A few thoughts

First of all, I want to address the elephant in this (albeit empty) metaphorical room: I have gotten boring and middle aged. 

I used to gossip about the multiple guys I was dating; now I regale you with stories about babies. I used to have a dramatic weight loss story (losing 90+ pounds) and now my weight loss goals are more modest. I used to drink a bottle of wine on an average Friday night, and now it's more like a glass. And so on.

And I know that, despite my new-found dullness, you're happy for me. Katie has grown up, you might think, and then you click to another page. Because unfortunately grown-up Katie is not nearly as interesting as crazy Katie. And you may be right. 

However, as interesting as my debauchery and dysfunction is to write about, it's more fun to be living a more stable life. I have fought, plotted, and tricked myself into turning into a "responsible" adult. As soon as the stick turned blue, that was it. I realized we needed all sorts of things. And so Nathan and I got serious about becoming conventional and we got all those annoying things--silverware, kitchen utensils, a backyard, a house, health care, etc. And now that we have two kids, we have things for them to destroy, haha.

Weight loss this time around is like fitting into an old soft t-shirt. I'm back down to 185--just 30ish pounds from my goal weight and some of my pre-pregnancy clothes are starting to fit again. It's wonderful, to say the least. Yes, I know that I still have a ways to go. And yes, I admit I did look up some bizarre "ketosis" diet at work today that promised a weight loss of 7 pounds a week. But I'm not going to bite. Fast weight loss is hardly weight loss at all. It's just a temporary high. I'm content with losing one pound a week, if it means that in 6-7 months, I'll truly have lost the weight. And if it's too painful to get to 150, I'll stop at 160 or wherever feels good. I'm not anxious to get to some arbitrary number--I just want to be happy in my own skin. 

Sunday Mornings

Weekend mornings with two babies under the age of two is fun, if not a lot a work :)

Caroline woke up first, as usual, at about 7:30, which wasn't so bad. Nathan and I went downstairs and divided and conquered--he made coffee and I fed Caroline a bottle. Then we hung out, drank coffee, watched a bizarre parade on television, and fed Caroline her breakfast--half a mushed banana and some rice cereal. Pretty soon, Caroline was ready for her morning nap and I went upstairs and folded some laundry, while Nathan straightened up the downstairs.

Then, I got hungry and made some oatmeal. I figured Olivia would be up soon so I made two servings of creamy banana oatmeal. If you're interested, the recipe is 3/4 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, a banana and a half, 2 tablespoons of raisins, and a dash of vanilla (7 points a serving) and Olivia loved it. She got oatmeal everywhere--in her hair, on her face, all over the high chair, but she had a blast.

Meanwhile, we are trying to sell our king-sized mattress from the guest room (because we just turned that into Caroline's bedroom). So the box springs were propped up in the dining room. My cat Fanny couldn't resist attacking them and they plopped on the dining room table, starting both Olivia and myself. Fanny, the little devil, ran away, and then Caroline woke up (of course).

So now we are all hanging out in the living room. Both babies are now in their diapers, playing on the floor. Olivia is going from place to place, knocking things over (not the box springs, thankfully). Nathan is playing a video game and Caroline is on her tummy, rolling back and forth over the blankets, while keeping her eyes glued on Olivia.

I'm trying to work up the energy to look for my computer charger, make a grocery list, and get in some much needed exercise for the day. I am quite proud of myself this week, because I haven't touched any of my Weekly Points. On the other hand, my exercise has been non-existent. People are starting to comment on my weight loss so far (just about 10 pounds since WW but about 45 pounds since being pregnant with Caroline).

Now, Olivia is trying to yank to cord out of the tv, so I'm going to grab her. Happy Sunday everyone.

Weekly Weigh In

The verdict for this week (week 5 of restarting Weight Watchers) is down 0.6. 

Here is a recap of my weigh ins so far:

Week 1: 200.6

Week 2: 196.8

Week 3: 194.4

Week 4: 191.4

Week 5: 190.4

Week 6: 189.8

Total Loss: 10.8

Thoughts? Not bad so far. I definitely feel ten pounds lighter, and that's awesome. Yesterday, I chased Olivia around the kitchen and I didn't feel winded at all. And over the weekend, I helped Nathan move the king size bed out of the guest room and I felt stronger than I used to. My clothing size has dropped from a 16/extra large to a size 14/large.

Overall, I'm really satisfied with what I'm eating--except for my work lunches. I've been buying flat out wraps and filling them with turkey, cheese and hummus, but they are both not tasty and not filling. I need to find new ideas for lunches, and I'd like to eat more vegetables with lunch, as well. Any thoughts? Maybe a homemade turkey chili or white bean/chicken chili. 

This week will be a new challenge because I've stopped breastfeeding and I'm going down to 30 points a day. I'll have to make some adjustments to my menu to make that work. Also, I really lagged on the workouts last week, only getting in one "real" workout of 30 minutes on the elliptical. The other workout involved heavy duty cleaning for three hours. 

I've noticed that saying I'm going to workout three times doesn't seem to do a lot of good. I find ways to avoid working out, thinking I'll work out the next day, until it's Monday evening and it's impossible to catch up. I need to schedule my workouts like appointments with myself and actually keep them.

Plan for this week:

Tuesday: Work out at home with Nathan after work for 30 minutes

Wednesday: Work out in the gym downstairs

Thursday: Out of town for work

Friday: Out of town for work

Saturday: Workout tape in the AM

Sunday: Rest/Clean

Monday: Work out in the gym downstairs

Other goals:

1. Drink more water. Drink 5 glasses of water a day.

2. Do not skip meals. Ever. (I've been doing that pretty frequently for the past week or so)

3. Eat a fruit and/or vegetable with every meal.

Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!

Well...Hello Again

Hello again. It's been more than two years and I'm just now getting back to my blog. How I've missed it! I forgot how wonderful it was to share with a community of people, ramble freely about the stuff in my head, and have a place to write (and a group to write to!).

Is it too late? Do I need to start a new blog?

We shall see. In the meantime, let me fill you in. Nathan and I got married in August 2012, and we had a baby in January 2013. Her name is Olivia and she continually amazes me. And then when we were just adjusting to having one baby, we had another. Her name is Caroline and she is incredibly sweet. We are living and working in Woodbridge, VA--a town infinitely less cool than my old Richmond haunt. But oh well. We have a three-bedroom townhouse and a washer and dryer. And with two children under the age of two, we don't get out much anyhow.

Life is radically different for me with a husband and kids, and yet it isn't. I still watch Gilmore Girls (whenever I can steal the remote from Nathan), I still cuddle my two cats, and I still enjoy my ice cream and wine. Life is good. Nathan and I still manage to go out every so often to hear music and grab a few gin and tonics, but mostly we like to stay in and enjoy the fun (and insanity) of our two girls.

So, getting down to the business of weight loss. Somehow, despite two pregnancies, I never reached my highest weight of 240. With Caroline (my gigantic 9-pounder) I reached a peak pregnancy weight of 232. Five months later, I am doing Weight Watchers and am back at 190. I still have 30-40 pounds to lose. I'm aiming for 160 this time, but we shall see. There is no rush to lose the weight, and I'm going to strive to do this WW thing the right way--e.g., incorporate exercise, eat all my points, and get in my Good Health Guidelines. I've come to the realization that my weight loss journey may never end, and I'm okay with that.

Also, I added some photos on the Photos Page of my blog :)