Amber's Prep for a Healthy Pregnancy Journal

[Foxfiregrrl]

Didn't end up getting out the Christmas decorations. Did 3 loads of laundry instead

I came here today to whine about how I've been grumpy at work lately - like since we came back from Disney and how I think I'm depressed. BUT, I read Linda's journal first and watched the video and realize I've got nothing to be whining (sp?) about.

I just can't seem to shake the "I don't want to work" blues lately I like my job and I'm not overwhelmed... I just don't want to be there... ever

So, I came home today and went outside for a walk. I walked a different path and it was nice. I'm going to try to make myself exercise more because I think that will help with my energy level and moods.

K, that's it for now. See ya'll later.

 

[lindalinda]

Sorry you have had the blahs Amber. I have too a little bit. Its good you got out for a walk, I havent even done that. Too tired all the time. I did buy stuuf for salads today tho. So hopefully that will make me feel better.

Your job seems like it could get to be a real grind. I usually pick something to plan for so I can look forward to something. Otherwise I would probably lose it!

Maybe we need another challenge? I really really have to get going, I am a BLOB! As my dad would say (hes a comedien, ha ha) If I was 2 inches taller I'd be round!

Ok, I need an exercise challenge, but I need to start slow or I wont do it. Wanna try one?


nite

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Linda, I think an exercise challenge is a great idea. I have been needing a little motivation and wanting to at least get back to some exercise. DH is refusing to do any since he has his broke butt... even though that really doesn't keep him from walking So, I have to be somewhat self motivated

So, what were you thinking of? Minutes, miles, or number of days per week? I am leaning slightly away from miles for myself, cause I may try to do my exercise tapes some. I also was thinking today that I should try to actually take my breaks at work and walk around the outside of the building. I was thinking part of my challenge should be to walk at least 10 minutes 4 out of 5 workdays per week but I need more than just that... suggestions?


Ok, today at work I did a little bit better. I think the walk yesterday and coming here to whine helped some. Plus I only had about 3 hours in the actual office

I think one of the things that has been weighing on me lately is the whole back to school thing. I know that we briefly discussed it here, but basically this is the deal... If I go now (May 2008) I can have my Master's degree by May 2009. If I wait and go later then I have to do it over 3 years and take classes that I have already had. DH's opinion is basically that if I intend to have a career, which I do, then I should go ahead and go to school now. I know that if I don't go now then I probably won't go at all or not for like 10 years. So, I had pretty much resigned myself to going to school whether I wanted to or not. Then it felt like I didn't really have a choice and then I started to really hate the idea of going. I told DH yesterday that I know the smart and logical thing to do is to go to school, but I really want to go ahead and have kids NOW. He didn't really respond. Then like an hour later he said, "well whether we have kids now or later I guess it's time for me to start reading" - meaning all the parenting books I've stockpiled

So, I thought about it further today while driving. If I start school in May 08 and graduate in May 09... then I could get pregnant in Oct 08 or later and not deliver until I'm done w/ school Then the whole getting pregnant part would only be about a year away. Now, I do realize that I can't plan what month I will get pregnant, but we could start trying then and go from there.

It is still the decision to go back to school, which I'm not 100% excited about at this moment. And it still doesn't keep me from wanting to go ahead and get pregnant Now. But it is manageable and doesn't seem That far off.

PLUS that would give me just over 6 months until I start school. If I start now REALLY getting on top of my diet and exercise I would be able to work on getting a good bit of weight off before starting school. Then I would just need to work at maintaining the loss once in school (lets be honest, I'm not going to be able to concentrate on weight LOSS while working full time and going to school full time). Then I'd be all ready come Octoberish.

The only slight catch to this is I've been "working" at my weight loss for going on 2 years now and haven't lost nearly as much as I'd like. BUT, I always work better under pressure and I'm kind of getting to crunch time here.

SO.. What do you think? Have I totally gone crazy?

I know that regardless of what I decide the holidays are going to be a challenge. I think that my goal for the next couple of months is going to be to start exercising consistently and being more mindful of my eating. I think that is enough to start with.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Btw, I had a milkshake today and it upset my stomach... that should keep me away from junk food for a few days at least I haven't gotten up the courage to eat dinner yet either as a result I know I'm not lactose intolerant cause I have milk everyday, but I must be ice cream-intolerant because lately it gets me more times than not Oh, well, shouldn't be eating it anyway.

 

[lindalinda]

Well it sounds like you should go back to school. I hope you can fit it in. How much time are you talking about? Do you work and go at night , or would you take time off work to do it?

I loved school. Loved it. I plan to go back after I retire just for the heck of it. Crazy I know. Take silly classes like "louisville architecture" and "environmental botany". Throw in an "Authurian literature" for good measure and I'm happy as a clam.

I'm sure you'll figure it out Amber, and once the decision is made, just go for it.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

They have this really neat set up for the school that they call a Web based Hybrid. The school is about 3 hours away. So you go to classes one weekend a month - Friday evening and Saturday most of the day. Then there are assignments and discussions online for the rest of the stuff. I also will have to do an internship, but I can do it at my current workplace. I will have to choose an area that I'm not working in though (like CPS or diversion or Foster parent training, etc). My job will give me time off to go to class and during the internship I can use like 10 of my work hours toward it. But I'll still have all my regular work to fit into less time. Oh, yeah, it is my understanding that not only will the state pay for my school, but I can also get reimbursed for my travel to an from class and my hotel on the one weekend a month That helps some.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do it, I just have to get excited about it. I did enjoy college the first two times. I just think that I got really burned out when I got my BSW. I had started right out of high school and went for right at two years, then quit to work full time. I planned to go back, but it took 4 years to finally do so. When I decided to go back I determined that I was getting my Social Work degree from GSU in Atlanta. When I talked w/ the advisor he told me that the SW program starts in the fall semester and you have to be done w/ all but 1 or 2 core classes before you can start the SW program. I was planning to start in the Winter/Spring semester and I still had I think 9 core classes to take. So I took 6 classes my first semester and 2 over summer semester, and then a full load the rest of the time including at least 1 summer class. I started in Jan 2003 and was finished with school May 2005. By the last semester I was really struggling to finish and really sick of school. I haven't quite gotten over that feeling. I was lucky enough to be able to only work parttime during that school period at least.
The thing that I keep telling myself about this is that it is only one year and then I'll be done with school AND that if I don't do it now I have to spend 3 years later AND take classes over that I took during my BSW, which REALLY does not appeal to me.

I do think that it would be fun to just take some classes that are interesting for the fun of it though. I can't think of any right now, but your list sounds fun. I do love architecture although I don't have any interest in learning to be an architect. I like reading about the history of it though

Ok, so life history completed... back to the WISH portion of this journal

I didn't take my break yesterday at work but I did go up and down the stairs at work a LOT and walk the length of our building several times. I ended up not taking the break because I felt like I was already up and down and away from my desk enough. I feel like I did do at least 10 minutes of walking around inside the building throughout the day though.

Food yesterday was pretty bad though:
B - kashi w/ milk, couple swallows of coffee (stomach still iffy)
s- chocolate chip cookie
L- chili w/ crackers & a little cheese
s- chocolate chip cookie (coworker brought them )
D- double cheeseburger & fries (DH wanted to get dinner out - it was at least a small step up from fast food - 5 guys)
s- cup of hot tea, another cookie I'm so bad that I brought two home - one for me, one for dh

Today so far I'm doing somewhat better - baby steps right?

I got up this morning and went for a 25 minute walk I walked to the lake and did 4 laps then walked back, so about 1.25 miles. It's a start.

Dh made brunch for us. Grits, eggs and sausage. I had some milk and now have coffee.

DH's friends are here today & it's one of their birthdays so we will go out for dinner. Not sure where yet. They were talking about Red Lobster, but that might change. I will just do my best not to eat too much.

K, that is it for right now. See ya'll later!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Went to Linda's journal which reminded me that I should do this.

Restarting weight: 191 (least that's what it said this morning - it was like 194 earlier this week - we'll stick w/ today's weight )

I want to get to between 160 and 165 by May 2008. So that is 30 pounds in just over 6 months. That is 24 weeks. So 1.25 pounds a week. I should aim for more like 1.5 to 2 pounds though so that I have some wiggle room.

My strategy: more exercise, less booze, less junky foods, more veggies and fruits.

My exercise challenge goals: 15 minutes a day this week, 20 minutes a day next week, 25 minutes a day the following week. I am sure that I won't exercise Every day, but my total for the week has to at least average that many minutes a day.

Ok, I think that is a good start!

 

[lindalinda]

Go Amber! You can do it! Your goals sound good.

Why did you pick May? Just for summer time shorts and such?

I hope to lose some before vacation, we'll see.

Have a nice Thanksgiving!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

I chose May because that is when school would start and I probably won't be able to focus on the weight loss after that... just maintaining at that time.

So, Sunday I got up and walked 35 minutes

But the work week has been pretty crazy. I didn't get any exercise in since Sunday. Monday I did go up and down the stairs a lot and around the office, but not all at one time.

I'm off now until Monday, so maybe I can make up some exercise time. I just have to not let myself get derailed during the week.

Yesterday I ended up working 11.5 hours though, so that makes it pretty hard to want to do anything

I also don't think that "being mindful" about what I'm eating is going to work for me I know what I'm eating, but I gobble it down anyway

K, that is it for tonight. Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[lindalinda]

Oh I see, May for school. The set-up for the school sounds pretty good tho. I guess you should get it over with as quickly as you can. Unless of course you end up with more 11.5 hour days! Its illegal for me to work more than 10 hours. I guess I need to quit whining so much!

You having turkey at your mom and dads tomorrow?
Hope its wonderful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

We actually had Thanksgiving at my Grandma's. We had 19 people total (I think). We had a Huge spread. I was pleased that we had a bit more variety this year too. I'm sure that I don't remember everything, but here is some of what we had:
Turkey, ham, dressing, giblet gravy, mac n cheese, potato salad, butter beans, green beans, crunchy coleslaw, ravioli & tortellini in sundried tomato alfredo sauce, garlic bread (my middle sister who doesn't cook brought these last 2), mushrooms wrapped in bacon, broccoli/cauliflower salad, pumpkin polenta, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, & jambalaya (vegetarian) w/ basmati rice. THEN there were several desserts. The only one I cared about though was the cheesecake that my sister made. I sampled as much as I could, but I somehow managed not to overstuff myself. My cousin was disappointed because there was no sweet potato soufflé Dh & I made to go plates and ate half of them for dinner.

Today I was off, but DH had to work. I was undecided whether or not I wanted to shop today. I woke up at 10:30 and decided to go for it. My mom went with me. I think we picked a good time to go because it was not all that crowded. I was able to get some of my shopping done. I still have a LOT more to do, but at least I accomplished some of it. We were gone from like 11:30 until 5pm I really thought when I left the house that I would get to the shopping center, see that it was a madhouse, and turn around and come home. I REALLY didn't expect to be gone all day.

I also found a great deal on some storage baskets for under my bathroom sinks. I have been Needing some organization and had actually measured the area last week. It was at Ross and they only had 6 of them. I bought them all, but really could have used 2 more for my downstairs bathroom. I came home and promptly organized my junk I felt good to actually get that done finally!

I also bought a cute little mini iridescent white Christmas tree to go on my desk at work. I got a tiny set of lights and balls to go on it too. It is gonna be so Cool!

Two of Dh's friends are over tonight. One of them lives 1.5 hours away but his family is here. When we lived in Alpharetta he was like 20 minutes away and used to spend like Every weekend at our house. So, when he is in town we usually have him here.

My food for today:
b- kashi w/ milk
l - all beef hotdog, pepsi, popcorn
d - 1.5 jalepeno poppers, chicken alfredo pasta, salad, 2 glasses of wine
s? - wine .... not sure how much yet as I'm still drinking

Exercise - 5 hours of shopping And we parked Way away at first and walked back to the car at least 4 times before we moved to a different area of the shopping center

K, I'm gonna go watch the movie that I have dvr'd that I thought I was gonna watch while DH was at work today.

Have a Great weekend!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, this week so far has been pretty bad diet/exercise wise. The scale is showing it too.

We ate out Mon, Tues, and Wed. I also haven't been taking my breaks and walking like I said I would no real excuse there.

the food isn't likely to get better until Monday at the earliest.

DH's birthday is Saturday and we are having the guys over. I'm getting off of work early tomorrow and we are going to get ready for the party. I'm gonna make a BUNCH of appetizers/snacks and desserts. I think for dinner we are having low country boil (the guys requested that) Anyway, the plan is to have a big games and snacking fest all day I accidently came across this really cool thread that lists all kinds of quick and easy treats to make for the holidays. Most of them are chocolate my favorite. That spells Major trouble though!

I'm gonna enjoy myself this weekend and then try to really refocus. I promise.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

So, I'm really not doing well with my new goals

Saturday ended up being a snack-fest w/ no dinner just appetizers and desserts. We made 14 items total and I ate some of almost all of it Then drank a Bunch of wine. We had a really good time, but I think I literally gained about 5 pounds this weekend

So I looked back at my new goals and this is "My strategy: more exercise, less booze, less junky foods, more veggies and fruits." Hello! Blew that one to pieces! I couldn't tell you the last time I actually exercised either.... unless a cooking marathon that lasts more than 4 hours counts

I am in training 3 days this week, but it is in town. The one benefit is that they have a walking track in the building where we are training at. So I PROMISE to at least walk during one break and try to get in there for 10 minutes or more at lunch time each of the days that we are there!! Plus we usually get out kind of early so I will try to come home and exercise at least one day (trying to be realistic here ).

As for food... all the meat/appetizer stuff got eaten, but there are still Lots of sweets left. So, I'm not promising anything foodwise. Of course everything is chocolate and that is my Weakness. See the thing is I almost refuse to make anything that I wouldn't want to eat myself, which means almost every sweet I make is Chocolate I did at least take some to work today to try to get rid of it.

K, that is my check in for now. I will try to update more often. It has just been kind of busy around here lately. I'm sure all of us are getting pretty busy though with the holidays and Marie w/ your move Good Luck!! And like I keep telling myself... the holidays are supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Do your best to slow down and enjoy them

See ya'll soon!

 

[lindalinda]

Amber, when I have extra sweets leftover, I take them to work and throw them on a table, and they always get eaten, then at least they arent in the house!

I agree, slow down and enjoy yourself! Hope you had a good week!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

I did take a good bit of the leftover goodies to work to get rid of them. It worked on the ones that DH let me take. We have just a little bit left now and I've managed to pace myself and only eat a little bit of it.

I did get some decent walking in on two of the days that I was at training. That is about it for this week though. Food was pretty bad.

I tried to get DH to walk with me this morning, but he didn't want to, so I ended up not going either.

I just haven't really been motivated lately. I keep trying to get myself moving, but it just isn't sticking. Oh, well, step by step day by day.

Not doing too much today. We went Christmas shopping yesterday and got most of it done. We just have a few things to order online and then we will only have one present left to get. Not too shabby.

Gonna go order my stuff now and try to chill the rest of the day. Got a busy week ahead of me at work.

 

[kmp1191]

Hey Amber~
Thanks for...keeping up with me....I haven't been too good with that lately, but I'm working on it!!
Good job on getting the walking in! (more than I've done in 2 months!!)
I agree....step by step, day by day!!
Good job on getting most of your shopping done....come do mine now!!

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so I have basically fallen completely off the wagon for now. I have not exercised at all in like what feels like forever. I have been drinking more than I should and eating loads of junk. I have gained weight instead of holding steady.

We have a total of 3 Christmas parties at my work not that I'm really complaining, but it is a lot of junk food. The Great part is we get at least two hours of goof off time for each party and the party we had yesterday started at 11:30am and we were told to go home when it was over Even though I ended up staying until 3:30 and then delivering Christmas gifts until 4:30... So I didn't end up with that much time off, but it was a Great day. No complaints here!!

So, we got pretty much all our Christmas decorations up the 30th of November before DH's birthday party. I have been really enjoying our Christmas tree! We have always had a small one in our apartments, but this year we went and bought a new one that is 7.5 feet! It is really pretty and full. I'm usually pretty anti fake christmas trees, but when I saw this one I knew it was the one I wanted. About half of the limbs have frayed tips so that it looks kind of snowy. I know that doesn't make much sense, but anyway it is cool. The thing I love about it is how full it was before we put anything on it. It is Way better than our Charlie Brown tree that we've been using. We put the new one downstairs in the game room and the old one is upstairs in the living room. It looks SO pitiful after you see the new one

I have done almost all of my shopping. My sisters and I still have to decide on my parents' gift and buy it. They want a carpet steam cleaner, but are being pretty specific about it. The thing is that it cost more than we normally would spend. But, it is really all they have said that they want. So I think we are going to get it. I'm just hoping that I can give my sisters my money and let them go buy it Then, I would be officially DONE!!

I haven't even begun wrapping stuff though. Oh, yeah, and there is the matter of the gift that Dh & I are getting ourselves/each other... we want a Wii but they are IMPOSSIBLE to get!!! So, I don't actually have that yet either. I heard a rumor that Game Stop will be doing rainchecks for them on the 20th and 21st. If that is the case then we will get a raincheck and then hopefully get it soon after Christmas.

I think I'm coming down with a cold. I started coughing pretty bad last night and have had a sore throat today. I'm gonna try to take it easy and hopefully it won't get any worse I have a lot to do Mon - Wed. of next week, so I don't need to be sick right now. I am taking Thurs and Fri off so that I can rest and prepare for the holiday weekend. Last year was SO hectic at Christmas, that this year I decided that I'm going to take it easy and Enjoy my holiday!!

We are having DH's mom, brother, sil, best friend & his family over on Saturday for our Christmas w/ them. Sunday is Christmas lunch w/ Dh's dad. Monday DH has to work, then that evening is Christmas supper w/ my immediate family at my parent's house. Christmas day is my extended family at my grandma's house. Whew! That makes me tired just writing it all out!! And to think we normally do all that on just TWO days At least we are able to spread it out this year!

Well, I'll try to get online this week and update on how everything is going, but I probably won't be on very much.

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY week!!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Two Christmas gatherings done Two more to go.

I have gained Way too much this holiday season! I got on the scale this morning and I am up to 199 I REALLY did not want to hit 200, but it is going to be really hard not to at this point. Maybe I'm just retaining a lot of water

I'm gonna get back on track soon, I swear!!

Well, gonna go finish up some of the last of my Christmas wrapping and gear up for tomorrow's gathering.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

[kmp1191]

Merry Christmas Amber!!
Have fun with the family!!

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Christmas is done And I have to go back to work tomorrow

We had a really great Christmas. All of our gatherings went smoothly. DH & I got some pretty good loot too We just finished piling it all on the table and taking pictures of it

DH bought be Bob Greene's Best Life Diet. I plan to read it and start on fresh on the diet & exercise Officially January 1st!

Well, Dh wants to play the Harry Potter Scene It game he bought me for Christmas. So I'll see you guys later!

Hope Ya'll had Great Christmas's too!!