Things i want to get done in 2012

So it's been 9 months since I last wrote anything... Come on now! Its not as if that is the longest break I've ever taken! At least I always come back!

A few things have changed. The little man is now two and I'm 38 weeks pregnant (tomorrow) with number two. But that's not the point of this post. This post is intended to document some of the things I'd like to achieve in 2012. Most of these things just highlight what a procrastinator I am, but that's already well documented here so what the hell.

In no particular order:

1. Order my wedding album. It's only been 5+ years after all...
2. Fill out Callum's baby book. He's not getting any younger and my memory isn't as good as it used to be...
3. Order and keep up with baby #2's baby book.
4. Wear at least tinted moisturizer and mascara to work when I go back (note: probably should update/replace my old make-up)
5. Run a 5K. Always wanted to do this
6. Put wedding dress in for dry cleaning/be preserved. See #1
7. Purge clothes closet. Let's face it. Even if I get back into those little sizes, the chances are the clothes are not in style and/or aren't appropriate for this stage of life
8. Purge other closets! Actually just declutter the whole damn house!
9. Read 12 books.
10. Find something to do with each child so they each get quality mommy time. Daddy too.
11. Be nicer to my husband. He's a good guy and I can be too hard on him.
12. Walk the dog more often. Poor Chester has been the victim of the growing demands of the kids and career and he deserves a little attention too. After all he is family.

There is more I could put but 12 for '12 seems like enough. Seems like too much really, but hopefully a few of them will be quick wins. And they aren't terribly out there - it's not as if I said I'd do my hair before work everyday or something ridiculous like that!

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy 2012,

The scale didn't budge, but I did!

I should be disappointed that I didn't lose any weight this week, but I can't be. I am too much in awe that I'm on week 6 of the c25k program! Seriously, you don't understand. I never finish ANYTHING and I know. I haven't finished this yet, but I've never made it past week 3 before and here I am on week 6. And not just week 6, I've already done day 1 and day 2 of week 6. It's absolutely crazy!

So what do I think of the program? I'm not really sure. I don't love running, yet I look forward to doing it. Maybe I'm just looking forward to the time by myself? It's certainly not the view while because I'm doing the program on a treadmill in the basement where I essentially stare at a concrete wall, but at least I'm doing it. And dare I say I'm proud of myself for sticking with it this long.

Blair asked what made losing weight a priority -- what finally made it click for you. For me it was looking at pictures, or really not wanting to be in pictures. This is such a special time for my family and I find myself not wanting to be in pictures with my son because I don't want to look fat in them. And even when I do give in and take a picture rather remembering the moment or thinking how cute my son looks I'm instead critiquing how I look and I don't want that any more. So pictures are my click.

Until next week...

Death sucks, but I ran for 8 minutes!

Last week I was in a funk and didn't feel like checking in. Death does that to you. For the second time in three years I helped a grade school friend bury their mother. I don't think I'll ever be ready to lose my parents, but these women sure the hell shouldn't be dying in their 60's leaving grandbabies that they couldn't wait to arrive and then to be robbed by only having a brief few months/years with. This time it was a woman who bravely fought cancer for over 20 years. She isn't in pain anymore and for that I'm thankful. And it while it may not have been the most reverent way to send her off, trust me to say it was fitting when I went after the wake with my sister and brother and drank to her honor and went out for a few more drinks with my best friends of 30 years, my sister and my dad to toast her again after her funeral.

A pretty somber way to start my McFatty Monday post, but if nothing else let it be a reminder to be nice to your mom.

Back to McFatty. Four weeks on Nutrisystem and I'm down 8lbs even! There was a bit of a set back while I was going through my funk, but I'm pleased. What I'm super-duper thrilled with is the fact that even during my funk I stuck with the C25K program. I just finished Week 5, Day 2 which means that I ran (ok, maybe it's more of a trot) for 8 minutes straight. And not once, but TWICE! I have started this program multiple times and this is the first time I made it to week 4 and now I'm halfway through week 5! Holy shit! I'm going to do it this time! (can't lie though, I'm petrified of W5D3 which is 20 minutes straight of running)

So in summary death sucks. Love your momma. Nurtrisystem rocks. And I'm going to finish the C25K program!

Until next week.

Second Week on NutriSystem and another loss!

What a week! My husband was away, we got hit with another snowstorm and I got called into a bunch of early-evening meetings that required me to walk around the first floor of my house in circles while carrying my son because it was his cranky time of night while on a conference call and praying that every time I un-muted the phone to speak that neither the dog or the baby would make a noise. Ugh!!!!!!!!

And I almost forgot! We lost power and I had to experience changing a diaper by flashlight!

This was totally the week I wanted to order take-out Chinese/Thai/Subs/Pizza/whatever! My stress level was off the chart and I needed comfort food! But you know what? I didn't really need. Did I want it? Hell to the yes! [huh. I'm not sure that writes as well as it sounds when I say it in my head...] But I didn't need it. This was my second week of NutriSystem and I was determined to see it through. So I ate my pre-packaged meals with salads, fruits, dairy and proteins. I completed week 2 of C25K and started week three. I drank water -- not all of it every day, but I made a good effort and I shoveled. What does shoveling have to do with any of it? Well it's exercise, but other than that I just wanted to say I did it because it sucked and for all my effort we were still left with ice on the drive and walkways!

And I saw results.

I know I won't see results every week, but I won't lie. It was nice to get it as a confidence boost this week. I lost 3.4 lbs, bringing my two week total to 6lbs! I'm so very excited! And I can already start to notice a difference in my pants already! NutriSystem probably isn't for everyone, but it's working really well for me so far and I think the C25K program is a great compliment. I'm confident that if I stick with both of them I'm really going to see some great results.

Until next week...

Not a whoosh, but I'll take it!

1 week on Nutrisystem and I'm down 2.4lbs! Maybe it's not the whoosh loss of 5lbs that I dreamed of, but I very happy. All and all it was a good week. I might have slipped a time or two (a glass of wine with friends and a beer Saturday night with my sister), but for the most part I was an ideal Nutrisystem newbie and I'm happy with the results. And just to brag, I completed Week 1 of C25K and did Day 1 of week 2 yesterday.

So what do I think of it? I like it, but I do find it hard to eat everything I'm supposed to at the times I'm supposed to. My work day is somewhat crazy between switching buildings and the ridiculous amounts of meetings and I find that I'm sometimes eating lunch when I should be enjoying my afternoon snack, which then pushes my snack back. Now pre-Nutrisystem there wasn't an afternoon snack where I would instead eat my lunch so I'd just skip lunch, eat nothing (including not eating breakfast) and wonder why I couldn't stop binge snacking as soon as I got through the door.

My other may thought has been only smokes this is a lot of vegetables and fruit! Which just reinforces that I have been eating like crap. I guess it's not surprising that I've been struggling with my weight...

I'm actually looking forward to continuing on Nutrisystem this week. Who da thunk it?

Until next week...

Trying something different

So much for focusing on my blog in 2011! But rather than dwell on it, I’m going to focus on the positive. I’m blogging today and that’s better than yesterday!

Continuing with the positive, I’ve decided to take control of my eating and my health which will hopefully impact my weight. The Saturday before last I sat on my couch drinking some wine and placed my order for Nutrisystem Select (because all big decisions in life should be made while drinking some wine!). Why Nutrisystem? Nutrisystem is attractive to me because it will reduce (hopefully eliminate!) poor food decisions – it’s way too easy at the end of the day to order subs (grinders, hoagies, whatever you choose to call them) or pizza or just throw together the quickest thing I can find which is usually not the best for me. It will also help force portion control and get me back into the habit of eating vegetables and using fruit, proteins and dairy as snacks rather than the delicious processed food that has become a staple for me.

The first batch of food was delivered on Thursday and I made the decision to start on Saturday so that I’d be able to stock up at the grocery store for the fruits and vegetables I’d need to go along with the program. I also decided that I would start the C25K program again (and by again I mean that I think this is the 6^th time I’m starting restarting it – can you say issues with finishing what I start?).

So here I am 3 full days in. Day 1 I was a rock star! I stuck to the program and started C25K. The food was better than I thought and I seemed to be eating all day – probably because I was focusing on it. I liked the cereal, the cheesy potatoes were ok and I really liked flatbread pizza especially with the addition of some red peppers to it!

Day 2 we ran into issues – a baby shower. I went in with a plan, but the plan failed me. How does a buffet NOT have salad? Or ANY type of vegetables? I made ok choices since I was starving. Said no to the French Toast that everyone was raving about, avoided the bread bowl and baked ziti and ordered sparking water instead of the booze that is typically the only thing that gets me through a shower without taking a fork to my eye! But in hindsight I could have been better.

Day 3 we were back on track and I did the 2^nd day of C25K program which was harder for me than day 1.

And here we are on Day 4 – the scale shows 2lbs down, but I’ll wait until Saturday to see how the full week went. I’m encouraged though – so far so good!

I don’t plan to be on Nutrisystems forever, but I needed to do something to get started. To see results and also train myself on what my dinner plate should look like. Breastfeeding your child is wonderful, but those extra 500 calories (or something like that) are hard to give up once you’ve stopped.

Until next week!

First Monday of the New Year

It's Monday and for most Mondays of 2010 that meant McFatty Monday. You'd think that after a year I'd be at my goal. Or at least close to my goal. Unfortunately that is not the case. I did great the first half of the year and even hit my goal weight. For a day. Maybe two.

So here we are in 2011 and I've put on most (maybe all?) of the weight I lost last year. I don't have a ton of weight to lose, but I am overweight and it's not the example I want to set for my son. Looking back on the last year I can now recognize that I've fallen into the trap that a lot of parents do. I've been finishing my son's food. On top of that my snacking has gotten out of control and I've stopped pretty much all activity that would pass for exercise.

So where does this leave me? With a lot of lifestyle changes to make especially since we really want to try for another baby this year and I want to start this pregnancy at a healthy weight. My initial plan is to just start with the basics. Start drinking water again and introduce some exercise into my week. As for food, I know my hardest time is after work so I'm going to have to figure out a way to curb my pre-dinner snacking. Once I get these things under control I will get more ambitions (I will finish the C25k program if it kills me in 2011!)

I forgot to weigh myself this morning -- I know sounds like a convenient excuse, but there was a good reason. I was distracted. No! Not that. Get your mind out of the gutter! It was because I snuck out before the boys were up to walk our dog. It sucks, especially since it was still dark out, but it's what I need to do. I'll be sure to weigh myself tomorrow morning.

Until next status...

Actually before I go, I decided to make 2011 the year I attempt to blog, so if you'd like to see my kick-off post and learn a bit more about me, click here.