It’s all up to me

I gave in and weighed myself this morning and was surprised to see I was at 285.5, almost a 10 pound loss.  I know enough to know this most likely isn’t permanent but it was enough to keep me focused today.  I chose not to workout this morning because I would be cutting the grass later today and with the heat we’re having I would be using up a lot of calories.

Tomorrow should be a good day because both of my kids go to the sitter so it will allow me to stay very busy.  We’re remodeling our house so tomorrow I will be painting my younger son’s bedroom.  I’m going to lift when I get up and if I’m not too sunburned from today I’m going to waterwalk for an hour between coats of paint.  I am a sun tan addict so that is a great way to work in some exercise because I would want to be outside anyway.

I have now learned that my boys and I will be staying at my parents’ house through Sunday morning so my husband can sand, stain and strip our kitchen cabinets.  We figured we should keep the boys out of the house to stay away from the fumes.  But this will really throw a wrench into my exercise and eating.  I plan to bring a workout DVD with me and will also bring my own food. My mom is dieting as well so she won’t be offended if I bring my own food.

Both yesterday and today went well.  I haven’t had the problem with cravings that I had last week, thank God for that.  I also have been able to stay extremely busy which helps with the eating from boredom.  Today Justin was with my in-laws and Kyle took a long nap so I was able to get a bunch of cleaning done which kept me busy and kept me from eating.  I so want to hop on the scale and see what it says but I’m really trying to only do it once a week.

The exercise is going well, I finally found something that makes the time on the treadmill go quickly.  I started watching Grey’s Anatomy on DVD and every morning I watch one episode.  It’s about 45 minutes which allows me to get about 2 1/2 miles in.  I also workout on my Total Gym 3x a week.  Anything else (mowing the lawn, taking the baby for a walk, etc.) I do not count as exercise, it’s just a bonus.

My biggest obstacle this week will come on Friday.  My dad’s branch of the American Legion is holding a tenderloin fry benefit for Kyle and I will be surrounded with tenderloins and french fries Friday night.  Fortunately I think it will only be about 4 hours and I will be able to get a grilled tenderloin so I will be ok. I just have to tell myself before we get there that I will NOT eat anything high in carbs.

Brandie

I weighed in this morning and lost 4.5 pounds last week, pretty good considering I did not stick to my eating plan very well.  For some reason I am bored with the options on South Beach this time.  I also noticed I have the hardest time with my eating on the days I am home with my kids.  Part of it is the stress of having 2 little ones at home, one of whom is disabled, but mostly I figured out is because I cannot stay as busy when I am taking care of them.  Of course I’m busy when I’m taking care of them but it’s a different kind of busy.  The other night Kyle took a long nap and Justin was with grandma so I was able to sort through clothes for a garage sale.  Before I knew it 3 hours had gone by and I hadn’t even thought about eating.  I wasn’t bored so I didn’t want to eat.

So here’s my stats.  When I started last week I weighed 295 and this morning I was at 290.5.  I think I am just going to have to realize that it isn’t going to happen as quickly as I wanted but as long as I keep on the plan it WILL happen.  I have added incentive because we are considering having a 3rd child in the future but I will not allow myself to be pregnant unless I am under 200 (we are also considering adoption so not losing weight will not prohibit us from adding to our family).  If I’m having trouble losing weight now I cannot imagine how difficult it would be with 3 kids and added pregnancy weight.

So my refined goals will be to lose 2 pounds a week.  Ultimately I would like to be around 150 but since I have never been thin I don’t really know what weight I should be.  I’m 5′7″ and have always been athletic so I’m guessing I can carry a bit more weight and still be thin due to muscle mass.  I guess I really don’t care what I weigh as long as I am healthy and hopefully a size 6/8.  Right now I am a tight 24.

Thanks for listening,

Brandie

I know it sounds silly but I forgot how hard it is to lose weight.  After my first son was born I lost 60 pounds and although it wasn’t a walk in the park it wasn’t overly difficult.  My schedule was set up so that I could work out 90 minutes a day during the week and I would try to squeeze in at least one workout on the weekend.  I was doing the South Beach Diet and had great success.  I think the fact that I was able to lose weight fairly easily the first time made me less worried when I gained a lot of weight during my 2nd pregnancy.  I figured, “Oh well, what’s 5 more pounds?  I’ll just lose them like I lost the last time.” 

 For some reason, though, things aren’t working as easily as they did the first time.  I’m sure being older has something to do with it, as does the addition of another child.  It is much more difficult to schedule a time to exercise.  My husband helps any way he can but he’s a full-time student so he needs time to study.

 I think the biggest obstacle, though, is the fact that our younger son is disabled.  He has a neurological disease and requires nearly constant attention.  He also is very fussy at times and only me, my mom and my brother-in -law can really make him happy.  So if I go to workout when he’s awake it often results in him crying for the duration.  It has definitely added a level of stress to our household.  And I know for sure that I am eating to compensate for my sadness.  Since he was diagnosed in December I have gained 25-30 pounds, all of that food was used to try to take away the pain.

 Even though it isn’t fair that he is sick and that our life is hard I have finally come to the conclusion that it’s still my responsibility to be healthy.  We just came back from a physical therapy session and all I want to do is eat something because I get so sad that we have to work so hard with him just to get him to hold his head up.  But eating that cookie isn’t going to make him healthy so what’s the point?  I need to keep reminding myself that me staying fat isn’t going to make his disease go away.

 He’s starting to wake up so I need to quit writing but I will write more another day.