McFatty Monday Week 2

Week 2 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 4)

So last week I put it in writing that I resolved that this time would be different because I wanted to set a good example for my son by eating well and being active. It's almost liked he sensed my resolve would someday cost him chocolate milk, fast food, fatty snacks and endless hours in front of the TV either watching it or playing video games. That's right - my own son sabotaged me! Well that's only partially true. I did a fair amount of sabotaging myself, but his decision to stop sleeping didn't help matters!

So here's my update.

The Good: I walked WonderMutt 5 days last week. I drank at least 80oz of liquids each day and I enrolled in the Weight Watchers at work program. And I even got a salad for lunch one day.

The Bad: Went out for Mexican Friday night and ate a ton of the delicious chips and salsa that they served, plus I had a couple of beers. And instead of just getting a coffee from Dunkin Donuts Saturday & Sunday, I decided to take comfort in the form of a coffee roll BOTH mornings. And finally I did not start training for the 5K which is now only 13 weeks away...

The just Eh: I think that all five of WonderMutt's walks were abbreviated because of the morning schedule snafu of Gus not sleeping at night. And the 80 oz I drank was low-cal liquids, not necessarily water which was the intended goal.

The Results: Down 1lb on my home scale. I won't know about the WW scale until Wednesday.

Am I happy? Yes. Down is down and it's a number I haven't seen in a while so I'm glad about that, but it could have been more. And it will be next week.

Week 2 Goals: Drink at least 80 oz of WATER this week. Start the Couch to 5K training plan.

See you next week!

It's hard to imagine that one year ago today I threw out the best news of my life. That's right, I threw it out. Rewinding a bit. Mr. Tall Guy and I had decided that the time was right to expand our little family, but thanks to a mild case of pcos and irregular cycles, it didn't happen right away and we were fine with that. But because of the irregular cycles, I should have bought stock in the pregnancy test company because I peed on sticks rather frequently! This brings me to one year ago today...

It was a regular Saturday morning. Being used to getting up early, I got up to take care of the dog while Mr. Tall Guy slept in. But before going out in the cold (it was January in New England after all!) I swung by the bathroom and decided that I might as well pee on a stick while I was at it. I took WonderMutt out, fed him breakfast and then went to retrieve my stick.

There it was, clear as day, a bold line. Into the trash it goes. I made a pot of coffee curled up on the couch with my dog and laptop. But then I stopped. Was there something else next to the line? Nah. Well maybe....

I went to look in the trash and luckily it was still on top and back in it's wrapper so it wasn't gross - well it was gross because I had peed on said stick, but at least it didn't old mashed potatoes on it! So I look again and there was something very faint next to the bold line. So back to the bathroom I go to get the test directions which were pretty much useless for the question I wanted answered. I then calmly went to the First Response website to see what it said. It's a .pdf of the directions that were in the box. Great. For the record "One line may be lighter than the other" is not very helpful. I wanted examples. I wanted proof. Was I knocked up or not?!?! So I put the test on the counter above the trash barrel and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Finally Mr. Tall Guy gets up and as soon as he comes down stairs I asked him to look at what I left on top of the trash. I can't really describe the sound he made, but I'll try -- something like an excited squeak of happiness and terror all at once. To be honest, he didn't really know what he was looking at. Just the fact that I wanted him to look at a pregnancy test caused that reaction because he assumed what it would mean and asked him what he thought of the something. Was it a second line or was it just something? Hmmm... After much debate, and trying not to get our hopes up, we decided that it looked good, but we wait until the next morning to take another test to see what it would say (first morning pee being the best and all).

Later in the day I went to Target and even though I had pregnancy tests at home, I decided to upgrade us to a digital test for the next mornings pee on a stick routine. And while I was at it I might as well buy a two pack. I was home all of 5 minutes when I figured that since I had a two pack there was no reason like the present to try one out and save the other for the morning. And there you have it. Within seconds I had the no denying it "Yes+" on the test. We were having a baby. A baby which was only the size of a poppy-seed that day. 250 days later we got to meet that baby. My poppy-seed grew to be an 8lb 4oz, 20 1/2 inches long, healthy baby boy.

Has it been all roses since he was born? Absolutely not, but I wouldn't change a second of it. There is no doubt that this is the best adventure of my life and that adventure started one year ago today.

P.S. Yes, I took a picture of the test and this is it. At least I didn't keep my urine soaked stick!

Aunt P's Joining McFatty Monday!

Week 1 of HeirToBlair's McFatty Monday (they are on week 3 - my procrastinating sticks again!)

I had every intention of joining this on January 4th along with everyone else, but then I realized I need to link to my blog and while I had a blog it had long since been abandoned. So I then I decided I would just read along with the rest of the McFatties, but it wasn’t working. Let’s face it, I need it subject myself to public humiliation in order to get this done. So I dusted off the blog last week with a daycare post and here I begin my McFatty Monday journey.

Background story, aka why the hell I’m doing this and why it will be different this time: I’ve always been on the chubby side. Some years I’ve been chubbier than others and even the years I’ve been my thinnest, I’ve never been in shape. Why is that you may ask? Well I’m lazy. I love television. I love bad for me food. I love beer. And I really don’t like exercise. Even when I was at my thinnest it was achieved through dieting and not through exercising.

How did I put on the weight this time? I’d like to say it’s because I just had a baby but it’s not. I did put on weight during my pregnancy and while it was a little more than I would have liked, I did keep it in the 25 – 35 lbs range (about 33lbs), but the truth of the matter was my weight was creeping up before I got pregnant. Some of it was stress related around getting pregnant. It wasn’t easy and I had a lot of anxiety around it, plus I really like bad for you food as well as alcoholic beverages. So while the weight I gained during my pregnancy is gone (thank you breastfeeding and being to tired to eat!), I still have the weight I gained before my pregnancy to deal with.

Why will this time be different? I don’t want to be a chubby mom and I don’t want to be an unhappy mom. I am not happy with how I look right now and I know that it is spilling over into how I feel about myself. I logically know that I am more than my appearance, but emotionally I’m having a hard time separating it. And I want to be a good role model for my son. I need to set good examples by eating better and being more active. Plus we’d like to have a second baby and I know that both of us would be better off if we started the pregnancy at a healthier weight.

How much do I want to lose? I would be ecstatic to lose 22 lbs, but that would put me at a weight I was never able to maintain so I'm going to say 17 lbs. 17lbs would put me at my wedding day weight and I would be very happy if I could get there again and stay there. While these may not seem like big numbers to some, it’s a lot on my body. I’m only 5’ 1”, and an extra 5, 10, 15 lbs makes a huge difference.

How am I going to do it? It’s a three-part plan and the first part has already been implemented. In fact it was kicked off on January 4th when the rest of the McFatties started this. I’m going to take my dog for his morning walk five times a week. His morning walk is just under 2 miles. We’ve had to shorten it a couple of times because we are getting used to a new morning schedule now that I’m back to work, but I have walked him every morning before work. Part 2 is to follow the Weight Watchers Plan. The new WW at work program kicks off this Wednesday at my office and I will be joining. Part 3 is training for a 5K race. I’ve never been a runner, but have always thought that if I did run then the weight would just fall off of me while I’m dieting. Time to test the theory. To train for the 5K race I’m going to follow the Couch to 5K

How will I track my progress? Duh, the scale! My home scale and the WW scale. I'm also going to try and remember to take my measurements tonight (scary!) and take what I'm sure will be a very unflattering photo tonight, which will never be posted for you to see!

4/26/10 Goal – 14 weeks from today: Walk the dog at least 5x a week. Train for and run a 5K race (am registering for a 4/25/10 race) and lose 11lbs. Stretch Goal: Lose 17lbs.

Week 1 Goal: Drink 80 ounces of water a day.

Sorry this is so long. I’m sure Week 2’s update will be much shorter. plan.

Did you miss me?

Hmmm… So it’s been a while. Nineteen months to be exact, so I guess it has been quite a while. And a lot has changed since then. Not only am I AuntP, but I’m also MammyP. Back in October Mr. Tall Guy and I were lucky enough to welcome a healthy and happy baby boy to our family and I’m happy to report that WonderMutt has adjusted nicely to his new, non-hairy brother.

So why have I dusted off the blog? I’m not quite sure. My pregnancy was uneventful so I didn’t feel a need to document it and life after the baby was too busy to think of documenting it, but now I’m back at work and the baby, we’ll call him Gus, is in daycare full time, I feel the need. Also, I want to join McFatty Monday, but I’ll get to that later.

Gus has been in daycare for a week and ½ now and it’s going well. And I had been doing ok with it. While I don’t love my job, I don’t mind it and it’s nice to have other adults to talk to during the day. The dramas of the high-tech world now seem less significant than they once did, but it’s nice to contribute to the success of projects I’m involved in. Notice I said I had been doing ok with it and I guess I still am, but a sad and a happy thing happened yesterday. I knew that it would happen eventually, but it still stings. Gus had (achieved?) a milestone yesterday at daycare. He rolled over. I should be as ecstatic as first time mothers are supposed to be. My big boy rolled over! But I didn’t see it. And although I tried to get him to do it this morning, he didn’t. And how did I find out about this? In his daily report. I READ about it. Doesn’t the daycare know that they should lie about this stuff? They should tell me that they think he’s just about it do it and watch for it this weekend. But no. They told the truth and I’m left with a bitter sweet feeling of being proud of him and torn-up about it because I missed it.

I’m probably overreacting. It’s rolling over. It’s not his first word or his first step, but it’s something he did for the first time and I missed it. And I’m a bit sad about it….

Oh and while I’m now MammyP, I’ll still go by AuntP. Not that it matters because no one (with maybe the exception of Mrs. Big Dubya) will read/find this blog :)