vacation FAIL

i know in my last post i said how i was down a size and able to wear all these cool clothes that mom gave me...

so why, in today's weigh-in, do i weigh 4 lbs more than i did this time two weeks ago?

must be home cookin'.

down a size!

i've been a size 18 for as long as i can remember.

well, not as long as i remember. i clearly remember being a beautiful size 14 or 16, even down to a 12.

i'm no longer an 18.

i'm visiting my mother, and if you can remember, she's lost a ton of weight on weight watchers. i can give you her details, because i am pretty sure she's proud of where she's at. at her heaviest, she was a size 22/24. she now wears a 14. i'm so proud of her. well, since she's been losing weight, she has a lot of clothes that don't fit her. as she's giving me a lot of size 16 pants and shorts, i'm hesitant to even try them on because i know i'm an 18. it's all i have at home.

i tried them on.

they fit.

i got two skirts, two pair of shorts (i don't even remember the last time i wore shorts!!), and two pair of capris. and i feel skinny and beautiful in all of them. we're even the same size top now, so we've been sharing clothes all week. she loaned me one of her bras to try today, and while we were out shopping, we bought one of those for me. i feel skinnier for the first time in a long time. it's one thing for people to tell you you look like you're losing weight, it's another to begin to feel skinny.

however, i'm with kyrstin now, as i was just measured for my wedding dress. that's right, it's all official now. i'm engaged as of monday! so, although losing weight for a wedding is a great motivation for most people, i'm going to be trying to tone but maintain my weight at around this 190-mark. especially since my dress is being handmade for me here in pittsburgh, and i won't get another chance for a fitting until shortly before the wedding.

additionally, my engagement ring is too big. i'd rather it be too big than too small, because at least i can wear it with a ring guard to size it until we can get it resized. thing is, chris used a ring to size me in about december, a ring that used to fit on that finger before i lost the weight :-) so now it's too big because even my fingers are smaller. i love it.

oh, the ring is beautiful, too.

When in Rome...well , Holland anyway.

I haven't been posting the last few weeks because I am out of the country visitig family. My parents, sister and grands all live in the Netherlands and I try to make the trip once a year or so. We are having a wonderful time here spending time with my family. One of my goals when the blog was first started was to take this trip in normal -read "not maternity" - clothes. I am happy to report I was sucessful in that, although I do have a few maternity top with me because they are comfy and not because they are the only things that fit.

I will confess, I am not stickig to my diet. My mom is cooking my favorites and I am goin back for second helpings. I am eating more of the foods I miss in th US in quantities I am ashamed to admit. For this month I will accept the consequences. I know I could skip the second helping and possibly even lose weight on vacation. I haven't yet found the willpower for that.

An intersting aspect of the trip is that being here involves a lifestyle change. While I am eating more of my favorites that also involves a lot more fresh and local foods from the market. We have cut out virtually all fast food. I still drink soda, but it has real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. And, we WALK. My sister's house is 7 minutes away, walking at a brisk pace pushing a stroller. Groceries and other shopping, a solid 15 minutes. My mom's house is 3 stories and the staircases are steep. The guest room is on the third floor so Forgetting your socks involves a minor workout.

Together this means that, while I am taking in more calories I think they are better in terms of quality. I also burn more just in my daily life. I understand all the statistics about Americans being more overweight because here while it is possible to make those bad health decisions, it is far easier to make good ones.

This is definitely something I have always known but the past few months on this blog have made me far more conscious of the health decisions I am making both for myself and o my family. My husband is currently at hone trying to change some habits and make better decisions as well. Hopefully this month away will help break some of my poor health habits and I can keep up with the new ones I have learned here.

I would like to appologize for any weird typos, I wrote this entire blog by iPhone, awesome device but the autocorrect can be a bit wonky and does t allow for proofreading.

Weight Loss

I experienced a 20+ pound weight loss over the past week due to this little guy:


Since everyone has been gutsy and posted their weight, I guess I shall now that I've given birth.

According to my home scale, I'm down to 190. I was up to over 210 during the height of pregnancy (I never did get an official highest number because I sort of quit looking at the scales at the doctor's office at the end). My pre-pregnancy weight was 165, which is still too high for my height. At this point, getting down to that is my goal but I'd like to eventually go beyond that and get to at least 140 or lower.

I had a C-section so I can't really do much exercise right now but I'd like to start taking the baby for walks in the stroller. I'm moving around fairly well considering the major abdominal surgery I just had. I also have two baby carriers and hope to be able to do plenty of housework in the coming weeks when I feel comfortable wearing him around. And he's a clingy baby, so I'm glad I have the carriers or I might not get anything done.

My appetite decreased tremendously during my recovery. Of course I was starving after delivery due to going through 19 hours of labor but it has taken awhile to want to eat a decent meal. However, now that we're home, we have people dropping off rich, fatty meals for us. It won't last forever and I need the calories since I'm nursing, but I need to find a way to do better with my eating.

Anyway, isn't this a precious way to lose weight? :)

A month!

So, we are a month away from my wedding day and also a month away from when I can yet again start losing weight. I'm yo-yo-ing about 5 pounds right now, depending on the day or two. It's frustrating, because I'm so close to that first goal! But I'm holding strong so that wedding dress won't be too big!

I guess I don't know much, but just wanted to let everyone know that I'm thinking about you and your goals and struggles! Keep up the good work ladies! I'll be back in the game June 13th! :-)

no photo day

i apologize.
i am not posting a picture today.
i gained a pound in two weeks.

i'm super upset! well, it's not like i made any conscious effort to lose weight over the past two weeks. and i'd probably gained more with my overnight trip to arkansas (aka junk road-trip food), then lost some of it in the last week? that's what i'm telling myself at least.

of course, today i brought a change of clothes and my gym shoes. i fully intend on going to the gym today after work. i apologize in advance to the people who have to sit next to me on the bus and train, as it's quite likely i won't shower after i work out.

meh.

Sometimes, there's just no will power...

which really sucks.  I have tried to be a good girl over the last 2 days, but haven't had the will power to do so.  My WeightWatchers meeting on Thursday was all about getting your head in the right place to lose the weight.  Most days, Im in the zone.  I lost 4.6lbs last week, which is an excellent loss.  I was very pleased that my hard work & dilligence paid off.
I wish I had some encouraging words or that "go get 'em" attitude, but I don't right now.  All I know is this, I must not give up, must keep pushing on.  If I have a bad day or 2, I must get back up on the wagon and keep pushing ahead.  It's the only way to get the weight off.  So, until next week...keep on rolling...