Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Crazy Sweet Tooth

Hi all,

I just came back from my walk and it was a good one. As long as I don't skip any nights (which I still do sometimes) my time seems to improve a little each day. I walked the four miles in just barely over an hour, and I was pleased with that, considering my huffing and puffing.

My food and water were both great today. My sodium was nice and low too. For lunch I ate a fresh sliced red bell pepper, hummus, wheat crackers, and an apple. It didn't "sound" good while I was making it, but once I started to eat it was delicious. I think that veggies seem more gross than they actually are. Like, I may not crave them right now, but after the first bite I remember that I actually like them. I had romaine lettuce and my sodium free black eyed pea recipe for dinner, and another apple. I ate a ton of cherries this morning. My boyfriend happened upon an unusually good sale the other day and bought them for me.

I have been hitting the fruit pretty hard the past few days. I know this is because I am craving sweets like a crazy person. My cravings are so intense at times that I think I won't be able to take it. I want candy etc. So, I'm eating extra fruit and it seems to be helping. There was a time when I would only allow myself one fruit per day, now doesn't seem to be the time for that!

So, all in all a very good day. I was pretty sick this morning an afternoon though. My headache has been pretty bad. Fortunately, I have felt good for the past few hours. I hope the headache stays away. It's late, but I'm about to fill out the necessary forms for registering for my hospital stay when I have the baby. I've been procrastinating, and now it's time to just get it done already. :0)

Angie

Long Time No Post :0)

Sorry for the extended absence. I'm not disappearing again though. I can see not taking the time to shoot and upload videos, but blogging a few sentences is just too darn easy. No excuses.

First, good news...I went to the OBGYN last Thursday and found out that I only gained one pound. Considering that was for the entire Christmas season, I was very pleased. My doctor actually cracked a smile too and gave me a high five...LOL. Also, I was scheduled for my 20 week ultrasound on February 11th, where I will find out the sex of the baby! I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat again on Thursday. It was 160 bpm, and the doc said once again that it sounds like a girl. I LOVE hearing the baby's heartbeat. I float along for the rest of the day, and I wish I could hear it everyday.

Since my last post I have been doing pretty well. My boyfriend and I have started the daunting task of downsizing, to be followed by rearranging, and finally purchasing things that the baby will need. Downsizing is a pretty tough first step, as it involves clearing out a storage unit, selling and shipping some things, donating others, and throwing out the rest. We are trying to get rid of the storage unit all together because it's $100.00 a month down the drain. The furniture in the apartment needs to be rearranged, and the back den/exercise room will be a bedroom. Our small indoor/outdoor closets will just have to do. We are thinking of adding some kind of storage wall unit, but they are all pretty pricey. Still, it would pay for itself in about a year. Sheesh. I guess this is nesting?

All of this activity is pretty exhausting to a headachey insomniac like myself. On a positive note, my boyfriend bought me this awesome looking pregnancy pillow. It is shaped like a giant rectangle. The woman lies in the empty center and it is supposed to cradle the entire body. I'm not all that pregnant yet, but my hips are sore from trying to make sure I sleep on my side. Plus, my stomach was big to begin with, and is looking much rounder these days. I would say I am definitely starting to show, especially when I'm looking at my naked tummy area in the mirror. :0) So, any extra support and comfort would be much appreciated. It should get here on Monday in time for my b-day.

The walking is good. I did my four miles yesterday and today, plus walks to the store. So, that's about five miles each day. My food today was excellent, yesterday was good, Saturday was lumped all into one meal (never a good idea). All in all, I'm doin ok. I have been listening to more Stuart McLean stories during my walks, and I was laughing so hard today that I was crying. I love comedy, but it is often times pretty raunchy, which doesn't bother me too much. I will still enjoy it, but it's nice that this stuff is so hilarious and pretty PG.

Oh, I had two separate doctor's appointments last week, which contributed to my silence. They are morning appointments. After sleepless nights, and getting to and from on the bus, I was pretty wiped out. I found out my thyroid is still under active, so the doc upped my dosage of medication.

Other than that, I have been wrestling with the insurance provider trying to find out definitively which prenatal testing is covered. They literally seem to be unable to tell me with 100% certainty, and I think it's on purpose so more people opt out of it. I have been calling back and forth from labs to the insurance company tracking down procedure codes, tax id numbers, bill charge amounts, and diagnosis codes. It's kind of insane, but one mistake and I'm sent a $1,500 bill for a test that isn't even 100% accurate anyways. What the heck to women do? I've already opted for the less expensive, less accurate quad screen that checks foe genetic abnormalities. There's also a cystic fibrosis test available. I think this one isn't such a bad idea, because if something were detected the pediatrician could prepare, and the child would be treated much sooner. But, if I can't find out for certain that it's covered, I can't risk having the test performed. It's very frustrating. I just want to make the right choices. Medical advances are wonderful, but they can also complicate things.

Well, that concludes my little rant. Just the latest issue. I'll sum up by saying that I'm feeling happy. I'm 16 weeks and 2 days along now, and I'm really starting to feel it.

Take care!

Angie

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Pregnant Lady Doing Lunges...

Um, no, not me (the pregnant lady doing lunges I mean, as my title might suggest). I was walking to the bus stop, on my way to get my thyroid re screened (I have to do this every six weeks now) when I noticed an extremely pregnant woman doing rapid lunges as I walked past my old gym. Wow, did I feel like a slacker! In my defense, I have never been able to do a lunge without excruciating knee pain, not even at my most fit, but jeese louise. Good for her, wow.

Today I was asked about my workout routine during pregnancy. I'm super thrilled when I get my four mile walk in. I think that counts as a routine?

So, the past four days have been "ok". I am going through a major bout of insomnia again. It seems to always be there lately, with occasional flare ups. It is going pretty much full force right now. I may sleep a few hours during the night. I then try to stay awake during the day in hopes of getting a good night's sleep, but I always pass out sometime around early afternoon for a couple hours or so. The result is that I have huge bags under my eyes, a headache, and I can't concentrate on anything.

I've also been a little weepy. Today I was listening to a recorded Christmas story by Stuart Mclean (he is hilarious), I love those wacky Canadians, and I basically started to sob over this story. The story was funny, but at the end this husband wraps the family's pear tree in red lights as a gift for his wife. She wakes up in the middle of the night with a red ribbon tied around her wrist that leads to the tree. You probably just need to listen to the story for yourself, but the ending was very sweet. Nothing to get all weepy over though.

Anywhoo, Saturday's eating was ok calorie wise, although I had two .99 chicken sandwiches from Wendy's out of desperation. I hadn't eaten all day because of a general sick and crappy feeling, only to be ravenous that evening. Bad, but I just didn't want anything at home. I skipped the walk too, but did lots of shopping, which I say counts as exercise.

Sunday I ate healthy food, but too much of it. I did housework, but skipped my walk.

Monday I ate way too much cheese and bread. I bought the cheese and bread in the hopes of adding some variety to my diet. I tried to dole it out like a healthy eater, but I see I'm not there yet. I am soooo not there. The wheat bread and cheddar are gone, good riddance. I did do my walk on Monday night though. It felt nice.

Today the food was very healthy. I think I ate too much cereal though (shredded wheat, yum). I think I wanted the sweet. I've been like a walking zombie all day from lack of sleep, and skipped my walk. I really should have gone though.

I'm shooting for an on track day tomorrow both with food and exercise. I'm about to try and get some sleep as soon as I post this. I think the trick is to clear my mind. Simple concept, yet tougher than it seems.

Angie

Saturday, January 3, 2009

PHEW...

Holy crap, am I glad to be home! It's about 12:30 on Friday night, and I just finished my nightly walk (happy to be able to say it's becoming a "nightly" event again) and it was a doosie. There is a bit of uphill walking involved here and there and I had to stop several times to catch my breath. I also encountered a large loose dog, ends up the owner just lets the dog loose to go and do his business (a long standing pet peeve with me).

As usual, it felt good to get it done. What would I do without NPR and Rhapsody? By the way, I think Rhapsody is 100 times better than iTunes. For something like $15.00 per month I can download all the music I could ever want onto my tiny little device (the Sandisk). I can clip it onto my scarf or collar, very convenient. The really cool thing is that it also has an FM radio tuner. I am a huge fan of public radio, so this is perfect. Sometimes just listening to prerecorded music can get a little cold, I like to hear the dj's and radio hosts talk.

Food was good today. I finally made the whole wheat thin crust pizza, and it was pretty darn good if I may say so myself. It's a little time consuming, but a very reasonable alternative to fattening gooey traditional pizza. I may post a couple recipes at some point. This one is worth the effort. The rest of my meals were on target both with portion size and sodium...I did eat too much peanut butter though. I think I had two servings, and that stuff is just chocked full of calories. But, like the frozen crap that was clogging up my freezer, the peanut butter is no more.

I keep transitioning to more and more reasonable behavior, which is the goal. My instincts still scream for me to engage in hardcore dieting behavior now and again, but thankfully that isn't an option for me anymore. It's actually a relief. I feel pretty good. However, I have the sinking suspicion that I gained weight over the holidays. This is going to earn me a good reaming at the doc's. So be it. I'm doing better now.

The big goal for tomorrow is not to treat it like a "free" Saturday. That behavior was pretty well enforced over the past year or so. It's become a tough habit to break, but while I'm eating approximately 2,000 calories a day I just can't indulge like I used to. I've been making good progress, and I can't afford anymore water retention right now. I think I'll use the bit of momentum I've gathered over the past few days to get through the day on track.

A great Saturday to all,

Angie

Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Year's Day

It's about 11:30 pm on New Year's Day, and I am happy to report that the past two days have gone really well. I just finished my four mile walk, and even improved my time. I stayed within a healthy calorie and sodium range on both days. Not the 1,800 I'm working towards, but right around 2,000.

I did skip my walk on New Year's Eve out of plain old exhaustion. I had insomnia again the night before and was dragging all day trying to stay awake. I did however eat a ton of romaine lettuce and and black eyed peas that day (my version of taco salad) and drank lots of water. Veggies and water were two goals I had set the night before, so kudos to myself on that. I also did well today, but the veggies could have been better.

So, like I said, I did well these past two days, but I had to employ a lot of good old fashioned willpower. Today was especially tough. I REALLY wanted to go out to eat, and I'm not talking about a sensible meal out. I basically wanted to stuff my face. I even had a dream about the food I wanted; for crying out loud! My boyfriend was the voice of reason. Although I didn't want to hear it at the time, I was really glad that we didn't end up going, and that I ate healthy to boot. I'll be going out on January 19th for my b-day and not before that, dangit.

I am starting to feel a little less bloated. This is a good sign that my efforts are beginning to pay off. I'll see what happens on January 8th when I have my next doctor's appointment.

I have also been playing around with the idea of having a weigh in day again...just to make sure I stay on track. It might help me stay accountable. Saturday morning's always worked well for me.

I feel like I should post some New Year's Resolutions or something...I have been contemplating the kind of year I'd like to have. Obviously, it'll be a big one with the baby coming.

Here's a few...

1. Moderation...both with food and exercise
2. Become more creative in the kitchen...I'm in a food rut. I need to actively seek out recipes that will taste good without a bunch of added salt (my lifelong nemesis). They still need to be fairly simple though.
3. Keep my mind sharp...it's gotten just a tad bit mushy since I've been out of school.
4. Extend my creativity to exercise as well. This is an old tune with me...I tend to like what I like, and then get pretty stubborn when it comes to trying new things.
5. Do my best to be a good mom.

That's about it for now, Happy New Year!

Angie