I’m Back… And a Proud Mommy!

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post. A lot has happened in the 3+ years. I am happy to say I am now a proud mommy of a beautiful almost 8 month old baby girl! It took us 3 years, 2 miscarriages, 3 chemical pregnancies, a year of infertility appointments, tests, waiting, consults and then finally HELP. I had already figured out what the issue was [I had to have a ovary removed and ended up low on progesterone], but the doctor wouldn’t just write a Rx for what I knew I needed, I had to go through all the hoops, the tests – some painful, some horrible on the hormones – but even after all that, I’d do it all over again to have the same result!

Though, we are very blessed and grateful, the 3 years of ups and downs, pregnancies, losses, hormones and then an almost full term pregnancy [our baby girl decided she wanted out almost 6 weeks early!] and all the exhaustion and emotional “rollercoastering,” it took a toll on me and my body. I gained 15-20lbs before finally getting pregnant with her, and then gained another 40lbs while pregnant – most in the first trimester when I was exhausted and queasy and the only thing that made it go away was Twix bars. I kid you not. I was horrified, but when you feel that crappy 24/7, it’s easy to give in – and I did. UGH…

Needless to say, I have another uphill journey just to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, which was 15-20lbs above my ideal weight… which I never did get to before all this began. So, from where I am today, I have another 52lbs to go to get to my goal weight based on my body fat percentage [BFP] right now and where I want it to be. For me, 22% BF means 170lbs. I have a high lean body mass I guess. That’s fine. I don’t really care what my weight actually is. I’m more concerned with health, longevity and having the best body I can have.

“The Little Ovary That Could”

The Proof!

In my last post I mentioned that I was looking forward to posting about ‘primal pregnancy’ and didn’t think it would happen this quickly! We found out on Friday that we’re expecting! My husband was actually shocked and said, “REALLY??!! I didn’t think it would happen this fast…” Especially since I had an ovary removed earlier this year… and I’m 39. September was the first month we put a real effort into ‘trying’, too… We’re both really excited. After the initial shock wore off for my dear hubby, he came over, laughed and said, “It’s the little ovary that could, huh?” I can’t stop laughing every time I think about it.

I’m technically in my 5th week now, and so far, other than sore breasts and feeling a little tired, I haven’t had any nausea yet. I’m hoping it’ll stay that way, but it’s too soon to tell. I have had weird little things happen that tipped me off so by the time I got home last Friday, I was like a wild animal ripping open the box from amazon containing the at-home tests I’d ordered. When I saw the result, I couldn’t stop laughing and thinking, “I KNEW I wasn’t crazy!!!” It took a lot of control to NOT call my husband at work. I waited until he got home to show him the stick – and it took him a while to figure out what he was looking at. It was pretty funny.

So far, no weird cravings either – except that I can’t seem to get enough spicy food and beef jerky. Go figure. But I found a really great grass-fed, all natural one at Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s has all-natural beef jerky as well. I’ve also tried their buffalo, and by accident, turkey jerky. Which makes me laugh every time I say it. I have to admit, it wasn’t as bad as I’d have expected, but I prefer beef.

I have noticed that my digestion has changed and food sits in my stomach a lot longer [which is natural and happens throughout pregnancy], so I’ve had to consciously make sure to eat smaller portions so I don’t get heartburn. Before this I’d probably had heartburn 2 or 3 times in my LIFE – I’ve always had an iron stomach, so to have it 3 times in the last week was a shocker for me and made it easy to modify my behavior. I’d rather graze all day on smaller portions of primal-friendly food than feel like THAT. Blech…

So now I’m just focused on eating well and getting enough rest. I’ve never been a napper, but afternoon naps are happening more frequently. Other than that, there isn’t much else I can do. My first doctor’s appointment isn’t until November 4th, so for now it’s a waiting game. Other than having to pee all the time and having sore boobs, I don’t feel that pregnant. I know that’ll change soon enough…

Primal Thoughts

Primal Breakfast

This has been one of those years where life throws curveballs left and right, but somehow I’ve managed to get back on course each time. Whether it’s surgery with a painful month wait and then another painful month of recovery, or a month-long battle with the flu [probably thanks to all the antibiotics I was on before and after surgery], or family issues causing extra stress, 2013 has been a bitch. But it’s also been great. I’ve learned a lot about myself – like: I still have a knee-jerk need for comfort food when I’m in pain… Not working out for 4+ months makes me feel old and horrible… I really can rebound from just about anything.

I’m happy to report that I have my dad gung-ho on the Primal diet and he’s lost close to 40lbs in the last 3 months. I feel like every time I see him, he’s smaller. He’s inspired ME to get back at it 100%, and I have. For me, the scale doesn’t move so easily, but my clothes are not only fitting better but some bottoms are getting loose, which hasn’t happened in a while. I’m back to a regular exercise routine that I really enjoy and am getting stronger each week. I’m done with ‘chronic cardio’ and tough resistance workouts every other day. Here’s my current routine that is really working for me:

• I walk 3 miles at lunch with a coworker 5 days a week
• I ‘lift heavy things’ [LHT] twice a week – usually Sundays and then Wednesdays or Thursdays depending on my schedule
• I go on an extended 2 hour hike once or twice a week
• I do sprints on one of those hikes each week

I wear a Jawbone UP band [which I will post about separately because it’s worth it – I LOVE it!] that tracks my activity and sleep, and today it told me I’m in the top 10% of UP band users for activity level – and yet I don’t feel like I’m killing myself like I used to. I have more energy and feel stronger now than when I was doing ‘Turbo Fire’ or ‘Insanity’ cardio and lifting heavy 3x/wk.

Primal Observations: Sleep, Bug Bites & Allergies

It’s been about six weeks since I switched to Mark Sisson’s ‘Primal Blueprint‘ lifestyle and I’m starting to notice some interesting ‘coincidences’ – except that I don’t believe in coincidences.

First, I started to sit in the sun for an hour or so after work, weather permitting [this IS New England…], and I’ve noticed that on the days I get some sun, no matter whether I exercised or not, I sleep like a baby that night. I fall asleep quickly – and more importantly to me – I STAY asleep the entire night and wake up feeling refreshed. I don’t know if I’ve every written about it here, but normally I don’t fall asleep right away and I wake up many times throughout the night and generally get out of bed feeling exhausted, so this is a big deal to me. I don’t know if it’s because I have a vitamin D deficiency that getting some low-level sun after 4:45pm helps to restore, or if it’s allowing myself to relax and do nothing for an hour while being outdoors [though, I tend to read MDA or listen to talk radio while I’m out there, which sometimes isn’t relaxing, but I still sleep great regardless…]? I don’t really know, but I also don’t care. If it’s sunny out and warm enough for me to expose my legs and back to the sun for a while, I’ll be out there. I do cover my face, since I read that the skin on your face doesn’t produce much vitamin D, so why accelerate the aging process there? lol…

Note: Athletic Build BMI Calculator

Almost 5 years ago I posted about an  Athletic Build BMI Calculator I found online and to this day it gets THE MOST hits on this blog… I also get a lot of comments on that post and felt like I should give an update. While I agree, that if you are more athletic and carry more lean muscle mass than the average person, and want a unit of measurement to judge yourself by, using a different BMI calculator may be helpful.

For me, now… 5 years later… I don’t remember the last time I thought about my BMI because I’m in a different place. When I was just starting out with my weightloss journey and had a good 100 lbs to lose ANY form of measurement where I could map some positive change was a great thing for my morale and motivation. And because I had been overweight for so long, I truly had no idea what my ideal/healthy weight should be, so I turned to tools like BMI calculators and realized that even at my fittest/thinnest in high school, I didn’t fit within the ‘healthy’ range on your average BMI scale, so I went in search of something else that would give me a more realistic goal to shoot for.

Primal Brunch Feast

Before going Primal, my favorite breakfast in the whole world was a simple throwback to my childhood – 2 eggs over easy on rye toast with bacon and lots of butter on my toast. Now, most of that is a-okay after going Primal… minus the toast. So what’s a girl to do? Easy. Find something else even more delicious to lay those yummy eggs on, to sop up that gooey, bright orange yokey goodness. My solution? Sautéed zucchini.

Here’s everything I used and how I used it to make my delicious breakfast, pictured here… [A quick note about dairy: Dairy is off limits for strict ‘paleo’ followers. I, on the other hand, have no problems with digesting dairy and use it in moderation – and when I do, I try to stick to full-fat, and fermented if possible].

Okay – here’s the scoop…

Primal Thoughts 5-3-13

You know what’s fun about finding a lifestyle that just works for you? Noticing little changes each day. Today’s little discovery was that my calves have tightened up a lot – like whatever fat I had left on them has miraculously melted off in the past week or so. There’s more there, but it’s not nearly what it was before I started Primal living 4 weeks ago.

I also feel like I’m getting younger – my skin is looking a lot better and has gotten a lot of its elasticity back. I just turned 39, so that’s a pretty big deal for me.  ;)

I realized this morning that the difference this time around from usual attempts at weightloss is that my cellulite is almost gone already, even though my size hasn’t changed drastically. I think ditching grains, legumes and sugar has let my body finally release all the excess inflammation and fluid – I just feel lighter all around. Normally I lose weight by burning fat, but that fluid is still there under the surface so it used to end up weighing everything down, and I would start to sag and droop… and that’s not happening this time [I am doing a mental happy-dance right now!].

Going Primal

Recommended Reading – Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson

I don’t remember the last time I posted [just checked – it’s been over a year, wow!], but I’m ready to get back into it. I’ve been away because, quite frankly, I’ve been in a self-imposed plateau for two-plus years. I say ‘self-imposed’ because I got lazy about counting every calorie, weighing everything I eat and writing every little thing down. I stopped wearing my body bugg, which was a huge help in the beginning because I had no concept of portion control [though, looking at it now, it was because of the foods I was eating and not so much about a lack of willpower]… I think I got burned out. Starting a new job at a small company for a very demanding boss didn’t help. Oh, and I broke a toe last year around this time clean through and it took forever for it to heal… [like, I’m JUST starting to wear normal shoes again and can finally go hiking and trail running after taking last year off, which was a total bummer!].

The good news is, I successfully maintained the 65+ lbs I’d already lost up until before the last holiday season. I ended up gaining 10lbs between November and February… then came to find out I had an enormous cyst on my right ovary, which might have explained some of the crazy cravings I was having, along with the fatigue and scary abdominal pain, which prevented me from doing my usual workouts [resistance training, kickboxing, running… high impact or heavy lifting – so anything I enjoyed doing!]. Even walking on the treadmill at anything higher than a 2.8 felt like I was being stabbed with each stop. not fun… I normally walk at a 4.0 or 4.2… 2.8 is slower than a warm up for me… I was diagnosed on 2/26 and had surgery on 3/26. I think I stopped working out for a total of 8 weeks, during which time I felt gross. I couldn’t wear normal pants without a ‘bella band’ because the cyst was so big – my doctor said it was like the equivalent of being 5 months pregnant. It was an experience, that’s for sure…

So, during my down time I started researching nutrition again, looking for some fresh material so I could focus on the one thing I COULD control, which was my diet. I ended up revisiting ‘paleo’ but remembering that it was a little too strict for me… until I stumbled across Mark Sisson’s book “The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weightloss, Vibrant Health and Boundless Energy.” I read it cover to cover [figuratively speaking since I use an e-reader] over a weekend and started right away… And have been loving it.

Trying a New Nutritional Plan – 3.5.12

My mother started a new diet a few weeks back and was hounding me to read the book and try it along with her, but I’m so jaded about ‘diets’ that I just brushed it off and told her I wasn’t interested. Until she started throwing these random facts at me like broccoli has twice the protein, calorie for calorie, than steak. I didn’t believe her. Then she told me she’s lost 11 lbs after 2 weeks – that got my attention so I downloaded the book in my kindle since I had a gift card [and hence, it was ‘free’ to me in case it was a load of crap]. I found myself totally engrossed and I ended up reading the whole thing in 2 days and starting the plan myself last Monday. In the first week I’ve lost 5.6 lbs and I’m eating a TON of food.

The book is Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s, ‘Eat to Live‘. When I initially browsed through it at the bookstore before buying it, my first impression was that it was vegetarian propaganda. But after actually reading it I’ve realized it’s not – it just recommends eating less animal protein than the ‘standard American diet.’ [or SAD]. I didn’t think I could be satisfied eating just fruit for breakfast when I was used to having an egg with whole wheat toast, or greek yogurt with berries, but the premise of the book is that you get the most nutrients per calorie, which you’ll find in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds – and some whole grains… and you eat higher volumes of these lower calorie foods, upping both your nutrient and fiber intake. It’s that combination of fiber and nutrients that help turn your appetite signals off via receptors in your stomach and colon, so when you fill up on the right foods, you’re not as hungry. 

Thoughts: 1.30.11

I just tried on a couple of dresses I bought for a wedding we have coming up in April. I ordered both in a size 10 to use as motivation to get back in high gear to lose the last 25lbs I have to go. I was happy to find that one of them zipped up to my mid back [I couldn’t zip it all all a month ago], and the other I got on and off with ease. It’s a little snug, but if I had to wear it today, I wouldnt’ feel bad in it at all. So I know in a couple of months I’ll feel like a rockstar in it. My first ‘little black dress.’ Sometimes I sit back and still think, “wow…” at moments like this.

Since starting a new job back in late June, my weightloss on the scale as almost stalled, but I’ve been keeping up my workouts and have increased my activity level, so I’ve still noticed changes in my body. I also got myself a treadmill for Christmas and have enjoyed doing interval workouts on it, alternating between doing incline intervals at a fast paced walk, to doing sprint intervals. The first time I ran on it I was at a 5. Now I can sprint at a9.5 and am hoping to hit 10 today. Which blows me away. It only goes to 12. lol…