Change

I've made it to the gym 3 times in the last 1.5 weeks and feel so much better! I was right; the second I started eating better and exercising, my "pregnancy symptoms" all but disappeared.

Although it's been tough to get back in the swing of things (my last "cheat day" turned into a "cheat long weekend"), I finally feel like I'm turning things around. As much as I don't like to admit it, I hit 200lbs with my last pregnancy and had to work my butt off to get rid of that extra weight. But I refuse to let that happen again!

Yesterday I went to the local farmer's market and bought some beautiful produce. I had forgotten how good homegrown really is! There is a local hutterite colony near town which sells local chicken, eggs, and produce. I'm feeling inspired to eat lots of fresh produce and will probably go for a run today. Then it's back to the gym tomorrow!

First Trimester Update

I'm over 10 weeks along now and I've just realized something interesting.  As much as I've been moping around and whining about no energy and feeling "yucky" from morning sickness... it's really no different from every other time I've eaten crap food and not exercised.  Sure, I have a little bit of morning sickness going along with that, but I'm guessing the majority of my ailments at the moment have to do more with not nourishing myself properly and less with the pregnancy.

So, with that in mind, I really need to start eating properly and moving more again.  I know this is the time that it is the most critical for my baby and I know it's just going to make it easier to get back into shape afterwards... but it's really hard to overcome that little voice inside my head saying, "what does it matter, you're going to get fat either way".

Well, I'd better go pack up my gym stuff and a healthy lunch if I'm going to have a chance of actually making a change!

Worked For Me #1 - Cheat Days

After just 3 days of eating properly and exercising I decided to give myself a "cheat day".  So yesterday I gorged myself on cake and pizza.... and spent the entire evening with zero energy lying on the couch feeling sorry for myself.  May have overdone it just a tad.

Even with this experience well behind me (I went for a 30 minute run this morning before breakfast and feel much better now), I'm still a believer in cheat days.  Or, at least, cheat meals.  A full day of cheating is probably a bit excessive.  

Let me explain.  Anytime prior to having my last baby that I got on a "health kick" and starting eating right and exercising, I would get it in my head that I didn't need to eat that crap ever again.  And, invariably, I would wind up gorging myself when I finally broke down.  

When I started a program with a trainer last year, she gave me one cheat day per week.  One whole day that I could eat anything I wanted.  BUT the rest of the week had to be spot-on.  I was sceptical, but you know what?  By giving myself that cheat day, I found myself actually eating a lot less of the bad stuff than before.  If I was craving nachos on Tuesday, it didn't seem to bad to tell myself "On Saturday, I can have those nachos".  And the funny thing is that by the time Saturday comes along, half of the time I'm not even craving whatever it was earlier in the week.  And usually I'll wind up eating pretty well most of the day on my cheat day and just having pizza and beer for dinner or something like that.

Anyways, back on track for the week now.  My plan for this week it to make it to the gym at least twice and do legs, shoulders chest and triceps.  And no more cheats until Saturday!

Note (9 Sept. 12) - I'm going to start categorizing some of my posts into categories.  "Worked For Me" will be a regular post, outlining different ideas, plans or meals that have worked for me in my journey to get into the best shape of my life!

Gym Time

Okay I'll admit I didn't make it to the gym last week as promised.  My excuse is that I was lazy and unmotivated.  But I did finally make it yesterday and boy, am I feeling it today!

After just 2 days of eating right and working out once, my pants already feel looser.  Maybe it's just my imagination, but even though I know my size hasn't changed at all in the last 2 days, I feel like a million bucks!  So, to those of you thinking about getting to the gym or getting started eating right, DO IT!!! You'll feel so much better by tomorrow.

That's it for now.  Good luck!

New developments

I'm pregnant again.  5 weeks.  Here we go!

Also, I weighed myself today.  First time since my competition.  I've gained 13lbs from my competition weight.  Admittedly, my competition weight wasn't a really sustainable weight, but 13lbs sure seems like a lot!  And I know that's not just water weight... I've been eating like crap and not exercising.

So, I've made up my mind... today's the day I get back to the gym.  I really need to get my butt in gear if I'm going to keep from gaining a ton of weight again this pregnancy.

Exciting changes.  Hopefully they will give me that extra kick I need.

Struggling

The last time I posted, I promised to update this blog more often.  I have a confession to make.  I only feel inspired to blog if I can show my best self through that post.  I don't want to show my weaknesses, my stumbling blocks and my humanity.  Because, online, I can be super-human if I so choose!

But instead I'm going to be honest.  I'm struggling.  My competition was almost 3 weeks ago and I haven't been back to the gym, or even had a single day of halfway decent eating habits.  I'm drinking a beer as I type this.

The week after my competition, someone I know commented on my belly, riding out over my derby shorts, so soon after my 6-pack of competition day.  I laughed it off and responded with jokes about trying to make up for lost time and gaining as much weight as humanly possibly now that I was allowed to eat, but it still hurt.

I know I need to get back on track, but I'm a little lost as to what exactly I want to do now.  I'm back into roller derby full-force, but I need to figure something else out to work towards.  A new workout program isn't all that helpful to me without an end goal.  And that's what I'm struggling with.  I still haven't made up my mind for sure if I want to get pregnant right away again or wait awhile.

While I ponder what to do next, I will leave you with a picture from my very first roller derby game this last weekend.

Results

Well, it's been over a year since I started this blog.  I finally entered my first bodybuilding competition, just 2 days before my baby's first birthday.

Although I'm excited about what I've accomplished in the last year, I still have many challenges ahead of me.  We're planning on having another baby, so I'll be going through this all over again!

The biggest challenge for me in the baby weight loss journey is actually during the pregnancy itself.  I have a hard time wrapping my head around gaining weight no matter what I eat (I know I'm supposed to, but still!).

Here is a better before and after with the dates involved.  Pretty good for a year's work!

I am going to start posting at least weekly, and I hope to see a few people to share this new adventure with.