Well, I somehow managed to lose a whopping 2 pounds this past week. Not too sure how it happened since I only got to work out twice, but hey, I'll go with it.
This means that I am now 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and 8 pounds away from my personal ideal.
Yahoo! Progress sure feels good.
When I woke up this morning I was planning on having a nice quite relaxing couple of hours while MJ's daddy took her to a baby Gymboree music class. It turns out that she is not quite ready for the class and got a little freaked out by the instruments, but that's a story for another time.
As this was going to be a lazy Saturday morning I didn't bother to change out of my Pjs as I sat on the couch to read for awhile. It was a decision that I regretted when my neighbor from across the street stopped by and knocked on the door. She is a wonderfully friendly woman who has been helping me feed a recent addiction to orchids. I've never really been much of a green thumb, but a few months back my step-mother bought me a lovely chocolate orchid (the flowers smell exactly like chocolate) and shortly after that I went to the Orchid Festival at Fairchild Botanic Garden with my mother and acquired a few more orchids. Since then, with the help of my neighbor, the Orchid Lady, I have been doing marvelously well at not only keeping my little green friends alive but also getting them to thrive.
This morning, however, the Orchid Lady stopped by to see if all of my orchids, which only numbered around 10, had been stolen as well. Yes, I said, “as well.” You see, the Orchid Lady had at least 30 or more orchids hanging on the palm trees in the front yard of her house. She has what must be at least 200 or so more elsewhere around her house. Sadly, when she woke up this morning and took her dog out for a walk she noticed they had all been stolen. She came by my house to see how we fared. All of mine were gone as well. She talked about phoning the police to file a report and mentioned how she thought it was probably kids who stole them to resell them to the street vendor down the road.
Of course, we all know what will come of filing a police report. I mean, in all honesty, in a city like Miami I'm sure (or at least I hope) the police have more important issue to attend to. While I wish there was a possibility of getting my little green friends back, I know there isn't. My husband keeps saying how I can get new orchids and start my blossoming collection over again. Somehow that's not quite the point.
In a way, I feel violated. Someone walked up onto my well lit porch in the middle of the night while we were all asleep and stole from me. Yes, this is Miami. Yes, I should expect such things to happen I suppose, but for the past year we have been here I have been lulled into thinking that my neighborhood was a real neighborhood. The people are friendly and know each other. We stop to chat on the street. We have had dinner at each other's houses. Now, I know it wasn't one of my neighbors who ran off with our orchids, but nonetheless, the neighborhood just doesn't have that same safe homey feel anymore. The orchid thief ran off with more than just my flowers.
When I woke up this morning I dutifully got on the scale to see if there had been any change in my weight. Amazingly I lost 1 pound. I say 'amazingly' since I haven't exactly been the poster child for good eating this week. We had pizza for dinner at least once and I'm sure that cake my step-mother made for Morgan's 6 month birthday wasn't diet.
Next week I will go back and get a body fat % reading and new measurements from the gym.
I have discovered a new way to make Morgan laugh. Unfortunately it is unintentional.
As with any martial art, studying kickboxing requires learning certain choreographed movements called forms or Kata. When I go to the studio on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I learn the steps to these forms. I practice them at home in order to improve before my next session. Since the play mats that I have put down in Morgan's room are perfectly suited to doing yoga or other floor exercises I have been practicing my forms on them. Morgan is always my audience. This morning I discovered that watching Mamma do forms incorrectly is cause enough to laugh hysterically in Morgan's world.
The final step (at least, as far as I have learned) in the form I am currently practicing requires a 270 degree turn into a squatting position called the Horse Stance. Well, unfortunately for me but fortunately for her, I am not very good at completing this turn gracefully. The matter is further complicated by the fact that the play mats have letters and numbers that pop out of them. As I was practicing this turn my foot rather gracelessly caught on a 'Q' and over I went. Miss Morgan was well out of harm's way but she was close enough for a front row seat to a Mamma tumble. She thought that was hysterical.
My friend Jeff warned me awhile ago that his boys always find it funny when he gets hurt. Guess Morgan has the same sense of humor. Maybe I should bring her to my kickboxing class and see if she finds that funny.
Well week one of the challenge is over. I weighed in this morning at exactly the same place I was last week, but that doesn't bother me since the pair of shorts I put on this morning are a bit looser. Before I got pregnant they were quite baggy on me. Two weeks ago they were snug. This morning they fit. So there is progress, it just isn't showing up on the scales.
Last night I went to the gym and got my new measurements and body fat percentage. I thought I wasn't going to be able to get those until tomorrow and therefore not be ready for the challenge starting today, but here I am.
As of yesterday I'm still 15 lbs over my ideal pre-pregnancy weight, but my body fat percentage has gone down by 2.2% since the beginning of March. I think this bodes well for success in this challenge.
Here are my goals: I want my body fat % to be down around 19%. It is currently 22.5%. I want to lose 3-5 inches off my hips so I can fit into all of my old pants and skirts. I'd also like to lose a few inches off of my waist and thighs. I plan to do all of this through healthy eating and exercise. I am a diet failure and won't subject myself to that sort of torture. The 15 remaining pregnancy pounds can go or stay as long as my muscle mass increases and I get more toned.
My biggest weaknesses are savory foods like french fries and pretzels. My goal is to cut them out of my diet. Dr. Pepper is also my archenemy when it comes to empty calories, but I know better than to think I can give him up. I have stopped buying all kinds of desserts and have stocked my fridge with fresh organic veggies. the freezer is also stocked full so that I have no excuse for coming home from the gym and saying, "There's nothing for dinner in the house. Let's just order a pizza."
My workout plan is the same as I have been doing for the past few weeks. I go to the gym to lift weights on Monday and Wednesday nights with my personal trainer. On Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings I go to the kickboxing studio to work out. Working out five days a week may sound excessive, but I always feel better when I'm done and nothing promotes a good self image as much as self confidence.
I recently put up a post about my desire to regain my old self. Part of that, but certainly not all of it, is losing the last few baby pounds that are still hanging on. I've got about 10 lbs to go before I'm back to the weight I was at right before I got pregnant. I've got about 15 lbs to go before I'm back to my idea weight. Well, today I came across May challenge to lose weight. Needless to say, I'm all in.
I decided a few months ago that I was feeling decidedly frumpish and that I needed to do something to get my old self back. When I got the “ok” from the midwife at my 6 week post-partum visit I signed up for personal training sessions at the gym near my house. Twice a week after Jim gets home from work I walk up and meet a trainer and we do some weights routines. If I have enough time or energy I will stay for an extra half an hour and “jog” on the elliptical runner or ride a stationary bike. Well, that was back in January and I'm still about 10 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight.
Before I got pregnant I was a pretty fit person. I worked out at least 4 times a week and I was kickboxing training with a private coach as well as taking 2 or 3 yoga classes a week. After I got pregnant I was told that kickboxing was too dangerous for the baby as it would elevate my heart rate too high and I might over heat, not to mention possible difficulties arising from accidents while sparring. I certainly didn't want to take any chances to I cut that out of my life. By the time I was a month into my pregnancy I was usually too nauseated in the early mornings and evenings (when I had “free” time) to bother. I kept up with my yoga for the most part, but even still the first trimester really takes a lot out of you.
The Lo! the second tri came about and I felt like new. I still had to shy away from kickboxing but I was able to spend the majority of the World Cup back on the elliptical runner, exercising while watching the matches with one of my very closest friends. (E. if you're reading this, I miss you. I also know you read this blog with a fair amount of frequency... drop a comment every now and then. :) ) Life was good again although some of the yoga poses became quite a bit cumbersome. Who knew just how much a belly could get in the way? (yes, that is a rhetorical question.)
Unfortunately, as soon as the World Cup was over Jim and I packed up our belongings and jumped in the car for our big move from Toronto to Miami. When we arrived in Miami in the middle of the summer it was just too hot for me to even think about walking anywhere and I could not find a suitable pre-natal yoga class. Needless to say that in my 3rd trimester I got... well... large. I had gained well over 35 lbs and was feeling very much like Orca... without the water displacement and the sharp teeth. To make matters worse, the midwives were concerned about the fluid levels surrounding the baby and I was strictly instructed not to sweat too much. Um, they knew I was in a Miami summer, right?
I have now decided it is time to take my body back. I no longer wish to feel like a frumpy old mother. A mother? yes. Frumpy and old? HELL NO! Which leads me back to my original statement. I have been going to the gym to meet with my personal trainer (PT) since January and this past week I signed up at a new martial arts studio, which conveniently is within walking distance of our house, to train for kickboxing again. UFC, here I come! (just kidding)
I have to admit it, I'd missed my purple hair. I got rid of it and went back to a "normal" color the December before Morgan was born. Before then, it was a beautiful shade of purple.
Anyway, today I decided enough was enough and I needed to do something to make myself feel less frumpish. So, I went to the local herbal store, bought an herbal (ammonia etc. free) hair dye with the alluring color title "violet" and took the plunge this evening.
I will report back later on the results, but the early verdict is that my hair is superman black with purple instead of blue highlights. When my hair dries completely I will take and post up some photographic evidence.
I'm also curious to see if the change of my hair color will confuse Morgan tomorrow.
