Monday, September 30, 2013

Soooo busy

Crazy busy lately. But even so, I've managed to lose some additional weight! I'm at 73.5kg right now. I love seeing the weight moving down. This has also marked a milestone: I'm officially at my pre-pregnancy weight (of my son's pregnancy). Back in January I bought some pants that are getting seriously loose right now. I should not be wearing them anymore but they're so comfy... I don't feel like buying anything new right now either, since I want to lose some more first.

Let's deal with those first world problems later. For now, I'll just update my stats and move right along.

Oh and on a family related note: ZwitsalBaby is responding well to the antibiotics and his lungs are almost completely better! I didn't think it was possible, but he is crawling around even faster now, getting into loads of trouble already. He is also pulling himself up and started cruising around. I guess I will need to have a good physical condition if I want to be able to keep chasing him around! Now there's some motivation.

So here come the stats!

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.3lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 73.5kg (161.7lbs)
Current BMI 27.0
Lost weight 3kg (6.6lbs)
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5



Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Son, scale and business trips

My son is still having troubles with his lungs. He coughs a lot and is short of breath. We had several tests done and all of them have been negative. There's nothing out of the ordinary with him, but this nasty infection is still sticking around. Antibiotics should solve the problem. Here's hoping! In other news he just figured out how to crawl and is all over everything. We will have to make sure to keep an eye on him. Nothing is safe anymore. I just love him so much sometimes it feels like my heart's going to jump out of my chest; I hope he feels better soon and ready to conquer the world.

In weight loss world there's nothing new under the sun. Still trucking along. This weekend was hectic and I did go over my points allowance, but I didn't let it bother me. Yesterday I played badminton during lunch break and had another 7km evening run. Today I did Zumba, so I figure that should make up for any weekend excesses.

I'm still contemplating buying a scale, because I do believe I should have lost some weight since I last checked. But I'm still on the fence. On one hand it would be nice to track the loss better, but on the other hand I do tend to get a bit obsessive about the scale, weighing myself every day and getting disappointed when it goes up and down, which is bound to happen anyway. Maybe it is better for me to just weigh myself once a month, when I'm visiting my parents. I'll mull it over a little more.



Engineer Daddy is going on a business trip for 10 days. I'm getting lots of help from family, so the kids and I should be fine, I just hope I'll be able to go running once in a while. I hope I can fit it into my planning somehow.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

New distance

This evening I extended my run. I have been doing a 5.3km run for a few weeks now, but this time I felt really good and decided to keep going. I did 7km (4.4 miles for you non-metric people). It was kind of a snail pace and it took me 53 minutes, but I didn't feel the need to take a single break. Really starting to feel that my physical condition is improving.

Woop woop! I'm kind of proud right now. Even with this cold I can still find the energy to do this.

Fall has begun

The weather is changing around these parts. Last week we had summer temperatures and the sun was shining like mad; this week the temperature dropped drastically and it has been raining virtually non-stop. Fall has begun.


I don't mind the fall to be honest. I like the cooler temperatures and seeing the leaves change colors. It makes a morning run so enjoyable. I'm also a big fan of fall fashion. Leather boots, scarves, hats, ... it's accessory paradise! That's a standard jojo-dieter's quote, by the way. It doesn't matter how much I gain or lose, my cool hats will always fit. That's a depressing thought right there.

Anyhoodle.

This sudden change of climate has some annoying side effects: My first cold of the season! I am a ball of snot. My head is throbbing. My muscles are sore, even though I didn't do any weird new exercise routine. I just want to go home, make myself a huge cup of cocoa with an even huger mountain of whipped cream. But instead I am sitting behind my desk at work, sniffling away, and for this evening I am planning my standard 5.3km run. I am going to do it, no doubt about that, but it's going to be verrrry difficult to get my arse in gear. How on earth do people work out while sick? I've never understood it and now I understand it even less.

Bitch bitch bitch whine whine whine. OK it's out of my system. *Phew*

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Why I'm scared of weight gain

I am a big fan of blogging in general. I read a ton of blogs about on all kinds of topics: Motherhood, pregnancy, weight loss, fitness, feminism, fashion, ... One thing fat bloggers write about is why they hate being fat. A beautiful example of this is 101 reasons I hate being fat; it hasn't been active for a while but I really love browsing through the archives. It is an interesting topic for me, not because I recognize these problems. I am not at the point where my fat is really holding me back to do anything I love. But it is a great reminder of the reasons I am trying to lose it now: To make sure I never get to that point.

Clothes Shopping - I love shopping for clothes! I am not a fashionista or anything, but I love the challenge of going into the shops and finding stuff that is fashionable, flattering for my body and reasonably cheap. I don't mind shopping for larger sizes, I've done it during my pregnancies, but let's face it the offer is never as trendy or plentiful as it is in the normal size range. Furthermore, the bigger I get the less clothes I find suitable for me. I don't want to show off my fat upper arms too much, or wear short skirts in fear of bearing my thunder thighs. This last problem is off course all in my head, but it's there nevertheless. At this moment I am already reaching for the larger sizes in the normal clothes shops. I just don't want to push the limit and find myself banned from them altogether.

Saggy Skin - No matter how fat you get, you can always find some way to lose weight. It has been done. In extreme cases surgery might be necessary, but you gotta do what you gotta do. But even if you lose half your body weight or more, you will be left with saggy skin. Skin removal surgery can be a solution here, but that comes with its own risks and scarring etc etc. What a hassle! If you want to get your body back in the easiest way, best to start sooner than later. So I'm choosing sooner.

Fitting in Seats - I can't even imagine what it would be like not to fit in movie theater seats, or chairs with armrests, or airplane seats. These are in fact things fat people have to worry about. It's like a constant stress factor on top of everything else, because when you start to take notice, we have to sit down in seats with predefined maximum sizes all the time. This is something I do NOT want to worry about. Life's too hectic as it is, thank you very much.

Amusement Parks - I don't go to amusement parks often, unfortunately, but when I do I always enjoy it. I love going on rides, the faster and higher the better! A few weeks ago we went to an amusement parks with the kids and it was so much fun taking MiniMe on rides for smaller kids, seeing her little face light up. I don't ever want to miss out on anything like that, which is a possibility when you are too fat to fit into the carts. No way I want to have that happen to me.

Feeling Self Concious - This is a complete vanity thing. Like I said in a previous post I enjoy feeling pretty, which I just don't when there's too much flab hanging on to my body. I read some blogs by larger fashionistas (like this one) and I think they are fabulous and so beautiful. I wish I could do what they do, but I'm not there (yet). I believe in fat acceptance and health at every size, but I guess the cultural norm of beauty is just too ingrained in my brain. It's sad but true.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Plan of attack evaluation

OK, weekend is over and it was great. I had a good time, so let's see how I did food-wise...

Alcohol
- Original Plan: This is the thing I will choose to indulge in. The plan is to have two glasses maximum and that's it. Just enough to get a taste, but not enough to get hammered.
- Evaluation: Succes! I did not have more than two glasses of alcohol with dinner, both on Friday and Saturday. They were delicious, by the way. I was never even so much as buzzed.

Bread
- Original Plan: Stay away from it! It just fills me up and I don't get to enjoy the other food as much. And off course it comes with the best butter, full of saturated fats and salt. Steering clear of that.
- Evaluation: Success! I did not have any bread during dinner. I didn't even really miss it. I am very proud of myself, because reaching for the bread basket is just such a habit. I did have one roll at lunch on Sunday,  but that was mainly because the dish I had ordered was very small and I needed something to sustain myself.

Starter
- Original Plan: Go for the veggie option, like a soup or a salad. To get my vitamins in and go easy on my stomach.
- Evaluation: No succes. I had some salmon sushi on the first day. It was a pretty small portion so I can't feel too bad about that. On the second day I had a veggie starter, so yay!

Main course
- Original Plan: No big slab of red meat. I'll look for fish or seafood. No french fries, which is my Achilles' heel. I'll also try to stay away from the pasta dishes that I usually love. But if there's something really nice on offer like home made ravioli, I might just go for that. It'll depend.
- Evaluation: No succes. The first day I had the duck and the second day I had a kangooroo steak. But to be honest the portion sizes were tiny and we had busy days, so I feel OK about my choices. I needed the energy. I doidn't touch any french fries at all, so I pat myself on the back for that.

Dessert
- Original Plan: Skip this and have a coffee instead. If I can't get out of it, try something low-cal like fruit or sorbet.
- Evaluation: Half success. On the first day I had pineapple carpaccio with sorbet. It was yummy! The second day however I had the most delicious trio of chocolate. I should feel guilty about this but it's difficult because I enjoyed every mouthful. It was rich and divine. I still didn't overeat at all, but it was a bit over the top. Bad points for me.

All in all I think I did pretty good. I never overate at all, the portion sizes were too tiny for that. I could have done better by skipping the chocolate dessert, I have to admit though it was too good to feel guilty about. Keeping in mind that I want this diet to be a lifestyle change and not a straight jacket. Indulgences like this will happen, I just need to be careful not to have them every day. I am happy I devised this plan and at least tried to stick with it. It made me mindful not to eat blindly, like with the bread.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Restaurant plan of attack

Badminton was super-super-superfun! I certainly haven't lost my technique - got a pretty solid serve if I do say so myself - and I was able to keep up as well. I guess all that running is doing something for my physical condition. I was a bit afraid of hurting my ankle; I have twisted it a few times in the past and it's still wobbly from time to time. But it held up perfectly. It had been a really hot today yesterday, so the sports hall was like a sauna in the evening. As a result, the sweat was flying. I didn't care though, I was having too much fun. Can't wait to go again next week!

It's almost weekend, woot! We are going on a trip with the in-laws. I know some people cringe at that thought, but I love my in-laws! They are fantastic, non-boundary stomping folks who help out regularly with the kids. MiniMe and ZwitsalBaby are their only grandchildren (so far) and they love them to bits. Sis and brother in law are also fabulous, all in all this promises to be a fun filled weekend. There is one problem though...

They are foodies.

They love their food and drink. Luckily they only go for the good quality stuff and don't mind spending the extra money. They're also generous and take us along to restaurants frequently. I love them for this, but restaurants are my downfall. I always end up overeating and consuming too much alcohol. The outing will start this evening with a dinner at the very nice hotel restaurant. Although I don't know what the menu looks like, I do need a game plan, like a few rules stuck in my head that will keep me from binging. So here are my rules:

Alcohol - This is the thing I will choose to indulge in. The plan is to have two glasses maximum and that's it. Just enough to get a taste, but not enough to get hammered.

Bread - Stay away from it! It just fills me up and I don't get to enjoy the other food as much. And off course it comes with the best butter, full of saturated fats and salt. Steering clear of that.

Starter - Go for the veggie option, like a soup or a salad. To get my vitamins in and go easy on my stomach.

Main course - No big slab of red meat. I'll look for fish or seafood. No french fries, which is my Achilles' heel. I'll also try to stay away from the pasta dishes that I usually love. But if there's something really nice on offer like home made ravioli, I might just go for that. It'll depend.

Dessert - Skip this and have a coffee instead. If I can't get out of it, try something low-cal like fruit or sorbet.

Oh dear I hope I can stick to my plan of attack... I will evaluate after the weekend to see if I did. Stay tuned!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Badminton, Baby!

This past week has been really good, including the weekend. I have been sticking to my points allowance for the most part. (On Sunday evening I indulged a little. We had been walking around an amusement park with the kids all day and I was famished.) Keeping up the exercise hasn't been as difficult as I had expected; my energy levels are surprisingly high. I guess I owe that to cutting out the crap: I don't have the usual sugar highs-and-lows anymore. I am getting plenty of fiber, enough protein and almost all the sugars I am taking in are coming from fruit.

But (why must there always be a but?) I am hungry. There's no denying it. I am not hungry all day every day, but it does happen. It has been that way with any diet that was successful for me. I can deal with it just fine; I usually have a glass of water, a coffee (black) or one of my fruity snacks. It does make me wonder though if it's a necessary evil we have to go through?

On the exercise front I am reacquainting myself with an old favorite: Badminton. After I graduated back in 2005, I started playing badminton on Thursday evening with some friends. After a while the friends quit, but then Engineer Daddy joined. I love this sport so much, mostly because it feeds the - usually dormant - competitive side in me. I can work up a serious sweat and not even notice it because I'm having so much fun.

I stopped playing when I was 5 months pregnant with MiniMe. After she was born, during the breastfeeding period I preferred staying home with her in the evening. When she was weaned I still stayed home because one of us had to keep an eye on her. And then a few months later the cycle of pregnancy and breastfeeding started again. Engineer Daddy and I decided this was something we needed to do together again. For the first time ever we're hiring a babysitter (that is not family). I am so happy we made this decision.

Tomorrow is going to be hell with sore muscles. Oh well.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Evening run

I love running in the evening. Tonight we were having a beautiful summer evening with a colorful sunset. I ran past a meadow with a few horses. It was all so romantic.

Another reason is that on evenings when I go running I am so good about my eating. I am careful not to eat too much at dinner before the run, and afterwards I don't eat any crap either because I don't want to undo the good work I did. Love it!

To be honest I don't really like running as a sport. But I do like the many advantages it brings:
  • You can do it anytime, even in the middle of the night if you'd like.
  • You can do it anywhere.
  • You don't need much: The only big investment is the shoes. And even they're not that expensive.
  • You don't need any specific training to be able to do it. Just put one foot in front of the other.
  • I can listen to the radio or my favorite music.
  • Fresh air.
  • If you choose your route carefully, it can be beautiful and extra relaxing (see my comment above).
I'm sure there are more advantages, just can't think of them right now. But the ones listed should be enough to get my ass moving.

Check out my running gear. Not only are my running shoes perfect for my running style, they are also pretty, don't you agree? And they match my mp3 player. I am such a fashionable runner *ahem*.


Stats Update

Soooo happy to finally be updating my stats. No, we didn't get a new scale, sadly, but I visited my parents two days ago and hopped on their scale. And it showed... *drumroll*... a 1kg loss! I am so excited right now. So here are the new stats:

Height 165cm (5'5")
Starting weight 76.5kg (168.6lbs)
Starting BMI 28.1
Current weight 75.5kg (166.4lbs)
Current BMI 27.7
Lost weight 1kg (2.2lbs)
Goal weight 64kg (141lbs)
Goal BMI 23.5

I updated my ticker.

Now, 1kg might not seem like so much in 6 weeks time, but I have to keep in mind that in those 6 weeks, we went on vacation where there was wine, seafood and croissants. We also had a wedding where I enjoyed the buffet and the open bar without thinking, and in general the other weekends were not so good either. So in that respect a 1kg loss, or any loss at all, is wonderful. I have been sticking to healthy eating in the week and all the exercise I've been doing is rewarding me with an overall weight loss anyway.

This shows that if I stick with my diet during the weekends as well, I can really shed the pounds fast enough. But if I do cheat in the weekends, it'll be OK too. That last part is really important to me, because I want to be able to cheat now and then. As long as the number on the scale goes down, it's all good. That being said, I hope I'll be able to stick to healthier eating in the weekend as well, just for my general well being. A cheat day once every two weeks sounds good to me.