try swimming for an hour a day. You'll dream of your bed at night and your sweet precious angel face will fall asleep before your head even hits your 300 thread count pillow.

I've only biked once this week, but you know it's not a good sign when you get tired just pumping air into your bike tires. I'm hoping to do a longer ride this week-end. Bike rides and runs are so great with good music though. Playlists are still forthcoming. Happy week-end!

Swimming, Biking and Running Oh No!

Spring is getting sprung tonight, people are coming out of hibernation and things are getting crazy in the Beehive. From the girl that is the Queen of Mediocrity who won't even run a 5K race with her husband, I impulsively signed up for a mini-triathlon last night.

After running 3 miles yesterday, I met Holly at her local rec center after dinner to swim. I did 15 laps which apparently is roughly 750 meters. I'm no fish, not a strong swimmer by any means, but I've been warming up to the idea of doing a mini-triathlon. After swimming, I half-heartedly suggested we sign up for a Triathlon that I had heard about, and the seed was planted.

Holly called when I got home, and at her urging we signed up online for The Little Foot Triathlon. It is in Morrison, CO near Red Rocks and consists of a 750 meter swim, 15 mile bike ride, and 5K run. ::Gulp:: AND we only have 8 weeks to train. ::nail shards flying everywhere::

I've paid the money, rented the wetsuit, and now I am telling all of you so that I will follow through and not bail. Not that I'm a bailer, buy gaaaa. In my "oh no what have I done?" rationale, I am looking forward to training as a way to shed some of my winter flab. For the next 8 weeks I will have to work out 6 days a week, alternating running, biking, and swimming. I'm going to pull my bike out of the gararge tomorrow, dust it off, put some air in the tires and take it for a spin. Wish me luck.

Lasciviousness in City Park

The weather has been beautiful this week. A tropical paradise at 50+ degrees. I was able to get out and take a run. It's my new thing! Though I'm not winning any speed records, but that's another blog post. This post is about what I think I see going on at City Park, as I run through it on my way home.

I run inside the park in the traffic lane which is lined with cars. My first question is what is everyone doing in the park at noon? Shouldn't they be at work? Every car has someone in it. hmmmm. Sometimes an entire car load. Sometimes just 2 people in the back seat. ::ahem:: And sometimes you can't see who is in the car because it is filled with smoke, a distinctly smelling smoke. I think the kids these days call it weed. ::cough cough::

These people are not out for a picnic, or bringing their dogs for a run. My imagination runs wild with the possibility of what is going down at the park. It's enough to make me feel wierd alone in the park at noon.

The Latest Bzzzz

I might have to start a monthly column on my NEW favorite thing, the lastest and greatest of what's cool in the Beehive.

Hot for me this week: I found over 30 exercise classes On Demand on our TV! I began squeeling with delight as I started playing the hip hop dance workout. Awww yeah, learned moves that even Justin Timberlake would be proud of. They have everything from Kickbox cardio, to belly dance, to weight training and they are all awesome.

Is it because I am a shut in, or is it really cool? I swear, it is not like that time when I didn't have cable, and started watching the Home Shopping Network which was one of the few channels that came in on my tv, and I started to get to know the presenters by name. (I swear I never bought anything.)

This comes on the heels of me going from being very active and working out a few days a week, to the epitomy of inactivity. I can hear my thighs spreading now. For 2 months my schedule has been off. It is just not realistic for me to leave the house for 2 hours and go to the gym. It is entirely realistic however for me to roll out of bed and dance like I am at the club before I go to work.

I can't wait to try the other videos.

Snowshoeing in the Park

Since I starting working at home, I have not been able to find the time to exercise. I feel like I am turning into a blob. When I was downtown, I went across the street to the gym during lunch to take a class. Leaving the house for 2 hours in the middle of the day is no longer realistic for me, though I still need to find the time to fit in workouts. Finally today, after being cooped up since the blizzard started, I got a brilliant idea. I love snowshoeing and DG has snowshoes in the garage. I dusted them off, put on my ski pants, and headed to the park. My legs were burning after the 3 block walk as I passed abandoned cars that are everywhere sitting in the middle of streets. Finally, I got to the golf course where it was fresh powder, sometimes knee high. The views of downtown were amazing and the workout was fun and exhiliarating. I was wheezing the whole time and I had to stop at least twice to take a breather. It was so much better than being in the mountains.

Dear Santa, if it's not too late, maybe like you could get me some new snowshoes for Christmas, pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?

Now I can go finish up that bag of egg nog cookies!

Running with Sneakers

DG loves running and is always trying to get me to do the Turkey Trot and the Jingle Bell with him. He also just started training for a half marathon. I just don't enjoy running and I haven't run any distance for over 2 years. So why, last Saturday morning, did I roll out of bed and say "Hey let's go for a 4+ mile run?" It was 30 degrees outside and we had gotten 2" of snow during the night. The other option was to get in my car, drive downtown and take the Saturday morning 75 minute aerobics class that I love. Somehow when I weighed my options, running in snow somehow seemed easier.

The first mile my lungs burned and I told DG to go on ahead without me, I was just going to walk. By mile 1.5 I hit my zone and didn't stop. In the end, I did the entire thing. It was like my own personal 5K+. DG got home way before me and thought he was going to have to drive around the park looking for my body. Needless to say I won't be running from any boogie men soon (See Fright Night below, aka Mike Myers, Freddie Kreuger, or The Fly).