Mom2Alix's W.I.S.H. Journal (comments welcome)

[mom2alix]

I’m hoping the journaling will help keep me on track. It’s so nice to have some support!

For an eating plan I'm kind of doing the South Beach diet. DH is actually doing SB and I cook dinners that are strictly SB so we eat together. I'm nursing and the baby is allergic to milk protein and nuts which means I can't eat them since they pass through the milk. I modify my lunches and breakfasts somewhat (more carbs than recommended on SB) to make sure I keep up my milk supply and since I can't have some of the snack ideas SB recommends. The allergies have actually been somewhat of a blessing in disguise. I'm not tempted to cheat because I know it will make my son miserable, although I must admit I really miss cheese and chocolate! I really started weighing, etc. at Christmas and so far I'm down 7 lbs. It's been a pretty steady lb to 1.5 lb. loss per week which seems pretty sensible.

For exercise I'm planning to start on a walking plan that I read in Woman's Day magazine. I have a treadmill in the basement and I’m going to start putting it to good use. I received a spa g.c. from my MIL and SIL and I have DH holding it for me until I complete the 6 weeks. That seemed like a good reward, now I just have to earn it

 

[geetey]

Hi there, Mom2Alix!
Welcome to WISH! I know you will find lots of support here.

Oh boy, but I feel your nursing pain. I have severe allergies/asthma and went to a pediatric specialist for the first 2 years of each of my children's lives. I had strict orders to exclusively nurse for the first 12 months (no formula supplements/no milk) and I had to modify my diet to protect them. I know it is hard to stick with your modified diet, but know there IS an end to the restrictions, and your son will be happier.

The walking plan sounds like a great idea. Using the spa g.c. as a reward is a brilliant! I know you will earn it in a quick 6 weeks! That treadmill is calling your name!!

 

[mom2alix]

So far so good today.

I started my exercise plan (again) and walked for one mile on the treadmill. Not a huge amount of exercise, but the plan is designed to build up slowly to get me back into the exercise habit. Now all I have to do is keep on track and hit it again tomorrow.

Diet-wise I don't think I did too bad, but I guess I'll see what the scale says tomorrow. I wiegh in on Wednesdays and I've been using this Excel template I downloaded from the microsoft site that helps track weight, inches, % body fat and BMI. It's pretty neat to see all of those together.

I had left-over chicken stir-fry for brunch about 11:00. I just can't seem to get breakfast in right now.

WARNING: EXCUSES TO FOLLOW We haven't been getting up really early this week since we've all had a cold and I've had some rough nights with the little one. It's so hard when they have a cold and they're so miserable and it's so hard to comfort them.First I have to nurse the baby and get him back to sleep, get DD to the potty (we're training right now) and get her set up with milk and something to eat so I can hit the treadmill. (Yes, I'm a bad Mom and let the television keep her entertained so I can work out.) After a quick shower, I finally had time to heat something up to eat. END OF WHINING EXCUSES

At least it was healthy! I'll work on getting the most important meal into my schedule a little better. Had a snack of 1/2 an apple and 2 tbsp peanut butter about 2:00 (DS has an allergic reaction to my milk when I eat nuts, but for some reason seems to tolerate peanutbutter thank goodness) After that, it was time for everyone to take a nap. I didn't get anything accomplished, but at least I wasn't eating! Hopefully we'll get over this cold soon and all have more energy.

Dinner was steak with green beans and wild rice. I haven't snacked at all tonight, so I'm not doing too bad. I also hade sure I drank 4 bottles of water today which gets me over 64 oz. I've also switched to Diet Rite instead of my diet cola, which means no more caffeine or sodium there. Now that I'm getting the caffeine out of my system I'll probably try to cut out soda completely next week. More room for water!

Now it's time for bed and see what tomorrow brings!

 

[Christine]

Mom2Alix,
Welcome! Don't feel like you're a bad mom for letting your DD watch TV while you exercise. I think it is important for children to see that Mom has things that she has to do for herself and Mom needs you to go be quiet over here for awhile. It is really tough to look out for yourself when you have little ones.

I don't know how old your youngest is, but how did you find out about the nut allergies so soon.

My son has a peanut allergy which we found out at about 9 months when he was given peanut butter toast at daycare. I did breast feed for a little while but never no noticed any acute reactions from anything.

I'm sure you've discussed it all with a doctor, but I've always been told that if you know there is an allergy to any kind of peanut or tree nuts, you should stay away from all other nut forms so as not to make the situation worse or cause new allergies to form. I know you like that peanut butter, but are you sure it is okay?

Good luck with the exercise--you're doing good starting off slow and forming the habit. Also, TRY to eat that breakfast!!!

 

[mom2alix]

Christine,

Thanks for stopping by! It is so funny that you posted about the nut allergy. My son had a reaction this morning (just a diaper rash, not a big deal, not life threatening or anything), but anyway peanut butter is now off my list of foods I can have.

How we know about the allergies started out with a REALLY severe diaper rash, known as an allergy ring, that would NOT go away no matter what I did. To give you an idea, he was 3 months old yesterday and has had this rash since he was 1 week old. It gets worse when it is irritated, so I'm trying to remove all irritants from my diet in the hopes of finally clearing it up. Apparently it's a common symptom of milk allergy. It was actually the first thing my pediatrition thought of when I took the baby in. Once he found out that I have a nephew who is severely milk allergic that pretty much sealed the deal. No more dairy for me!

The nut allergy took a while to figure out, but started with pecan pie over the holidays. Since I can't have most baked goods (see milk allergy) pecan pie was my favorite holiday treat until my son started reacting to his feedings by upchucking all over me. Admittedly it took Thanksgiving and Christmas to figure out the cause and effect there, but now I'm off tree nuts as well.

Then, DH went on SB diet and about the only snack that I could have was peanuts and started getting the reaction from baby after feedings, but he'd always been fine if I'd had a PBJ before. After the reaction today, though, no more PB! What is so frustrating is that I've had to go to cloth diapers during the day, I never use wipes of any sort (I have to basically rinse him off in the sink at each diapering), and apply a prescription steroid cream every time. With all this effort, it seems like I almost get rid of the dipaer rash and then another irritant sets it off and I'm back to square one. (I've also had to cut tomoatoes from my diet becuase the acid is so irritating for his rash.) Fortunately he's a really good baby. I just feel so bad that we keep stumbling through this.

Wow! That was a really long explanation. Sorry to bore you with the dirty details.

 

[Strings]

Christine,

My DD has milk/soy allergies. She had that same rash.

I hope you find some alternative snacks. Keep up the great work, and welcome to the WISH journals.
Beth

 

[kayeandjim00]

Hi mom2alix Just wanted to welcome you to the WISH Journals! You sound like you are doing so great and your plan is working very well for you. Congratulations on your loss so far!

 

[mom2alix]

Today is a good news/bad news day.

Good news:

I worked out according to my plan!

I found out about the www.fitday.com website and used it to track my activity and food intake AND I burned more calories that I took in (even with my cheating (see below)!

I weighed in today and I've lost 2.1 lbs since last Wednesday!

I managed to work breakfast into the schedule!

Bad news:

I made a cherry pie for a friend, but overbaked it a little (can't take to someone, but I ate some) Anyway, now I have a pie calling my name and I've had 2 slices tonight! That pie is probably going to have to go in the trash. I hate to waste food, it really goes against how I was raised. Gee, think that might be part of the reason I need to lose weight? I think I would have been better off if I had told my mother to ship my dinner to "those starving children in Africa" instead of cleaning my plate like a "good girl". Those old habits are SO hard to break!

Tomorrow I need to make sure I get my workout in even though DD has a playdate in the morning. I've also got to make sure I keep the breakfast thing going. A pleasant side effect is that DD3 eats a better breakfast when she sees me eating. There's a great reason for good habits!

Off to bed. See you all tomorrow!

Rebecca

 

[Strings]

Hi Rebecca,

CONGRATULATIONS on losing 2+ POUNDS! That is awesome.

I have a solution to your pie delemma. Anytime I have something in the house that tempts me too much, I either take it to work, or send it to work with DH. I am making a cheesecake tonight, and it is on my program, but I will eat it until it is gone. I am allowing myself a piece tomorrow, Sat, Sunday. Sunday night, whatever is left heads to work with me. I gaurnatee it will be gone within 10 minutes, and none wasted.

I hope you got your workout in.

Take care,
Beth

 

[mom2alix]

Well, I have been REALLY OP with the working out. Dh was home sick for 3 days and that played havok with my schedule, and I probably just took advantage of the excuse not to work out. I have done okay with my eating and I weighed today to find another lb lost! It's slow losing, but at least the scale is heading in the right direction and I'm below 170 now! I don't know why that seems so significant, but it was pretty exciting for me. Now I've just got to get back into the work out habit and I should see even better results next week and I need to make sure I'm making time for my WISH journal. It seems to keep me motivated since I hate to post that I didn't meet my goal.