Super Summer So Far and a Weigh In!

So far the super summer challenge has been great!  It has really motivated me to do as many things on my lists as possible to rack up points.  I may have to play around with my Mind points system because I am finding that with 2 kids they are a little harder to work in throughout the day.  I did have some trouble yesterday getting some of my tasks done because we had a busy day.  We have been looking for renters for the home we own in Grand Junction and we’ve been doing a lot of back and forth driving to show it to potential renters.  The good news is that we found some great renters and they signed a contract today.  One less thing to stress about right now (also, it looks as though there may be an actual VACATION in our future this year and I’ve been on the phone all morning trying to work things out.  Haven’t been on vacation in almost 6 years!  More on that later).

Here are the totals so far:

Saturday 6/1:
Body: 280
Mind: 60

Sunday 6/2:
Body: 160
Mind: 50

Monday 6/3:
Body: 160
Mind: 135

Totals so far:
Body: 602
Mind: 245

See what I’m saying about the Mind points?    I either need to think of more goals or increase the point value.

Now onto the meat of this post which is the weigh in!  After last weeks disappointing gain, I was happy to see that the scale is going in the right direction this week.  It makes a difference when you food journal and exercise.

Starting Weight: 282.8
Last Week’s Weight: 263
This Week’s Weight: 261.7
Total Loss: -1.3
Total Overall Loss: -21.1

Through all the weigh in’s I have learned one thing from them:  I enjoy the small losses more than the big ones.  Whenever you see a large loss you know it is mainly water weight and waste (unless you are on a seriously restricted food diet, which I am not).  When you see a smaller loss you know that if you keep eating healthy and your body moving it stays off.  Whereas water weight fluctuates frustratingly.

My main goal is to be losing 1 to 2 pounds a week and every time I see some sort of loss it makes me happy.

I think Lucy is the one taking my poundage away from me, she is a chunk:

970525_4900050140360_2003902196_nThey get big fast!  Trying to enjoy every moment!  Happy Tuesday!

1 Comment
by Shrinking Carrie on June 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Super Summer Challenge, Weigh in

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on June 4, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/06/04/super-summer-so-far-and-a-weigh-in/

Super Summer Challenge!

After Tuesday’s weigh in I’ve been sulking around a little and feeling a bit overwhelmed on how I’m going to get back on track.  One bad day tends to lead to a string of bad days and then you basically have to start all over.  I will say that yesterday was my 34th birthday and I made my favorite butter yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.  I ate my fill and then chucked the rest.  I know I would have been eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I had kept it around.

Looking for inspiration on Facebook, Brooke Not On A Diet posted a link to a fun summer challenge from Back to Her Roots. After reading about the challenge I decided it was just what I needed to get back on track.

The challenge involves you setting goals for your mind and body.  Each goal is assigned a point value and the goal is to get to 10,000 points in each category by the end of the summer.  That means 10,000 for body, and 10,000 for mind.  If you want to read the long version of this challenge, or want to join in you can read about it HERE.  The challenge starts on June 1st and goes until August 31st.

Today I sat down and made a list of goals.  I tried to think of at least 3 goals for each point value.  Here is the list:

Body

10 points

  • Stretch after workout
  • Have a salad for 1 meal
  • Do a plank
  • Eat oatmeal for breakfast

25 points

  • 45 minutes of cardio
  • Go to the park
  • Walk 10,000 steps in a day

50 points

  • Go one day eating no animal products
  • Strength training session
  • Make a new healthy recipe

75 points

  • Do a 5K on the treadmill
  • Drink 100 oz. water
  • Track all food for one day
  • No added sugar for a day

100 points

  • Lose 1 pound
  • Take Measurements
  • Take progress photos

500 points

  • Lose 5 pounds (not all at once, but collectively)
  • Track food for one week
  • Run for 30 minutes straight
  • Revamp Blog

 

Mind

10 points

  • Write a blog post
  • Comment on other blogs
  • drink a cup of tea

25 points

  • Read 30 minutes
  • Read scriptures
  • Go to the library

50 points

  • Give service to someone
  • Listen to music for 1 hour
  • Buy myself something fun

75 points

  • Go on a date with Dustin
  • Take a nap
  • Watch a movie

100 points

  • Finish a book
  • Complaint free for a day
  • Deep clean 1 room of the house

500 points

  • 24 hr. media fast
  • 24 hr. no tv
  • Organize one room of the house

I based my point system off of how difficult some of these tasks are for me.  A bonus is that some of my goals combine.  For example, if I get in one session of 45 minutes of cardio I also hit my step count of 10,000 steps for the day, and if I want to go for an hour, I also hit the 5K mark.  That gives me a total of 50 points and if I go for the full hour I get a combined total of 125 points.

After a couple of weeks I’ll re-evaluate my point method and make sure I have given myself a goal that is reachable, but not too easy.

I’m excited to get started on this challenge and to help support other participants, and of course blogging about it all along the way!

What is a goal of yours for the summer?  And if you’ve stopped by from the challenge leave a comment and say hi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Comment
by Shrinking Carrie on May 31, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Super Summer Challenge

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 31, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/31/super-summer-challenge/

The Post’s I Hate to Write, but Can’t Ignore

I have been dreading this post since Sunday which probably hasn’t helped the last couple of days.  One thing I promised myself when I re-started my weight loss journey after baby #2 is that come hell or high water I would post a weigh in every Tuesday (my Weight Watcher weigh in day).  Pre-baby I would have conveniently forgotten to weigh myself on the specific day and then hope that the scale read different the next week.  That doesn’t sound like the habit of someone who is trying to hold herself accountable.

The Ugly Truth:

Starting Weight: 282.8

Last week’s Weight: 258.2

This week’s Weight: 263

Total Loss: +4.8

Total Overall Loss: -19.8

I know that a lot of this gain is water and waste, but non the less, it is still a gain.  I lost control last Thursday and have been trying to get back on track ever since.  We’ve had a lot of days that we’ve been away from home and I ended up making poor food choices.  The poor choices trickled into my home and the rest is easily read by the scale this morning.

I don’t want to feel this post with a lot of excuses because the fact is I am telling myself everything in the book to justify why I have eaten so horribly the last few days.  But the truth is that I need to remember that I can turn this around.  I have control over my actions and I choose to not wait and make my next meal a healthy one.  I’m trying to come up with a plan of action and some “rules” to set for myself, but I will write a post about that later this week.

And now I’m off to roast some spaghetti squash.

1 Comment
by Shrinking Carrie on May 28, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Weigh in

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 28, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/28/the-posts-i-hate-to-write-but-cant-ignore/

You’ve Got to Start Somewhere

Sweat it out:
Treadmill walk 3.5 mph for 45 minutes
2 planks
2 sets of push-ups

Oh my.  This morning I was humbled at how far out of shape I have gotten since pretty much a year ago.  I walked slower today than when I was 6 months pregnant.  But I guess you’ve got to start somewhere, right?  I’m seriously thinking about doing The New Rules of Lifting for Women program again to get my muscles moving.  The hard part is that I need to carve out some time to actually go to the gym, whereas the treadmill is hanging out in my garage ready to go.

One thing did keep me going this morning:  My weigh in!

Last week I didn’t post a weigh in, but I had gained weight and the scale said 266.1.  That is when I decided that Sunday May 12 was the day I started a plant-based cleanse that will go for 21 days.  My objective is to regain some of those old healthy habits I had going for me before baby #2.

So how did it pay off this week?

Starting Weight: 282.2

Last Week’s Weight: 266.1

This Week’s Weight: 258.2

Total Week’s Loss: 7.9 pounds!

Total Overall Loss: 24 pounds

Pretty amazing, right?!  I know that these results will slow way down and I will be happy from here on out if I lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.  A lot of the weight I lost was water and waste (my colon is working like a champ right now).  I do have to say that it feels great to be getting back on track.  The hub’s has been super supportive and I really feel like I’m getting into a groove.

Til next week friends!

1 Comment
by Shrinking Carrie on May 21, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Weigh in

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 21, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/21/youve-got-to-start-somewhere/

What’s Your Motivation

Today is my 6-week postpartum visit with my midwife, and I am hoping to get an “all clear” to start exercising again.  I don’t have a lot to say today, but I wanted to pop in and pose a question.

What’s your motivation?

I feel that motivation is so different from day to day.  There are many different things that keep me going and results is one of them.  I am on day 8 of my Whole Foods Plant Based diet and the results are wonderful.  Not only do I have more energy throughout the day, but I am seeing results on the scales almost daily (I will be posting a weigh in on Tuesday since that is my weigh in day with Weight Watchers).

The thing is that I know I won’t continue to see results like this on a daily basis (in the long run), so how do I keep up the momentum?

In the beginning my main motivator was my 1st daughter.  All I could think about was being a good example for her and teaching her healthy habits (and that is still, and will always be one of my top motivators).  I’ll be honest and say my main motivator right now is…… clothes.

I don’t remember the last time I went shopping for clothes other than pure necessity.  I’m actually pretty proud to say that I only bought 3 items of maternity wear to get me through my entire pregnancy.  And I don’t remember the last time I went shopping before that!  Not that I couldn’t go shopping.  My hub’s told me all the time when I would complain about my clothes to go buy some new ones.  I just didn’t want to buy any at the size I was/am.

The idea that I can go spend some money on new summer clothes gets me through the day, and I’ve given myself a goal of hitting 240 pounds and then I can go do some clothes shopping!

Sometimes it’s the little things.

What’s your motivation?

 

 

2 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on May 20, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Motivation, Shopping

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 20, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/20/whats-your-motivation/

WIAW: Whole Foods Plant Based Diet

I stated on Monday that I was going back to a plant-based diet and I am now on day 4 and going strong.  I am already feeling lighter with more energy, and lets just say that last night was a whopper, yet I am not feeling tired at all (we’ll see how I feel come this afternoon!).  On a side note, I can’t wait until we get our third room finished for our new daughter.  She is the NOISIEST sleeper ever!  She grunts and makes all sorts of weird noises and when I get up to check on her she is totally asleep!  The first 3 months are the hardest, right?

Anyway, onto my Tuesday eats!  Thank you to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting this blogger get together every Wednesday!

Breakfast was eaten before I could snap a picture, but it was Oatmeal with ground flax-seed, vanilla soy milk, and frozen berries.  Not anything too exciting.

Lunch was leftovers from the night before and they were delicious:

IMG_0443Homemade veggie burgers dipped in BBQ sauce and a salad with mixed greens, cucumbers, avocado, and spicy hummus.  The recipe I used for the veggie burgers came from Oh She Glows and it is her Spicy BBQ Chickpea Burgers

I love the crunch that the sunflower seeds added, although, these would have been better on a bun (I forgot to get some from the store).  But I mus say they held together really well and it was a lot better than buying sketchy frozen veggie patties from the store with an ingredient list a mile long!

In the afternoon I saw that I had a banana and a zucchini that was on their last legs so I decided to make Chocolate Zucchini Muffins from Happy Herbivore. I love this recipe because my daughter calls them “cupcakes” and she will polish off 2 before I can blink my eyes.  She has no idea that is she is getting some fruits and veggies in each muffin.  My second pregnancy caused my first daughter to become a picky eater.  Too much eating out will do that to someone, so now I’m trying to get her back on the healthy eating band wagon a little at a time.

IMG_0445I added in some mixed fresh berries and it was a filling snack that held me over til dinner.

Dinner was something unexpected.  This week I meal planned and told myself that no matter what, I was going to stick to it.  Well, last night I realized that I didn’t have a couple of the ingredients I needed for at least two of the meals I was planning so I went in search of a recipe for something that I had the ingredients on hand for.

After a quick check of my Google Reader I found a recipe that looked easy and delicious: Coconut Ginger Curry Rice Bowl From PB Fingers.  Who doesn’t love a one pot meal?  The only problem is that I had run out of brown rice and had to sub with white.  The great thing was that it was done and on the table in less than 30 minutes.

IMG_0447I wish that I had fresh broccoli instead of frozen, but it works in a pinch.  I will be having leftovers of this for lunch.

After getting back on the plant-based bandwagon I am feeling great.  My cravings are going away and the scale even gave me some motivation this morning by showing me a lighter number.  My only concern is that I feel like my breast milk supply has gone down a bit.  I can’t tell if I am just being paranoid or if my little babe is eating more than normal.  I’m monitoring it for the next few days and it is probably in my head.  Other than that I’m feeling great, and only T-4 days until I can start exercising again (hopefully I will get the clear at my 6 week postpartum appointment next Monday).

Have a happy Wednesday!

Leave a Comment
by Shrinking Carrie on May 15, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Breast Feeding, Challenges, Commitment, Diet, Energy, Goals, Good Food, Health, Health Benefits, Link Love, Making It Happen, Meal Planning, Plant Based Diet, Postpartum, Recipes, Weight Watchers, WIAW

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 15, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/15/wiaw-whole-foods-plant-based-diet/

Happy Mother’s Day to Me!

After having an absolutely horrendous week of eating whatever I could think of I decided to give myself a Mother’s Day present:  I’m going back to eating a plant-based diet.

The life of a mom with a newborn is taxing and I can feel it wearing on me daily.  The nights are a little rough and the days can get long and demanding.  With 2 kids and a husband I often feel like I get pulled in three directions constantly.  What better gift to give myself than the gift of health?

I had a wonderful talk with my husband about a week ago and it involved excuses.  I was going on about how when I get to six weeks postpartum it will get easier because I can exercise.  He totally called me out on my crap and said “you always say it will be easier when…”  fill in the blank.  I know that I have thought about these excuses before and light bulbs constantly go off in my head and I have plenty of AHA moments.  The problem is keeping myself motivated.

Do or do not, there is no try.

I thought I would take a little advice from Yoda and not put the word TRY into this post.  I almost wrote that I was going to TRY and get back to a plant-based lifestyle, but then I got taken back to my retail management days and I would get so annoyed when people said they would TRY to do the thing I was asking them to do.  It basically meant that they had an easy out clause with the word TRY.

This week will be all about getting myself back on track with eating (it is 70% of weight loss).  I’ve given myself permission to eat as much as I want to this week, but the only stipulations are that it has to have vitamins and nutrients of some sort, not be to grain heavy, and cannot come from an animal.  I’ve meal planned and I told the hub’s I don’t care if it doesn’t sound good the night I’m suppose to make it, that’s what we are eating.  He is surprisingly on board (I will mention that after this last pregnancy he is the heaviest he has ever been, and is motivated to lose some pounds).

I’m hoping that I will see great results like the last time I practiced this diet.  I lost weight, started sleeping better, was in a better mood, and I just felt great!  I’ve already had a great first day (which was Sunday, Mother’s Day mind you) and I am excited to get through this first week.

And because a post is always better with a picture, here are my two girls hanging out in our 80 degree house in their diapers (Air conditioner gets serviced on the 16th and it can’t happen soon enough!):

944667_4808877061090_1537861817_nHappy Monday!

2 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on May 13, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Challenges, Commitment, Daily Struggles, Diet, Goals, Health, Making It Happen, Meal Planning, Mindless Eating, Motivation, New Mind-set, Nutrition, Plant Based Diet, Postpartum

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 13, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/13/happy-mothers-day-to-me/

WIAW: What Nursing Mom’s Eat

One of the major things I notice when I start nursing is that it seems like I am STARVING all.  the.  time.  It doesn’t help that my little one is kind of a little piggie and I feel like she is taking most of my calories.

So like I said last week, I joined Weight Watchers Online  and my daily allotted points are 55.  It seems crazy high to me, but I will try it out for a few weeks and see what kind of results I get.  My real strategy is to eat as many 0 point foods as possible throughout the day and hopefully that will make all the difference!

Thanks to Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for helping me to stay accountable for my eats every Tuesday.  Dustin says that I need to document my weekend eats and that I always eat perfect on Tuesdays because I will have to blog about it.  Maybe next week.

I am happy to say that I stuck very closely to my plan yesterday and I didn’t end up being hungry at all throughout the day.  Small victories people.

Breakfast:

  • IMG_04222 eggs, plus 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 an Avocado
  • Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread
  • 1 Tbs. Justin’s Almond Butter
  • Blackberries and Strawberries

Here is what my WW tracker looked like:

Picture 1Lunch:

IMG_0424

  • Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortilla
  • Grain Mustard
  • 6 oz. Peppered Deli Turkey
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • Brocco Sprouts
  • Baby Carrots
  • Cantaloupe

I really didn’t think that my lunch was going to last me all day and so I added in a Chobani Pineapple Greek yogurt for a little sustaining power, and it seemed to do the trick.  Here is how lunch tracked:

Picture 2Dinner:

IMG_0426The blurry pic is because it was STEAMING hot.  This Red Curry soup has been a stand by in my kitchen the last few weeks.  It is incredibly easy to make and you can always use different ingredients of whatever you have on hand.

  • Red Curry Paste
  • Chicken Broth
  • Coconut Milk
  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • Red Pepper
  • Red Potato
  • 6 oz. Chicken
  • 1 Cup Brown Rice

This meal was a little high in points, but I think it’s because I over estimated to make sure I wasn’t cheating myself.  Here is how it turned out:

Picture 3

Even after over estimating I still have 7 points left at the end of the day.  I think they will be spent on a Chobani with berries.  That leaves me with 3 points left.  Not bad.

Eaten anything memorable lately?

6 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on May 1, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Breast Feeding, Challenges, Daily Stats, Diet, Good Food, Link Love, Meal Planning, Nutrition, Weight Watchers, WIAW

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 1, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/01/wiaw-what-nursing-moms-eat/

Imagine My Surprise

One of the things I promised myself after I had Lucy was that I wouldn’t step foot on the scale until I was at least 3 weeks postpartum.  When I had Hanna (my first child, for any new readers) I had lost all the baby weight and then some when I went in for my 6 week appointment.  I tipped the scales at 296 at 40 weeks, and weighed 266 post-birth.  I could not have been more ecstatic.

I don’t know about any of you other mom’s out there, but it was really hard for me to not get on a scale right after I had Lucy (my saving grace was that my scale broke the week before I had my c-section, which was quite disheartening at the time, if you can imagine).  The last time I weighed myself I weighed 294 and still had two more weeks until my due date.

I really thought that I had gotten lucky my first pregnancy and was going to have to get use to some lingering poundage this time around.

Imagine my surprise when I got on the scale today and it read 263.6!  My weight when I started this pregnancy was 264 and I’m pretty sure that at the end my weight would have come in somewhere around 296 just like last time.

The only issue I had with my first postpartum was that I gained about 18 pounds from breast-feeding.  I was so stressed about whether Hanna was getting enough to eat I just started taking in calories to see if it would help me get my milk supply up.  Little did I know that Hanna was just a small baby and didn’t like to eat that much (she is still that way).  This go around I am not stressing out and I am mostly using my breast pump so I know how much Lucy is eating, and I don’t get so frustrated like last time (Lucy is a hungry little thing, and will out weigh Hanna in no time).

One thing I did do this time is lots of research on how to keep my supply up without taking in empty calories.  I found out some great information and it turns out the more fruits, vegetables, and lean protein you eat the better your milk comes in.  I can attest to that since my eating the last couple of days has been less than stellar.  I have been tracking all of my food through my Weight Watchers account but plants have been seriously lacking.  Pumping today was lower than it has been this past week when I had been getting in plenty of F&V’s.

My goal is to not gain any weight (obviously) and stick to my Weight Watchers goal of  54 points per day.  BTW, nursing mom’s get a crap-ton of points which makes it easy to stay on track.  I almost fear for when I’m not nursing and it drops significantly.

The hardest part is that I am not in the habit of tracking my food anymore and it is going to take me a while to make it a daily thing.  Also, my weight may only be up 11 pounds from my lowest recorded weight, but I am jelly everywhere (that’s what no weight lifting for 10 months will do to you).  None of my clothes fit, and my stomach is crazy stretched out.

But that’s what having a baby does to you.   And I am only 3 weeks out from my c-section, could be worse.

3 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on April 29, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Body Image, Breast Feeding, Family, Goals, Nutrition, Parenting, Postpartum, Pregnancy, Weight Watchers

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on April 29, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/04/29/imagine-my-surprise/

Here I Go Again…

Let me start off by saying that this c-section recovery has been about a million times better than the first one I had with Hanna.  I know I haven’t really gone into detail about Lucy’s birth, and what can I say but having an infant is a total time suck (in the best way possible).

This birth story is pretty cut and dry.  I tried to hold out and do a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), but after I got to a week and a day over my due date I was getting restless and uncomfortable (to say the least).  I just wanted to be DONE with this pregnancy!  I grappled back and forth with my decision and decided that if I was waiting to do the VBAC I was doing it for the wrong reasons (i.e., not wanting to disappoint people like my wonderful midwife).  It turns out I was stressed out over nothing and my midwife told me that I had to do what I felt was right.

I scheduled the c-section for the next morning.

Everything went routine.  The only thing I could have done without is when my anesthesiologist hit a nerve when doing the spinal tap and made me see shooting stars and bright rainbows with the shooting nerve pain down my leg.  He got it corrected and everything was honky dory from then on.

I stayed in the hospital for 2 1/2 days and then I was ready to go home.  I was able to get out of bed myself and walk around with ease, VERY different from c-section number one.  I was expecting to have to sleep in our recliner for the first 3 nights like the last surgery, but I felt amazing!  I slept in my bed the first night and Lucy slept for 6 hours straight!  For the first few days I had to wake her to feed her (which is very unlike my first child).  I have decided that Hanna has my personality (high-maintenance), and Lucy has her dad’s personality (low-maintenance).  Hanna was an extremely needy baby, and I couldn’t put her down.  I would cry daily for the first 3 weeks because I just couldn’t handle not having any time to myself.  Lucy sleeps for a few hours at a time, will sit in her crib and hang out in the boppy if needed.

I don’t know if I’m having a different experience because I had an idea what I was in for or what, but life has been pretty great.

Last week I had a couple of days where I had the postpartum blues, but my friend brought me over this drink called GoChi and I have felt great ever since.  it has been a lifesaver!

IMG_0411

I’ll get to my point since this post is getting long enough.  I broke down and joined Weight Watchers Online yesterday.  I told myself I wouldn’t go back to WW, but it is one of the only plans that has a plan for nursing women.  I figure it is a starting point for me.  I haven’t been able to weigh myself because our scale broke.  And I promised myself that I wouldn’t weigh myself until at least 3 weeks after Lucy’s birth (this Sunday).  I will say that I finally have my slim ankles back, and it’s hard to not stare at my feet all day.  They were getting so swollen by the end of my pregnancy I forgot what my real feet looked like.

For right now I feel fantastic, and I have to keep myself from exercising because of Dr.s orders.  I’m hoping to blog at least a couple of times a week.  I’m ready to get back into the swing of things and with summer just around the corner it would be nice to buy a few new pieces of clothing that aren’t maternity!

Last, but not least a picture of what life as we know it is like from now on:

IMG_0407

Everybody wants a piece of dad.

8 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on April 24, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Postpartum, Weight Watchers

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on April 24, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/04/24/here-i-go-again/

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