The second day started out with a bang and ended with a mmehhh...
1) Lose 10 pounds - When I started writing this paragraph I thought I had done really well.... but I began realizing all the foods I had forgotten to include and now I'm a little disappointed in myself. I didn't do bad, but I could have done better mostly by planning ahead. On another positive note, the scale nudged slightly down today :)
I used up all my 29 daily points and went 8.5 points over. However, I took a nice long walk which earned me 3 activity points, which leaves me with 5.5 points to subtract from my weekly allowance of 49 points. I'm not left with 33.5 weekly points. I give myself a B+ for the day.
What I ate:
B: 2 Coffee (1 pt), 1 cup fat free yogurt (3), cup of strawberries & blueberries (0), and 1/3 cup of honey bunches of oats (1.5ish)
Snack: Banana & water
L: 2 cups of tomato soup (6 - ouch!! - should have calculated first), 1 piece bread (3), Morningstar chicken griller (2), 1/2 piece of cheddar cheese (1.5) , 2 tsp mayo (1.5)
Snack: Licks, Bites & Tastes (3)
D: BBQ Salmon (11), 1/2 cup brown rice (2.5), Tons of Broccoli (0)
Snack: 1/2 lite beer (1.5), peach (0)
2) Diastasis class - I did all my exercises yesterday which makes me happy, but I'm not supposed to be doing things like bending down from the hips to pick things up off the floor, picking up the kids, holding the kids on my hip, or sitting up from a lying position (like when a child cries the night and you sit up straight in bed). It's hard to remember not to do this stuff and I have to keep reminding myself that I have a legitimate medical injury which needs to heal! On a nice note, it's only day 2 and I'm already noticing a difference!!! The splint really does serve as a constant reminder to sit up straight and make sure I'm keeping my transverse muscles tightened (now that I know what that feels like!). Remember when you were a kid and you would stick your stomach out and say, "Look, I'm pregnant!!!" Well, I was in a constant state of "Look, I'm pregnant!" After only two days on this program, I already feel like my muscles are pulling my belly in and I have a few millimeters which I can 'push' out. I give myself a B+ for doing the exercises, but I still need to be more conscientious regarding how I move.
3) Exercise - Thank you to my wonderful neighbor and friend Kelley who went on a nice long walk with me yesterday despite being only 7 weeks postpartum and the weather being muggy and gross! I give myself an B for exercising, but I should be doing more cardio.
4) Get Ari in bed and asleep by 9pm - This was a score! Ari was in the bath at 8:30 last night (despite some unexpected company) and in bed with 3 books by 9pm. He tried the "I'm hungry" and "I'm thirsty" but I stuck to my guns. He did eventually get a little bedtime reprieve with "I have to go potty," but he was back in bed by 9:06 and did not come out again. It took him another 1/2 hour to fall asleep, but he stayed in his room and in his bed. Lawrence and I got lie in bed and read and talk and have some time together... which was really nice :) I give myself an A- for following though for the second night in a row, but still giving myself room for improvement!
5) Get Lilah to FINALLY sleep through the night - Lilah woke at 11:30 last night, and she threw another tantrum when I gave her my, "it's night night time" shpiel, but she rolled over and was back asleep by 11:35! Unfortunately from she woke again at 2:30 and from there it was down hill. I figured it was close enough 3am and I nursed her but just as I was placing her back in the crib I noticed her diaper was soaked. Then I lied awake feeling like a bad mother who let her baby sleep in a full diaper for another 2 HOURS until I heard her make a peep, at which point I dashed into her room, changed her diaper and nursed her again. She stayed sleeping until around 6:15ish when she woke for the day. I'm going to try the same plan for tonight - no nursing until 3am, then ignore in the crib until 6:30am. I give myself a C+ for starting out strong, but letting the whole plan fall apart from 2:30 on.
6) Wean Lilah - Until 2:30 in the morning (see above), day 1 of weaning went very well. The day started will with me nursing 6am, 2pm, and 7:30pm (she didn't nurse before nap #1!). However, she then nursed at 2:30, 4:30, 6:15ish, and finally again at 7:30 this morning. During the 6 hour period between 2:30am and 7:30am, she nursed 4 times. While I technically nursed only 5 times in a 24 hour period, tomorrow I will work harder to switch all my nursing from nighttime to daytime hours. I give myself a B for getting the right number, but the wrong times and clustering.
In conclusion, I still have a lot of work to do tonight!!!!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
3-2-1 Blast off!!
I have to say, I'm satisfied with my 24 hours!!! One day down, 5 weeks and 6 days to go!!
1) Lose 10 pounds - A good start to the weight loss process mostly because I got so distracted writing the blog that I forgot to eat breakfast or lunch! According to WW, I'm allowed 29 daily points with 40 additional points to be used at any point over the week and it looks like I only used 24.5 total yesterday:
Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee w/skim milk (1 pt)
Lunch: 2 of Ari's granola bars which happened to be in the car (6 pts combined)
Snack: Chicken thigh and wing (7 combined),
Dinner: Falafel with big salad w/baked french fries which were made with PAM spray (2 falafels = 4 pts, sm flour tortilla = 2, hummus, 1.5, veggies = 0, FF = 3)
Snack: Peach (0)
2) Diastasis class - My first class with Kelly Dean went GREAT (www.thetummyteam.com). I learned a lot about how the muscles interact and what this process will look like over the next 6 weeks. The way the program works is First: Kelly teaches 2 different excercises meant to work my Transverse Muscles back together and I have to do those excercies several times a day every day. Second: I am fitted with a splint to squeeze the muscles together so my body will reabsorb the stretched out connective tissue. Lastly Kelly teaches me the proper way to get in & out of bed, pick up the kids, (and even go to the bathroom!) so I can avoid reinjuring the delicate connective tissue. It's interesting to learn how many simple things we do throughout the day will actually damage our muscles if done improperly! The two things which amazed me the most was how doing these little excercises (only takes about 3 minutes) actually winded me and how simply wearing the splint made me sit up straighter and pull my gut in thereby working the muscles! By the end of the day, I was actually sore :)
3) Exercise - Day 1 was a failure. I ran around like crazy, but did no actual running.... alas, maybe tomorrow.
4) Get Ari in bed and asleep by 9pm - Success!!!! kind of.... Ari was in the bath at 8:30 on the dot and in bed with the lights off by 9pm. Ari did his very best to extend bedtime first requesting juice, then a book, then announcing his hunger, having to go potty, then getting out of bed to sneek into our room (luckily only once), just crying for "DAAAADDYYYY!!!!," then lying in bed asking to come into our bed until he finally fell asleep around 10pm. It was heartbreaking to hear his cries and at one point I literally had to threaten my husband to keep him out of Ari's room, but in the end he went to sleep. Now the hard part is to keep up the consistency for tonight, tomorrow and every day after until he gets the idea.
5) Get Lilah to FINALLY sleep through the night - This was tough. Lilah woke up at 11:35 and absolutely threw a tantrum when I told her it was "night night time and everyone else is sleeping and you should be too!" Once again I had to threaten my husband with bodily harm to keep him from scooping her up and pulling her into bed with us. BUT... after only 25 minutes (and two checks), she fell back to sleep at midnight :) She probably would have continued sleeping soundly if her crazy mother hadn't gone in to check on her at 3:30 and accidently woken her up :( I nursed her for about 15 minutes and she went back to sleep until 6am when she woke bright eyed and ready for the day. The main goal will be for her to sleep from 12 hours - from 7:30pm to 7:30am. I think tonight I will make the rule that I will not nurse her until 3am and then I will ignore her in her crib until 6:30am.
6) Wean Lilah - Kelly Dean's office is in the Sante Mama building in Vancouver, WA (http://www.santemama.com/). I happened to be just leaving Kelly when a "Drop In Lactation Support Group" was starting in the office down the hall, so I decided to "drop in" and ask their Lactation Consultants about strategies for weaning. The plan we came up with is to nurse 5 times a day on a schedule, then removing one feeding per week - which of course works perfectly into the time frame of my little mission!!! So yesterday ended up being a wash, but I today I will start tracking when she nurses. I think for this week, nursing first thing in the morning, before 1st nap, before 2nd nap, before bed and once in the night will be my goal. Hopefully by next week, we will take away the middle of the night feeding :)
1) Lose 10 pounds - A good start to the weight loss process mostly because I got so distracted writing the blog that I forgot to eat breakfast or lunch! According to WW, I'm allowed 29 daily points with 40 additional points to be used at any point over the week and it looks like I only used 24.5 total yesterday:
Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee w/skim milk (1 pt)
Lunch: 2 of Ari's granola bars which happened to be in the car (6 pts combined)
Snack: Chicken thigh and wing (7 combined),
Dinner: Falafel with big salad w/baked french fries which were made with PAM spray (2 falafels = 4 pts, sm flour tortilla = 2, hummus, 1.5, veggies = 0, FF = 3)
Snack: Peach (0)
2) Diastasis class - My first class with Kelly Dean went GREAT (www.thetummyteam.com). I learned a lot about how the muscles interact and what this process will look like over the next 6 weeks. The way the program works is First: Kelly teaches 2 different excercises meant to work my Transverse Muscles back together and I have to do those excercies several times a day every day. Second: I am fitted with a splint to squeeze the muscles together so my body will reabsorb the stretched out connective tissue. Lastly Kelly teaches me the proper way to get in & out of bed, pick up the kids, (and even go to the bathroom!) so I can avoid reinjuring the delicate connective tissue. It's interesting to learn how many simple things we do throughout the day will actually damage our muscles if done improperly! The two things which amazed me the most was how doing these little excercises (only takes about 3 minutes) actually winded me and how simply wearing the splint made me sit up straighter and pull my gut in thereby working the muscles! By the end of the day, I was actually sore :)
3) Exercise - Day 1 was a failure. I ran around like crazy, but did no actual running.... alas, maybe tomorrow.
4) Get Ari in bed and asleep by 9pm - Success!!!! kind of.... Ari was in the bath at 8:30 on the dot and in bed with the lights off by 9pm. Ari did his very best to extend bedtime first requesting juice, then a book, then announcing his hunger, having to go potty, then getting out of bed to sneek into our room (luckily only once), just crying for "DAAAADDYYYY!!!!," then lying in bed asking to come into our bed until he finally fell asleep around 10pm. It was heartbreaking to hear his cries and at one point I literally had to threaten my husband to keep him out of Ari's room, but in the end he went to sleep. Now the hard part is to keep up the consistency for tonight, tomorrow and every day after until he gets the idea.
5) Get Lilah to FINALLY sleep through the night - This was tough. Lilah woke up at 11:35 and absolutely threw a tantrum when I told her it was "night night time and everyone else is sleeping and you should be too!" Once again I had to threaten my husband with bodily harm to keep him from scooping her up and pulling her into bed with us. BUT... after only 25 minutes (and two checks), she fell back to sleep at midnight :) She probably would have continued sleeping soundly if her crazy mother hadn't gone in to check on her at 3:30 and accidently woken her up :( I nursed her for about 15 minutes and she went back to sleep until 6am when she woke bright eyed and ready for the day. The main goal will be for her to sleep from 12 hours - from 7:30pm to 7:30am. I think tonight I will make the rule that I will not nurse her until 3am and then I will ignore her in her crib until 6:30am.
6) Wean Lilah - Kelly Dean's office is in the Sante Mama building in Vancouver, WA (http://www.santemama.com/). I happened to be just leaving Kelly when a "Drop In Lactation Support Group" was starting in the office down the hall, so I decided to "drop in" and ask their Lactation Consultants about strategies for weaning. The plan we came up with is to nurse 5 times a day on a schedule, then removing one feeding per week - which of course works perfectly into the time frame of my little mission!!! So yesterday ended up being a wash, but I today I will start tracking when she nurses. I think for this week, nursing first thing in the morning, before 1st nap, before 2nd nap, before bed and once in the night will be my goal. Hopefully by next week, we will take away the middle of the night feeding :)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A Decision is Made
Today I'm starting a six week class to close my diastasis recti. What is that? Well, it's the 'mommy tummy' that most women get after having a baby. After Ari was born, I lost all my baby weight, worked out and even ran the Shamrock run 15K... but I still had people asking me if I was pregnant! Lilah's pregnancy just made the abdominal separation worse, and while I admittedly still have 10 pounds of Lilah's baby weight, my belly sticks out in such a way that I look 6 months pregnant. My OB told me the only way to repair it was with plastic surgery when we're done having babies.
I wasn't happy with that prognosis (since we're planning on more kiddos) so I did some research and discovered the Tupler Technique. It is a six week regimen aimed at closing the abdominal separation by strengthening specific core muscles. It may take longer than six weeks to close the separation entirely, but the class to get you started is six weeks long. To my happy surprise, I found we even have an Physical Therapist in the Portland metro area who is certified in the Tupler Technique! Her name is Kelly Dean and she runs "The Tummy Team" in Vancouver, WA www.thetummyteam.com. I called, made an appointment and today is my first class.
As I was sitting here this morning thinking about what I could accomplish in the next six weeks, I realized I had several areas of my life which could be improved in six weeks time. Six weeks is a reasonable time period to follow through with a goal - right? So I made a plan..... six goals in six weeks time. A decision had been made:
1) Lose 10 pounds
2) Diastasis class
3) Exercise
4) Get Ari in bed and asleep by 9pm
5) Get Lilah to FINALLY sleep through the night
6) Wean Lilah
1) Lose 10 pounds - While I may never be 115 pounds, it's unacceptable for me 163 pounds when I'm only 5'3" tall. I'm 10 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant, 20 pounds overweight, and 25 pounds heavier than when I got married. More than just losing weight, I want to model healthy eating habits for my children and I want to stop turning to food whenever I feel upset, bored, or tired. My plan is to follow Weight Watchers Points Plus system on my own without actually joining the program. I think 10 pounds in 6 weeks is a reasonable goal. Starting today I will reclaim my will power and my dress size by reestablishing a healthy relationship with my food.
2) Diastasis Class - One of my worst traits is to start things and then get lazy and give up. This class requires several abdominal exercises to be done several times a day and to change the way in which I use my core muscles in several ways. It requires a true commitment to follow through. It may take me 6 months to fully close my abdominal separation, but if I can really follow through for at least 6 weeks, then I hope I will see enough improvement that it will keep me going. Starting today, I will reclaim my confidence by following through.
3) Exercise - While I was still working, I worked out every day. Now that I'm a stay at home mom, I seem to never find the time. The kids won't sit in the childcare at the gym and the Portland weather isn't conducive to long walks with the kids. Well, enough is enough!! My goal is to do SOME kind of exercise EVERY day - even if it is just running up and down the stairs a few times or having a 'dance party' with the kids. Starting today, I will get off the couch and start moving simply because I know it's better for me and my children.
4) Get Ari in bed with lights off by 9pm - Ari's bedtime is out of control. There are many nights he doesn't go to bed until 10:30 simply because I'm too tired to fight with him about it. It's obviously too late for a 3 year old to be up and it interferes with the small amount of time I have with my husband. As with so many other parts of parenting, I know what is needed is to simply be consistent. I will commit to getting Ari upstairs at 8:30 EVERY night and will walk out of his room with the lights off by 9pm. Starting tonight I will help my child get the sleep he needs and reclaim my evenings to be spent with my husband.
5) Get Lilah to sleep though the night - Several weeks ago, I had hired a baby sleep coach because I was so desperate for sleep and nothing seemed to be working. Suzanne Hanson at Ruby Sky Coaching www.rubyskycoaching.com saved my sanity. Literally within one week, Lilah was only waking only once nightly...... Then Lilah had a seizure putting us back to square one, then we took a family vacation to visit my brother and it all went to hell in a hand basket. Suzanne gave me all the tools I need to start the sleep process on my own, but I've been too overwhelmed. Starting tonight, I will start the training process again to get Lilah and myself the sleep we need because without sleep I overeat, don't have the energy for exercise, and am a generally grumpier human being.
6) Wean Lilah - I'm ready to wean Lilah. When she was in the NICU, they told us she may never be able to nurse. Well, she surprised them all by latching.... and never letting go. At 15 months, she eats solitds great and can handle a sippy cup so why is she still attached to me all the time!!! As far as I can tell she mostly just wants the comfort, but can can give her that in different ways. Starting tonight, I will start weaning my baby in a way which she knows I will always be there for her, but will have a some much needed autonomy for myself.
And there you have it.... my six goals. I'll be trying to post my progress daily so anyone who wants can follow along. Feel free to ask questions and comments :)
Wish me luck!
Naomi
I wasn't happy with that prognosis (since we're planning on more kiddos) so I did some research and discovered the Tupler Technique. It is a six week regimen aimed at closing the abdominal separation by strengthening specific core muscles. It may take longer than six weeks to close the separation entirely, but the class to get you started is six weeks long. To my happy surprise, I found we even have an Physical Therapist in the Portland metro area who is certified in the Tupler Technique! Her name is Kelly Dean and she runs "The Tummy Team" in Vancouver, WA www.thetummyteam.com. I called, made an appointment and today is my first class.
As I was sitting here this morning thinking about what I could accomplish in the next six weeks, I realized I had several areas of my life which could be improved in six weeks time. Six weeks is a reasonable time period to follow through with a goal - right? So I made a plan..... six goals in six weeks time. A decision had been made:
1) Lose 10 pounds
2) Diastasis class
3) Exercise
4) Get Ari in bed and asleep by 9pm
5) Get Lilah to FINALLY sleep through the night
6) Wean Lilah
1) Lose 10 pounds - While I may never be 115 pounds, it's unacceptable for me 163 pounds when I'm only 5'3" tall. I'm 10 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant, 20 pounds overweight, and 25 pounds heavier than when I got married. More than just losing weight, I want to model healthy eating habits for my children and I want to stop turning to food whenever I feel upset, bored, or tired. My plan is to follow Weight Watchers Points Plus system on my own without actually joining the program. I think 10 pounds in 6 weeks is a reasonable goal. Starting today I will reclaim my will power and my dress size by reestablishing a healthy relationship with my food.
2) Diastasis Class - One of my worst traits is to start things and then get lazy and give up. This class requires several abdominal exercises to be done several times a day and to change the way in which I use my core muscles in several ways. It requires a true commitment to follow through. It may take me 6 months to fully close my abdominal separation, but if I can really follow through for at least 6 weeks, then I hope I will see enough improvement that it will keep me going. Starting today, I will reclaim my confidence by following through.
3) Exercise - While I was still working, I worked out every day. Now that I'm a stay at home mom, I seem to never find the time. The kids won't sit in the childcare at the gym and the Portland weather isn't conducive to long walks with the kids. Well, enough is enough!! My goal is to do SOME kind of exercise EVERY day - even if it is just running up and down the stairs a few times or having a 'dance party' with the kids. Starting today, I will get off the couch and start moving simply because I know it's better for me and my children.
4) Get Ari in bed with lights off by 9pm - Ari's bedtime is out of control. There are many nights he doesn't go to bed until 10:30 simply because I'm too tired to fight with him about it. It's obviously too late for a 3 year old to be up and it interferes with the small amount of time I have with my husband. As with so many other parts of parenting, I know what is needed is to simply be consistent. I will commit to getting Ari upstairs at 8:30 EVERY night and will walk out of his room with the lights off by 9pm. Starting tonight I will help my child get the sleep he needs and reclaim my evenings to be spent with my husband.
5) Get Lilah to sleep though the night - Several weeks ago, I had hired a baby sleep coach because I was so desperate for sleep and nothing seemed to be working. Suzanne Hanson at Ruby Sky Coaching www.rubyskycoaching.com saved my sanity. Literally within one week, Lilah was only waking only once nightly...... Then Lilah had a seizure putting us back to square one, then we took a family vacation to visit my brother and it all went to hell in a hand basket. Suzanne gave me all the tools I need to start the sleep process on my own, but I've been too overwhelmed. Starting tonight, I will start the training process again to get Lilah and myself the sleep we need because without sleep I overeat, don't have the energy for exercise, and am a generally grumpier human being.
6) Wean Lilah - I'm ready to wean Lilah. When she was in the NICU, they told us she may never be able to nurse. Well, she surprised them all by latching.... and never letting go. At 15 months, she eats solitds great and can handle a sippy cup so why is she still attached to me all the time!!! As far as I can tell she mostly just wants the comfort, but can can give her that in different ways. Starting tonight, I will start weaning my baby in a way which she knows I will always be there for her, but will have a some much needed autonomy for myself.
And there you have it.... my six goals. I'll be trying to post my progress daily so anyone who wants can follow along. Feel free to ask questions and comments :)
Wish me luck!
Naomi
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)