Project Momma: 8 weeks

Yep, I gained a pound. I woke up this morning and had to feed my baby.  I drank some water and then weighed myself.  I was kind of bummed and even weighed myself about five times to make sure that the scale was balanced.  My first thought was "Man.  I shouldn't have had the goal for ten treats. I should have cut them out."  I was getting ready to go for a run, so as I left, I had a major realization.  I didn't really gain a pound.

a) My baby slept through the night and I definitely did not feed her everything.
b) I had just had at least 8 oz. of water (half of a pound)
c) It is the beginning of my time of the month (definitely stored water weight)

Sorry, if this is TMI, but it's the truth.

After thinking this through, I felt soooo much better.  But then I was mad at myself.  I let myself do what I have always told people not to do, I put my success in the scale.  Which was so dumb, mostly because of the reasons I just listed, but also because I had had the best week yet.  Weight will fluctuate and that's life.  I want to really base my weekly success on the things that I have 100% control over which are the goals that I have made and I did pretty darn good.

Food Goals:
I had ten and half treats this week.  Don't laugh at my "half", but it's true and I am being true to myself.  I only had half a serving of a treat left (let's say 2 bites of cake) on Sunday, but I enjoyed a whole piece and I was totally okay with that.  I had cut my treats in half from what I had eaten the week before and I had turned down things that I didn't want because I knew that "it wouldn't be worth one of my ten."

I had five days of five fruits and veggies which I believe is a new record.  And it's actually getting easier, sometimes going beyond five servings.

I am going to keep these same goals for this coming week.  It was a good stretch for me.

Fitness Goals:
I worked out five days this week, even when it wasn't easy, I made it work.  I also discovered how much harder it was to do my same 3-mile route, but backwards.  My gradual downhill became my gradual uphill which was not very easy, but a good challenge.  I even added 1/2 a mile today and it felt really good.

I held a plank for 1:09 and did five push-ups on my toes.  The range of motion might not have been great on my push-ups, but I'll take it.

Selfie:

I decided that I didn't need a sweaty spandex selfie this week in my kids' dirty bedroom.  I wanted to prove that I do actually get ready and do my hair every once in a while.  Molly Baby received a blessing from her Daddy at church yesterday and it was a very special day.  As Lucy would say, she got to wear her "wedding dress." It was fun to have family in town and spend time with people we love.

Spiritual Moment:
I was reading the Book of Mormon the other day and I read in Enos about the Nephites and Lamanites.  The Lamanites often lived off of only raw meat, but the Nephites had flocks, and fields, and lots of good food, but they had to work for it.  I thought about how it was so indicative of how people today often expect results.  There are a lot of people who say, "I'm hungry.  I'm going to go hunting."  So they do, they eat what they caught and they fed their hunger.  They still had to work a little for it, and it solved their problem.  (Might I add that they didn't even take the time to cook it).

However, there are other people who say, "I'm hungry.  I'm going to solve that problem the most effective way possible and acheive the best solution for me."  So they plant seeds, and raise flocks, and work really really hard for a long time.  Their solution comes from hard work, but they end up with a huge variety of good, healthy food that will be better for them in the end.  

I want to be the kind of person who will achieve the best end result, even if I don't see much change now.  I know that I am leading the kind of life that will result in weight loss and I am doing it in a way that will be healthy for my mind and my body.  I don't beat myself up.  I love food and allow myself to eat it, but I give my body the good food that it needs and deserves.

I also watched the General Women's Broadcast last night because I wasn't able to watch it on Saturday.  It was amazing, and I cried.  I even took notes which I haven't done in a long time.  If you didn't get a chance to watch it, I really recommend it.  I loved watching the whole thing with the musical numbers, but there are a few different links to watch just parts of it or a quick summary of their talks.

Individual Talks
Summary Page

I am so thankful for leaders who can help us know how to raise our family in a world with declining values.  Families are the most important priority in this life.  I know I don't always live my life that way, but my goal is to live knowing that family is more important than anything else.

I am really excited for Easter weekend and General Conference.  We get to listen to a prophet of God and his apostles as well as other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They truly are inspired men and women who help us come closer to Christ.  This Saturday and Sunday, April 4th and 5th 9:00 am-11:00am Pacific and 1:00pm-3:00pm Pacific.  Log onto lds.org live or watch it later.  I am always inspired to be better.

And you better believe that I save some of my ten treats for my vanilla pudding sticky buns that I make on General Conference weekend.  If you come watch it with me, I promise I'll save you some. :)

Project Momma: 7 weeks

This week started off okay, but by Friday I was ready to just call it and start over on Monday.  Then I realized, "I have three days left.  Why would blow those three good days?"  I rebooted my determination and had an awesome weekend.  I had gone two days without recording anything and then had three straight days of meeting my main goals.  Now time to step it up!  

Selfie:

Molly wanted to be part of the picture this week.  It was a bad time of day and only got my silhouette and all the dirty smears on the mirror.  Oh yeah, and I always coordinate my shirt and shoes.

Weight: 172 pounds (another pound down!)

Food goals:
I had four good days of eating five servings of my fruits and veggies (including the three days over the weekend.  Good thing I didn't let the week go once I had a few bad days!)

I haven't made any goals regarding my "treats" intake other than just writing down all the sweets that I eat.  I have regretted some, but enjoyed most of them.  And then I realized, wow.  I eat a lot of sweets.  They are a weakness, especially chocolate.  I often want one after lunch and then after the kids go to bed.  Also occasionally in the afternoon.  So that obviously adds up.  I also count servings, not just moments.  For instance: my large bowl of ice cream is definitely 2 treats because a serving of ice cream is only 1/2 a cup.  If you can only eat a 1/2 cup of ice cream and be done, more power to ya.  I'm not there yet.

However, I am making a more specific goal for this week for my treats. In addition to writing them down, I am limiting myself to (don't judge me) 10 treats this week.  Considering that this week was about 20, I think that's a pretty good goal.  If you haven't kept a food log before, it is pretty eye-opening.  I would have never thought about the fact that I often had four or five treats in a day, but all those handfuls of candy, each cookie you eat that you baked (including spoonfuls of cookie dough), yep, it all adds up.

My other reason for making this 10-treat week goal is the importance of feeling successful.  The first week I started this project, I didn't get a single day of eating the five servings of fruits and veggies.  Now that I am meeting that goal most days of the week and it's more a part of my lifestyle, I want to focus on the next big milestone.  I have started feeling successful and that is huge.  As a piano teacher, a former personal trainer, and a mom, I can testify how important it is for a person to feel successful when they are tackling a hard task.  When someone feels like they have failed, it can be detrimental to their future goals.  Once they set those goals again, or similar ones, they will remember the failure they experienced and may have a negative attitude, even if it's subconsciously.

I know that I could go a week without eating a treat if I really really wanted to.  I also know that I would feel really deprived for a day or two, then it would get easier.  I think my past record is eight or nine days without treats.  However, I also know that I could not live my life that way forever.  At least not right now.  I want to set goals that I can achieve and PROGRESS to my ultimate goal which is to be a happier and healthier momma, not just a hot momma.  :)  Maybe we'll eventually get to that point of one or two treats a week, but I'm not ready for that yet.  And I'm okay with that.  It's all about progress, and I'm happy with the progess I've made so far.

Fitness:
I ran 3 miles a couple of times this week and it actually felt easier.  I used my new running shoes which was like "Christmas in a Box," (borrowing a tagline from my friend when I posted how excited I was to get them).  I also did some videos a couple of times.  My butt was sore for three days.  I had done the same workout with the same weight, but I tried to squat lower to where my knees are almost at 90 degrees.  And I was suuuuuper sore.  It can be the little changes that make a difference.

Spiritual Moment: 
I actually caught up to my Old Testament reading schedule, however, I want to be reading the Book of Mormon more consistently.  I heard my little 2-year-old singing "I am a Child of God" yesterday.  I figure that even if I don't feel like I'm doing everything I should be, I must be doing a few things right.

My goal this week is to read the Book of Mormon every day and listen to or watch the Women's Conference this Saturday as part of the General Conference coming up.  So excited for those semi-annual battery charging weekends.

Here's to feeling successful and not giving up after a few bad days.

Project Momma: 6 Weeks

I just polished off a bowl of Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge ice cream.  And I don't feel guilty, you can want to know why?  It was really, really good.  I discovered a while ago that it's totally worth buying the good ice cream at the store for $4.99 instead of the "okay" ice cream for $2.50.  I savored every bite and did not feel deprived.  It's something I learned about years ago while reading Intuitive Eating.  Anyone that has heard me teach or talk about healthy eating in the last 10 years has heard plenty about this book.  I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I enjoyed my ice cream tonight for a couple of reasons.  I lost a pound this week.  :)  I met my goal of eating five fruits and vegetables today (and four other days this week), and the ice cream was really, really good.

Here are my results for this week:

Selfie:

Well, my kids' room wasn't as clean as last week, but I'm over that.  And is it just me, or are these pictures less flattering than last week? It's probably because their room is a mess.  And I'm over it.

Food Goals:
Like I mentioned, I did much better this week in eating my fruits and vegetables.  I met my goal for five servings of fruits and veggies four days this week, which is much better than NONE last week.  I felt so much better too.  When looking for a snack I pulled out a pear or apple.  I added strawberries and banana to other foods.  I even went out to dinner with some friends and ordered a side of broccoli at Old Spaghetti Factory because I knew I wouldn't meet my goal otherwise.  And you know what?  I enjoyed it (broccoli with mizithra is pretty good) and I ate less pasta than I would have.  More for later, right?

Here's an issue I have with my fruits and veggies goal.  I have this thing with eating the same food twice in the same day.  My husband makes fun of me for it all the time, but if I had a banana in the morning, there is no way I will eat another banana later on that day.  It's good though, because eating a variety of fruits and vegetables (especially a variety of colors) provides more of a variety of vitamins and minerals than if you were to eat three apples and two carrots or something like that.
With this dilemma, I am left with very little choices at the end of the week when I need to go to the grocery store.

Here are some of the things that help me meet this goal.

1. When I am hungry, look for a way that I can get in a fruit or vegetable serving with some protein.  (ie: apple with string cheese, greek yogurt with grapes, banana and chocolate peanut butter, etc.)

2. Rather than trying to eat five different fruits and veggies, I just take twice as much as I usually would, especially with veggies.  For instance, tonight, I steamed some broccoli with our salmon and rice.  Half of my plate was broccoli, so I ate less rice than I probably would have and I easily got in two servings of broccoli (a serving is 1/2 cup of cooked veggies).

3.  Buy more fruits and veggies than you might otherwise.  With my husband's daily smoothies and my new goal, we plow through produce like you wouldn't believe.  Our kids love it too.  So, I always try to have a bunch of frozen veggies and fruits like apples that seem to never go bad so that by the end of the week we still have choices if all the fresh stuff is gone.

Cardio:
I only went running once this week, but I ran three miles!  It was super hard, I'm not gonna lie, but I did it in about a half hour. (Still about a 10-minute mile, but I'm working on distance too). And I seriously squeezed it in.  I woke up a 8:00am, (yeah, we still haven't adjusted to Daylight Savings, judge me later), fed my baby and ran from 8:15 until 8:45 and got back just in time to take my daughter to Joy School at 9:00.  It would have been sooooo easy to put it off, but I did it and felt so good afterwards.

I also did a few of my videos throughout the week and I'm starting to feel more like myself.  I held a plank for a minute this week and did two whole push-ups on my toes. Baby steps.  Remember my goals are a 3-minute plank and twenty push-ups.  I still have quite a ways to go.

Spiritual Moment:
I love reading the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon for my daily scripture studies.  I am making so many connections between the stories I'm learning about the Children of Israel in the Old Testament and the Nephites who came from Jerusalem themselves.  I actually understand more background and receive more insights as well as questions as I'm reading.  It's pretty cool.

I only watched one conference talk this week, but I am so excited to hear the prophet and apostles speak again in a couple of weeks.  We are blessing our baby at the end of the month and then we can enjoy an Easter/ General Conference weekend the next week.  That's pretty awesome.

Side Note:
I have talked to quite a few friends who are following my Project Momma and making their own goals along with me.  I LOVE IT!  I feel so good knowing that I am encouraging people to make changes to better themselves.  I would love to hear about it if you are doing the same.  If you don't feel comfortable leaving comments here or on Facebook, PM me, text me, email me, whatever!  It's all about social support when we work on goals.  (And let's not forget accountability).  I'm pretty sure that after I found out how many people were really reading this, I was a lot more determined to meet my goals.  I'll do the same for you!  Good luck this week!

Project Momma: The Starting Point: 5 weeks

My baby is 5 weeks old and I'm feeling pretty humbled posting these, but that's my point in doing this.  No Shame. 

Selfie: 

 

I apologize for the cluttered background, but my kids' room was the best place to take it.  At least it was clean...

 

Weight: 174 lbs.

 

Cardio: I didn't actually time myself, but I ran just under 2 miles in about 20 minutes. 

However, I exercised 5 days this week.  I did workouts in my living room a few times and ran a 2-mile run a few times with some push-ups and planks afterwards.  I also went to a class at the gym on Saturday for the first time since having my baby.  It was really fun to see gym friends, and it totally kicked my butt, but it was AWESOME!  There's just something about being in a room with a lot of people who have the same goal you do, with great music and tons of energy.  Needless to say it was a way better workout and way more fun than doing it in my living room. 

 

Strength: 1 pushup on my toes (I do not have the core strength to do many more) and 30-second plank

 

Diet: My goal is to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day and limit sugar intake.  So rather than keep an entire food log (which is really bothersome and hard to do) I decided to at least write down the fruits and vegetables that I eat to track my 5 servings, and then write down the treats that I eat to hold myself accountable. 

 

This week was kind of a trial run with a few of my goals and I came up with a few conclusions:

1. Keeping a food log sucks.  Even if I'm not writing down everything I'm eating, it is hard to remember to write them.  And I think I'll remember what I ate and write it down later, but I never remember. I actually wrote my thesis in graduate school about keeping a log.  It was a physical activity log, not a food log, but I still learned that most people will often think they did better than they really did.  This week, I basically kept a log for 2 days and then forgot a couple of days, then just didn't care the rest of the week.  The days I didn't write down were not as successful.   

 

2.  It's really hard to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.  We all remember the Food Guide Pyramid we learned in elementary school.  You need 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 of vegetables.  That seems do-able, right?  Well, I'm taking the low end of that recommendation and I still can't do it.  I pretty much means you need to eat one serving at every meal and every snack.  If I miss one, then I need to eat 2.  I didn't meet my goal any day last week. I guess I need to work on that.  Oh yeah, and I learned that Mexican food doesn't really has many fruits or vegetables.  And I eat something like that almost every day.  Hmmm.

 

3. It's not easy to fit in a workout. I knew this already, but before I had my baby it was just part of my daily routine.  After going nearly 3 months without having my workout be a consistent part of my schedule, it is really hard to get back into the habit.  For instance, this morning, I slept in. (Dang Daylight Savings).  Then I had to feed my baby.  Then I had to take my daughter to Joy School.  However, my trick is to get dressed in workout clothes.  Then I feel obligated to at least do something.  Well, I ended up doing an entire class in my living room, but didn't have time to take a shower before running to Costco in time to pick up my daughter at noon.  Well, I'd rather be smelly at Costco then not workout. 

 

4. I eat a lot of treats. I don't know about you, but I feel like I need a treat after lunch, as a snack, and then after dinner.  I know I have already cut back because now I am eating more consciously, but I still have a lot more to cut out. 

 

Spiritual Moments:  I read every day this week.  I am almost 300 pages into the Old Testament and I love it.  I feel like I understand the books of Moses better than I ever have.  I follow bofm365 on Instagram and read as soon as I see their post.  With as much sitting as I do while feeding my newborn, I actually have plenty of time to read scriptures when I read them on my phone.  However, I need to figure out how to fit in listening to Conference talks. 

 

This is my baseline.  A good place to start, but a lot of room for improvement!  Let's make this week better!  I would love to read your comments about goals you have and setbacks or successes that you see as well.  Thanks for reading and holding me accountable! 

Losing the Baby Weight: Project Momma

Many moms struggle to lose weight after they have a baby.  You are taking care of a baby and possibly other young children, how do you have time to exercise and plan good snacks and meals?  Not to mention sleep, drink water, make green smoothies, do yoga, oh yeah, and stay sane.  I haven't been keeping up on my blog recently because, well, I have a newborn.  I get it. 

I also have an energetic 2-year-old and a 4-year-old going on 12.  

 

 

And I gained 40 pounds during my pregnancy.  No big deal.

 

Needless to say, I stay pretty busy with these three, and I love being a mom.  I don't work full-time, just a couple of part-time "mom jobs." In fact, I never work more than 10 hours a week, which is pretty awesome.  Let's be honest, my family is really lucky to have that luxury since few families, especially those who live in SoCal can afford to have a parent stay at home.  I can do my "momma thing" full-time, teach piano and gym classes here and there, and still have some "me time." Although that "me time" is usually from 8-10 pm and consists of eating a bowl of cereal and watching episodes of Parenthood on Netflix. But hey!  I'll take it! 

 

Project Momma

Okay, so what is Project Momma?  I am going to post weekly updates on my "Project" including selfies, weight, fitness measures (cardiovascular and strength), food goals, and other thoughts. I'll consider questions like: What helped me this week?  What were my setbacks? How have I improved?  Have I hit a plateau? I want to hold myself accountable to work on being a healthier, happier momma.  That means eating more fruits and veggies and less sugar, exercising regularly, making spiritual moments, and just taking better care of myself and my three littles.   

 

Until Now

I was still able to work out quite a bit while I was pregnant.  I teach group fitness which definitely helps me stay in shape as long as possible through pregnancy.  I temporarily stopped teaching around 35 weeks (about 8 and a half months) into this third pregnancy and went for long walks with my double BOB jogging stroller to get in some exercise a few days a week until the baby came. 

 

Near the beginning of my pregnancies I feel pretty sick for about 6 weeks .  Like a lot of pregnant women, I am nauseated from day I pee on a stick until the first trimester is over.  I don't know why they call it morning sickness, it's pretty much morning/ afternoon/ and especially-evening sickness. I basically live off of Ramen noodles, Mac and Cheese, cereal, Taco Bell, and In N Out.  I gain quite a bit of weight because eating helps the nausea. 

 

Second and third trimesters were great with my last pregnancy.  It was awesome being pregnant during the holidays because I didn't feel guilty eating whatever sounded good.  I had plenty of treats and sweets from Thanksgiving through Valentine's day, but I still tried to eat healthier options whenever I could. I started having sciatica near the end of my pregnancy which is why I had to stop teaching my gym classes.  Doing weighted squats and dead-lifts probably isn't the best thing with shooting pains going through your sciatic nerves. 

 

I have gained about 40 pounds with each of my pregnancies.  It always freaks me out a little bit to see the scale inch its way up toward 200 pounds, so I have to remind myself that those 9 months are for my baby, not me.   

 

The Go-Ahead

Last week I had the follow-up with my doctor and he cleared me to exercise, YAHOOO!  It has felt so good to get my heart rate up and get sweaty again!  Although it was slow, running my first two miles on Saturday felt almost as good as finishing my marathon a year ago. 

 

Although I can exercise, my doctor did warn me about staying hydrated and eating enough calories since I am breastfeeding my baby.  He said breastfeeding requires about 500 extra calories and plenty of water.  (Good, so that justifies the 2 chocolate chip cookies I just ate...) All kidding aside, it's important not to try to lose too much weight too fast if I want to keep my milk supply rich and plentiful for my little one. 

 

My Goals

I have 25 pounds to go until I reach my consistent 147 pound pre-baby weight.  Yes, that's right, I have just told everyone exactly how much I weigh.  I'm over it.  It's just a number, but I do know that I feel good at that number, so that's my goal.  (Note that it was the number I felt good at before getting pregnant, not while I was in high school).

 

Exercising is not hard for me to make time for, I LOVE it, that's why it's my job.  However, in not working out for the last three months, I can really understand why moms don't do it.  I have had SO MUCH TIME TO DO OTHER THINGS! I used to spend every morning at the gym and having those every 2 hours every day is a big deal when you have three kids.  I also haven't been getting my good 7 hours of sleep every night, so that makes it tough to get up early and go for a run. 

 

I am a pretty health conscious eater.  I don't eat a lot of fast food, and I try to eat good proteins, fruits and vegetables, etc.  But I'm going to tell you a secret.  I don't like smoothies.  I know.  How can I call myself a Fitness and Wellness expert and not like smoothies???!!! Unless it's made of chocolate and peanut butter, I'm not a fan.  This is why it's tough to get in a lot of fruits and veggies.  I would rather eat my food than drink it.  I'm sorry I haven't jumped on the smoothie bandwagon (my husband loves them and we even have a Vitamix).  There you go, I'm not the perfect fitness professional. 

 

There's no point in being healthy physically if you don't feel good spiritually and emotionally.  This year I made the goal to read the entire Standard Works (Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price) by the end of the year.  I have kept up better than I thought I would have with the reading schedule I got from Motivated Mamas, and it has been really neat to read through the Old Testament.  I have never done that before and I understand a lot more than I thought I would have.  Although it's been tough since my baby came, making spiritual moments every day is just as important to my health as exercise.   

 

Weekly posts:

Selfie: Probably my most vulnerable goal, but that's why I'm making myself do it. 

Weight: 147 lbs. by August 1st (this is realistic people, not Biggest Loser style)

Cardio: Run a mile in under 7 minutes/ 10k (6.2 miles) under 50 minutes (also something I have accomplished before, but there is no way I could do that right now).

Strength: 20 push-ups on my toes without stopping and a 3-minute plank

Diet: Eat 5 fruits and vegetables every day and limit sugar intake (not sure if I want to make a specific goal or not on sugar, that's my weakness...)

Spiritual Moments:  Read scriptures every day to finish the standard works by the end of the year as well as a few General Conference talks every week.

 

As a Fitness and Wellness professional,  I often had clients tell me that I didn't understand what they were going through because I had never had to lose weight before.  Well, here's 25 pounds and Project Momma.