Cheat Meals

I have a couple of fun things to blog about today.  First, I got to go to my first blogger party sponsored by Shutterfly last night so tomorrow I'll be posting about some new things going on there.

Second, Sophie had her two week check up today.  I really can't believe it's already been two weeks!  Seriously, two weeks being pregnant after week 36 was like a lifetime to me.  But now that I can breathe again... whoa, fast.  She has grown two inches and gained 9 oz from her birth weight.  She's a good eater and I can pump like 5 oz at a time.  That's like a third of a water bottle.  Now imagine that in your boobs.  I'm just sayin'... C's to D's (when normally a small B).

Now for the last thing and more fantastic news.  I weighed in today.  I started on Monday and decided to weigh in on Fridays so I could have a cheat day on the weekend.  I have lost 3 1/2 pounds.  Granted, on Monday I weighed myself a little later in the day so I probably had an extra pound of water/food, but I'll take 2 1/2 pounds in 4 days.   I'm working on another food and exercise plan for those of you who want a guideline and I'll post it early next week.  But now I want to talk about cheat meals.

I allowed my clients one cheat meal per week.  This is when they get to have a normal serving of a favorite dish that is not on their normal meal plan.  It can be accompanied by either dessert or alcohol, but not both.  When I was strictly doing a super clean meal plan and my husband was too, we would go out on the weekend and order a meal from our favorite restaurant and share it.  Then we would share a dessert.  This worked for us because we didn't over eat and we saved money on restaurant food.  Score!

Cheat meals are important so your body doesn't feel deprived and mentally you give up on eating well because it's not fun.  Cheat meals give you something to look forward to each week.  And if you cheat during the week it isn't as meaningful to cheat on your designated cheat day.

Okay, so, eat nutritious, healthy food except for that one meal that you get each week.  You can do this!

Meal Plan

I'm always interested at how people lose weight.  I have seen a lot of ways that work so there is not just one perfect plan.  The important thing is to make sure you are eating enough, but not too much.  Sixty percent of your diet should be carbs, 30 protein, and 10 fat.  Here is my meal plan for Tuesday.

Supplements
1 multi vitamin
1 fish oil (essential fatty acid)
1 packet of Crystal Light Energy (caffeine is a diuretic and boosts metabolism)
64+ oz water

Breakfast
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup milk
1 apple (I did a whole apple because I am nursing -- you can do 1/2 apple if you want fewer calories)
1 whole egg
1 egg white

approx 300 calories

Snack
1 apple (or eat the other half of your breakfast apple)
1 Atkins bar (I do Atkins bars because they are higher in protein and lower carbs than other snack bars -- plus they're yummy)

approx 260calories

Lunch
1 bowl of soup that I made with quinoa, carrots, celery, onion, and turkey.

1/4 cup cottage cheese
10 reduced fat Wheat Thins


approx 400 calories  (usually I would save the cottage cheese and Wheat Thins for a snack but I was extra hungry)

Snack
1 apple
1 serving peanut butter

approx 280 calories

Dinner
turkey pot pie (homemade without butter -- yeah, we have a lot of turkey left)

approx 400 calories

Snack
2 servings Swiss cheese
2 kiwis (or whatever other fruit you want)

approx 200 calories

That's approximately 1840 calories.  Everybody is different so use this as a guideline and add or subtract calories where necessary.  With this meal day I kind of mixed two days because I think that I didn't eat enough on Monday so I had to up it Tuesday.

One problem that many people have is that they don't eat enough calories and their body jumps into starvation mode so they don't lose anything.  When this started to happen with my clients I would up their calories by 200 and that seemed to work.  It's also important to eat enough so that your body burns fat, not muscle.

Time To Get Fit

I wrote the following on Monday and I have a picture to go with but Google is going to start charging for more than 1 gig of memory on Picasa and it won't let me upload pictures.  So I'm deciding what to do.  Just imagine a "before" pic of me with a soft, pudgy belly in jeans that I have no right to be in.  Mmmkay, now that that's said, here's the post...


It has been a week and 3 days since I had the baby and after a fantastic week of fatty, sugary foods, it's time to clean it up.  I have to do this on the blog so I have some accountability, especially during the holidays.  Maybe some of you are asking why I'm starting in the middle of the holiday season.  My answer to that is because I would rather lose 5 pounds during December (any other month would be about 10 pounds) than gain the average 1-5 pounds.  It's also a lot easier to continue eating well during January if you don't go off the wagon (I'm not even sure what that phrase means) in December.

After I had Morgan I didn't eat cleanly for about 6 months and I hung onto that extra 10 pounds until I made up my mind to lose it. My opinion is that having a baby is no excuse to be overweight.

So, who's with me? Tom, for one.  He has to eat well with me because I'm making him.  :)  We won't have crap in our house because I will eat it.

We will both be eating 2000-2400 calories per day.  Normally I wouldn't eat that much but I need an extra 500 calories since I am nursing.  The food will be stuff like oats, cottage cheese, fruit, veggies, whole grain tortillas, turkey pepperoni (yeah, that's for me), eggs, yams, chicken, reduced fat cheese etc.  We will eat 3 meals and 3 snacks averaging about 350-400 calories each.  I can post what we actually eat if anyone is interested.  It is easiest for me to eat the same thing every day except for dinner.  That way I don't get sick of the food because there is something new every night.

As far as exercising goes... I exercised my whole pregnancy.  I am dying to go jogging/running again and hoped to be able to run a 5k on Thanksgiving.  As it turns out, having a baby is a little traumatic on my body and I wasn't able to do that.  But within a few weeks I'm sure it will be better.  For now I will have to walk and lift light weights.  For those of you who haven't had a baby this month, you are probably okay to walk/jog/run for at least 30 minutes a day and lift heavy weights.  Obviously talk to a doctor if you're just starting.  And also remember that it's 85% what you eat and 15% workout.

Let's do this!

Starting weight:  159.6
Pre-pregnancy weight: 135
Goal weight: 130-138

Baby Story!

It's been a while, I know.  And it's not that I haven't done any projects.  I have.  Blogging just hasn't been on my list of priorities for a while.  But, now that I'm not pregnant anymore (story below!) I plan on doing a lot more.  On Monday I will be starting my weight loss progress which will include how I'm doing it the healthy way.  But for now, here is the story of Sophia Gabrielle... my newest daughter.

Sophia Gabrielle

November 16, 2012

The last weekend in October Tom was in Idaho for our niece's baptism.  That Saturday night at 2:30 I started having contractions.  I was around 36 weeks pregnant and ready to be done but I didn't want it to happen while Tom was gone.  The contractions were lasting about a minute and were 2-8 minutes apart, but not strong.  They stopped after about an hour so I went to sleep.  For the next three weeks I had contractions off and on.  One day I had them for 14 hours, 5 minutes apart.  That was the Sunday before the presidential election and by Tuesday I was so frustrated and disheartened.  Then when Obama won again I just couldn't take it.  I cried myself to sleep (mostly because I was still pregnant).  

I was dilated to a 3 for 3 weeks.  Finally I got my membranes stripped the Monday after I was 38 weeks.  I had cramps and more contractions but nothing real.  I decided to go in again on Thursday and have them stripped again.  

1:15 AM, November 16, 2012 -- That night I woke up at 1:15 AM having more contractions.  I was sure that they were nothing so I decided to watch Army Wives and see if they went away.  They didn't so I hopped in the shower then did my hair and makeup (just in case it was real).  Then they started getting harder.  

3:15 AM --  I woke Tom up and called the doctor to see what he thought.  He said I could probably wait a little longer -- until I couldn't walk or talk through the contractions. 

3:30 AM -- I told Tom he better shower and get ready because it was really hurting.  We were weary to go because that would mean that we had to wake up our neighbor to watch Morgan.  

3:45 AM -- Tom took Morgan to our neighbor's (Carolyn) house.  She asked, "daddy, where are we going" and she was completely happy when he told her.  She loves going to their house.  We got in the car and Tom asked if he should speed.  I said no because if we got pulled over it would just take longer.

3:55 AM -- Tom stopped at a stop light.  Me: "Why are you stopping?!  Just run it!!!"  Followed by some choice words.  Tom:  "But the camera will take a picture and send us a ticket."  Me:  "I don't care!"  Tom: "I'll turn right then do a U-turn."  Me: "Just GO!"  Followed by more choice words.

4:00 AM -- I got to labor and delivery and they put me in a triage room and had me change my clothes.  I noticed there was a lot of blood on my pants.

4:03 AM -- A nurse checked me and I was at a 4.  Then she said, "that's a little more blood than we like to see."  Super.  I was going to die.

4:04 AM -- Me: "I need an epidural."  Nurse: "He's on call so he'll be here in 20 minutes."  And I probably said more choice words.  

4:05 AM -- I had to go to the bathroom but they wouldn't let me.  They said it was probably pressure from the baby.  I was sure that it was not.

4:10 AM -- By then the contractions were way above my pain tolerance.  Tom would try to hold my hand or rub my arm and I would just pull away and tell him not to touch me.  He was also trying to be funny so I had to tell him that he wasn't and to stop it.  Yeah, I'm not so nice in labor.  

4:30 AM -- Another nurse checked me and I was at a 5 or something.  They took me to a delivery room.  Side note: by this time at least 5 different people had had their hands in my vagina that week.  Awesome.

4:40 AM --  The CRNA arrived and gave me my epidural, which will turn out to be the best $1000 per half hour that I would spend.  

4:50 AM -- The epidural kicked in fully and I could relax a little.  My body was shaking uncontrollably and the pressure from the baby was intense.  The nurse checked again and I was at a 7.

5:15 AM -- I pooped (TMI? Maybe, but if it is you shouldn't go running with me ever).  I was so mad.  I told them I had to and now I couldn't do anything but let them clean it up.  

5:20 AM -- The doctor came in and got ready for delivery.  

5:25 AM -- He broke my water and told me to do 2 practice pushes.

5:29 AM -- After 3 more "real" pushes Sophia Gabrielle (Sophie) was born.  6 pounds, 11 ounces.  18 inches long.

She is such a sweet baby and her big sister is absolutely in love with her... just like her daddy and I are.

Guest Post: Agnes Jimenez

DIY Halloween Decorations and Foods That You Will Enjoy

Hi!  Today I have a guest blogger, Agnes Jimenez.  She is a professional blogger and writer. She writes for many online establishments and supports those ones that offer alternative lifestyles to consumers.  As a frugal living advocate, she recommends DailyBread.com for budget conscious moms who want to get big savings in shopping for food and food storage.

When it comes to Halloween, decorations and good food are key. You can create a wonderful Halloween experience with DIY decorations and food, especially if you are on a budget. It is all too easy to spend a great deal of money for this holiday, so it is a huge plus if you are skilled and/or crafty with cooking, baking, and art/design projects. The following are only a few of the many great ideas that are out there for Halloween.

Pumpkin Pillars

These will look great outside on either side of your front steps. Find pumpkins that are the right size to fit in urns of your choosing, and stack one or more on top, cutting out all the stalks except for the top pumpkins. Make sure that you scoop out all of the insides of the pumpkins. Use black markers to make designs of spooky things that you like, and go over it with black enamel paint when you have it finalized. One beautiful idea is to draw a tree going up the pumpkins, so that the lines match up for the image. Then, take a drill and cut out star shapes. Place candles inside of them for a nice effect.

 

Creepy Door Wreath

Take a simple craft store wreath, and spray paint it black. Have your kids go out and find twigs and such things to place on it with a glue gun (or thread or twine if possible). Then, you can further embellish it with a plain orange or Halloween themed ribbon, or just stretch some fake cobwebs across it for extra flair.

(example from mcillecespot.blogspot.com with rubber snakes)

Candy Apples

Apples are a healthy food that some kids say no to. However, when you put something like caramel, chocolate, or a sugary coating on it with some candies (M&M's and Reese's Pieces are good choices), they will swarm over these wonderful Fall snacks. They are fairly easy to make at home- all you have to do is remove the core and stem, place a stick inside, and dip it in your choice of covering that you can make in just a few minutes.

(Mini caramel apples made using melon ballers.  Source: Domesticali)

 

Other great ideas for Halloween treats include: "bloody" punch with grapes for eyeballs and other spooky things; cupcakes with candy spiders, bats, black cats, etc.; skewered eyeballs (green and black olives, chicken, cremini mushrooms, round carrot slices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, etc.); ghost-shaped cornbread; and many other foods. Be sure to have a good mix of "healthy" and junk foods, especially if you are having a big party. That way, everyone is sure to find something that they like.

Living and Dining

When we moved into this house in July there were some things left by the previous inhabitants that were just not me.  For example, these curtains (or whatever they're called) in the kitchen.  Plaid, country-esk.  So. Not. Me.  They were also used above the doors to the back yard but I guess I didn't get a picture of that.  

I decided to redo the kitchen/dining area stat so I picked up some letters (E, A, T) at Hobby Lobby and spray painted them silver.

The thing that has taken so long is just getting to painting the curtains (ie, $4.47 sheets from Walmart).  The hangy and chalkboard to the right are from Ikea.  We needed a place for Morgan's preschool artwork and this is it.  I love the metal wire thing to hang art.  Each was like $12 and so worth it.

I added the same curtains in the living room.  Here is the before, pardon the mess.

After

But, yay, the living/dining area is finished!  

No Sew Pillow

I have a ton of (like 6) pillows that are faded and will never be used again in their current state so I decided it would be prudent to recover and utilize them.  Then I can inundate our bed with cutesy decoration pillows that my husband is just going to love.  

This tutorial is not the most thorough, but it's not a science.  If you do pillows like this, make up your own thing.  

Start with a piece of material that is about 2 inches wider than the width of the pillow and about 3 times the length.  

Hot glue the sides onto the pillow.

Fold one of the lengths over and hot glue the sides down with the ends folded under (I glued the edges under before I glued it down).

Glue the front down in whatever way you want.  I did it in a wedge and glued a bow to the edge.