My challenge

My diet this week was ruined by Valentine’s Day. Candy giving holidays and diets just do not go hand in hand. Not to mention the fact that one of the holiday things we do with my son is bake cookies and cupcakes. So I have had a setback, I was down 4 lbs in January, and now I am back up 2 lbs. This gives me a total weight loss of 2 lbs since the beginning of the year, not really much to write home about huh.

I think all of the contributors on this blog each face unique challenges, not only are we in different places about how much we need to lose, but we all have different restrictions and hurdles to overcome. Here is one of the issues I am, and will, face with attempting to lose weight, and that is the fact that I am currently breastfeeding my 3 month old. (here is a shameless plug to get attention for my incredibly cute muffin)

From new mini

They – by which I mean some Doctors and common wisdom-, say that breastfeeding will help the weight fall right off. What “they” don’t tell you is that breast milk requires a larger amount of fat and protein to produce so some people DON’T lose those extra lbs, the body starts storing that fat for milk production. Current recommendations suggest you don’t try and lose more than 1 lb a week or it could affect your supply. Also that you exercise in moderation, because burning too much fat too fast could also affect supply. So here I am stuck in Limbo land. The lbs aren’t melting off, and how do you find that balance between losing too much and not enough?

So I am going to set a few goals this week

- Drink more water- this is a standard goal for me every week and I never manage to follow though.

- Work out, 20-30 minutes per day. We are still sold out of the Wii active in my area, but tomorrow should have them back in stock provided I can call early enough. I don’t know why I have it stuck in my head that this will be the way I can actually work out. I also bought a Mama and baby yoga DVD today at Target.

- - I am going to take “before” (and eventually “after” I hope!) pics and measurements. Depending on how self conscious I feel they may or may not make it into next week’s blog post. I think posting a before pic will be motivation to get rid of the fluff.

One of the things that has helped me to eat a little healthier at least is Meal planning. We all know that meal planning can help your budget, but I think it can also cut down on impulse eating. Have several meals planned out, the groceries ready to go in the fridge. You aren’t as likely to order a pizza or grab fast food on the way home if you have something waiting at home to be made. It also helps me buy those veggies if I have a plan for what to do with them rather than plunk them in the fridge and hope they get eaten. At least once per week I am going to do a vegetarian meal, this week a stir fry with brown rice. If it works out I’ll try and post the recipe.