Pour less sugar on me

Um, hi.

Yes. I went missing there for a while. And yes, I totally fell off the wagon. I tried to run alongside it for awhile, with every intention of hopping back on as soon as possible. But I stopped for a minute. Probably to buy a cookie. And it took off without me.

As most of you know from my slightly bitter Facebook posts, we are in teething hell over here. It feels like it's been going on forever! Her top teeth (or side teeth or back teeth or ALL of her teeth) are giving my poor, sweet girl a really hard time. Which makes everything hard. And while I was soothing her with medication, cuddles and non-stop nursing, I soothed myself with treats.

And I don't know about you guys, but I'm an all-or-nothing kind of a girl. Either I am fully committed to eating well or I am making a beeline for the nearest pastry.

But then the ground shifted a little. (Under me, not Vivi's teeth, unfortunately.)

It started with the adult swim class that I took a few weeks ago. It was nine one-hour lessons spread over two weeks. Yes, I already had the swimming basics down pat, from my childhood lessons, but I've never known how to do very many different strokes or how to put my face in the water. I'd like to swim for fitness, so I figured this would give me the tools and the confidence to do so.

Well, about halfway through the lessons, while still indulging in many a sweet craving, I hopped on the scale and was down a couple of pounds.

Huh!

Then I had a little epiphany out of the blue. Imagine what would happen if I shelved the sweet tooth for a while? I had recently noticed how awful my beloved sugar was making me feel, both physically (headachy, lethargic) and mentally (moody, short-tempered). So what if I cut WAY back?

Well, it's been almost two weeks and I'm happy to report that the scale is currently at 166.5 lb. I've given up my nightly frozen yogurt (which has been my tradition for YEARS) for a smoothie, which is totally satisfying. (Finally bought an immersion blender and am currently having a bit of a love affair with it.) I'm still having treats here and there, rather than several times a day, and I'm not counting for now. Counting points was just one more thing on my currently long list of things to juggle.

Amazingly, I didn't feel any drastic withdrawal feelings and I'm not crazy with cravings at all.

We'll see how far this takes me!

More celebrity mom inspiration:

Aaaaaand... we're back!

Okay, I know that hitting the reset button on a Monday morning is horribly cliché. But clichés exist for a reason. Monday seems like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start!

I made it to the gym this morning after a week off last week. Felt hard, but good.

The gym is having an interesting effect on me. You know how people who lose a lot of weight often say that they still think of themselves as heavy? Well, all the mirrors at the gym are reminding me of the extra weight I'm carrying! We only have a couple of mirrors actually hung in our house at this point (yes, still moving in) and the image of myself that I carry around with me is the pre-pregnancy one. So I am extra motivated to get moving.

Daily target: 32
Daily total: 36
Activity earned: 6
Flex points bank: 35

Wee break

Okay, I know I'm only two weeks in and I don't want to lose my momentum, but I'm putting the plan on the back burner. Just for a couple of days. I've got a bit of a perfect storm happening, with a cranky teething child who won't nap, helping my bestie out with childcare for her kids, and, well, woman troubles. If you catch my drift.

I know lots and lots and LOTS of women deal with much more difficult situations than I'm experiencing. They are awesome. I am just tired.

And sometimes fatigue requires a piece of chocolate chip banana bread.

Two weeks down

Okay, no time for a proper post! More soon.

Sunday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: 39
Flex points bank: 22

Monday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: ?? (Yes, I got sort of lax.)

Second week weigh-in: 170
DOWN 1.5 lbs

Total loss: 4 lbs!

The boy from Oz

I am in love.



I'm not usually prone to celebrity worship. But after seeing Hugh Jackman's stage show this past week, I might consider becoming a groupie and stalking him full-time. Sure, it'll be awkward with Viv strapped to my back. And the Husband may not particularly like my new found purpose in life. (Although he'll totally understand! In fact, he predicted that I would fall for the Aussie after seeing him live onstage.)

But I can't help myself! He was so spectacular!! I laughed, I cried, I screamed (although not nearly as loud as a few of the women in the audience) and I gained a whole new respect for Wolverine. He sang "Soliloquy" from Carousel. It was absolutely beautiful. He told a few poignant tales from his life, but also poked fun at his Hollywood experiences. It was a really fantastic night out.

Too bad for the Husband that our second date night since Vivi was born ended with me lusting after another man...

Here's how the last few days have played out. It's been busy! (Vivi has screamed more in the last four days than in the past four months.)

Wednesday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: 32
Activity points earned: 7
Flex points bank: 34

Thursday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: 32
Flex points bank: 34

Friday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: 39
Activity points earned: 7
Flex points bank: 34

Saturday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: 37
Flex points bank: 29

And one more. Just 'cause.

Welcome to the jungle

Exhausting day! Managed to get the kid to nap for about 45 minutes total in the house and another 30 minutes while I was out walking. (Had a lovely, unexpected visit with a good friend today. Thank goodness for a reality touchstone!) I think she also snoozed a bit in the car on the way to and from my dentist appointment.

While I'm happy for every bit of sleep she gets, on the harder days it's difficult to not resent that she will only sleep in situations that don't allow ME to sleep. This fact is why new moms HATE the "sleep when the baby sleeps" advice. If only it were so easy!!

Currently she's back in her vibrating chair, in the living room. We're hoping it might knock her out and then we can transfer her to her crib. We tried putting it in her room, but that didn't go over well. Separation anxiety?

Anyway, despite the fact that I did not make it to the spinning class I was going to attend, it was a pretty good day.

Daily target: 32
Daily total: 33
Flex points bank: 34

More celebrity mom inspiration.


I totally think Reese and I would be friends, given the chance.

One week down!

Sorry! I went awol there for a little bit. It's just that Violet has suddenly decided a) to nurse A LOT, b) that her crib is a place of torture rather than a peaceful retreat, and c) that sleep is for the weak.

Yep. A trying couple of days around here. For about three months she's been happily sleeping in her crib for a few naps a day and from 6pm-ish to 6am-ish, only up once for a feeding and then right back down most nights. Sunday night we couldn't get her to sleep in her crib until 9:30pm. Last night it was 11pm, after an hour long walk, more than an hour of nursing, and lots and lots of screaming. And the only way she would nap yesterday was on my lap, after being nursed to sleep, or in the car.

Sigh.

Did I mention that the mornings after these trying nights she started her day at 5:30am?

Ugh. I am, once again, tired. Like, really tired. We think she's working on some more teeth and/or going through a growth spurt. All I know is that the awesome schedule I was accustomed to, where she would have 45 minute cat naps every two hours with little to no fuss, is gone. Time to figure out what to do now.

By 9am this morning, when she was clearly exhausted but not interested in being in her crib, I pulled out her vibrating chair. We had thought she was long done with it, preferring to wiggle and be free. It worked like a charm... for about a half an hour. I'll take what I can get!

Anyway, here's where we are with this challenge of mine.

Sunday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: 36
Flex points bank: 18

Monday
Daily target: 32
Daily total: ?? (Things kind of fell apart at the end of the day. Not that I went crazy at all, just that counting was no longer a priority.)
Activity earned: 2

First week weigh-in: 171.5
DOWN 2.5 lbs!

That's the right direction! And it motivates me not to eat everything in the house today, even though this fatigue wreaks havoc with my willpower.