Gotta focus differently.

So. I've gotten feedback from and talked things out with a few different friends (and Scott), and have come to this conclusion: I have to shift my focus from losing a specific amount of weight by a specific date to just being consistent in my exercise and eating patterns. I think I may have, in all this excitement of dropping what's left of my baby weight, subconsciously become more aware and more restrictive with my eating. One thing about Whole30 and Paleo that I love is the absence of calorie counting and portion control-in a good way! I ate what I needed/wanted with minimal snacking, and the weight fell off, and my milk supply held steady. Last week, however, when I started exercising, I probably also started eating a bit less, and the shock to my
system of increased activity and reduced food, not to mention Lexi sleeping longer stretches at night, just caused my milk to tank. I'm working on getting it back though, and have high hopes and expectations. I'm trying to wrap my head around needing to eat more in order to shift the fat/muscle balance and keep my milk supply. Basically, I need to be replacing what I burn in order to not create a deficit in my calorie intake. However, I should still be getting fitter and losing fat by building muscle and increasing my cardiovascular ability. I've got to let go of the number on the scale entirely and focus on living well. This is a new thing for me, and to be honest, kinda scary. Actually, really scary. To let go of concrete measurable goals, and really just focus on being the best I can in all areas. I'm gonna commit here and now not to weigh myself but once a month at most, and to enjoy this journey. I really have been enjoying the food and the workouts so far, so I'm gonna keep the focus there.

To be completely honest...

I'm pretty discouraged today. I'm swollen, my knees are a little sore, I'm behind on things and a little overwhelmed. i need to Zumba and come up with dinner before Scott gets home, because it's grocery night. On top of these things, Lexi doesn't seem to be getting enough milk. She's frustrated during most feedings, and I feel so bad. So I've gotta do all i can to boost my supply. Sigh.

What's Next?

So, Whole30 is done. I'll probably do another 15 down the road a little, and a whole30 at least once a year, just to keep as healed up as possible. As far as weight loss, I think I've lost all I can purely from food. I've always known exercise is my best weight loss tool, and since I've gotten a great start over the past week and a half, the biggest hump I'll have to get over is the period of swelling and retaining water that always accompanies at least the first few weeks of hard workouts.
Now, to the point. What changes with Whole30 being finished? Well, we can have an occasional dessert, which will be nice. I plan on 85% of these desserts being Paleo, with a splurge for sweet frog once in awhile if I can tolerate it. I think the "no treats" restriction was really hard on Scott. I've missed chocolate a bit, but mostly excited to see if these recipes are as tasty as they look! Otherwise, I don't plan on changing much here at home, and even eating out really. Easter should be interesting...
What's my next goal? Well, since Lexi has been born, I've been hearing a lot of "it took 9 months to put the weight on, give yourself at least that long to take it off!"
Ok, well, Lexi will be 9 months old on 4/24, so that's the goal date I'm shooting for to lose this last 11 lbs I've gained since getting pregnant. I actually care less about the number on the scale than how my jeans fit, so really, I'm just shooting to be back comfortably into my pre-maternity jeans. Ideally, I'd like to look like the picture in this post, which I'm sure you've all seen a million times. At that point I'll be about halfway through week 7 of this Jillian Michaels program, and halfway through my 4th week back to spinning, so I should be able to lose the 2 inches each I'm shooting for off my waist and hips. :-) I'm going to do my official weigh and measure on Monday the 22, because I tend to swell up after a lot of hard work.

Day 30: 3/19/13

Sorry, last week got away from me! Not much to report anyway. I finished whole30 with no cheats, and no real temptation to, even though I sat or stood next to a table of cupcakes and other treats on Sunday, and sat at a table where everyone else ate mashed potatoes (even Scott), and everyone but Scott also had cake. Scott finished pretty well too. Those mashed potatoes were his only cheat. All I'm gonna say in the interest of documenting the journey is that I had no idea I could get so emotional about him eating mashed potatoes. Even now I'm almost in tears about it. And FWIW, I wasn't even tempted myself. Not because I'm superior in any way, but because my body knows what it wants, and very few things are worth going against that! :-) I'm going to weigh myself in a minute, but since I have worked out HARD the past 2 days, my official post Whole30 weigh in will come on next Monday after a rest day. :-)

Day 22: 3/11/13

Today I may have solved my workout crisis. I'll get into that more soon, but suffice it to say I had a great and butt kicking first workout on this new program. I have an amazing husband who I'm super thankful for, and will hopefully have to ask less and less of as Lexi and I get this schedule thing sorted. We make a great team though. :-) oh, and our daughter is pretty dang cute too!

Day 21: 3/10/13

Today I needed to go to church. It was daylight savings day and it would have been easy to make excuses why not to go, but I knew I needed to be there, to see our friends, and be reminded I'm not alone. I love our church family. Food is still going fantastically. Tonight's roast chicken and parsnips were a big hit! I've got an emotional boost from yesterday's Zumba and feel like things are headed in a better direction. 3 weeks in, and paleo feels gooood!

Day 20: 3/9/13

Today we played catch up on housework and hung out as a family. I'm struggling with some serious depression, to be honest. My clothes had gotten looser, now they are tighter again. I'm hoping I just ate something salty or something, but it still sucks. I really need to get moving and exercising. So today, I did. I did 20 min of high intensity Zumba. Not a long time, but super high intensity, and a really good start. It was hard work, hard to follow as a newbie, but also super fun! Not likely to get repetitive for a long time, which is good! Monday I start back to Yoga and do more Zumba, and add more as I'm ready. I need to build some momentum!

Day 19: 3/8/13

Groceries. I love gathering the ingredients for better health, but it's become stressful as its become more expensive. And I'm still not buying the stuff at the quality level I want to. We will get there, but dang is it hard to wrap my head around sometimes.

Day 18: 3/7/13

I really need to start working out. I'm also kinda confused. My favorite jeans that I hadn't been able to wear since early in my pregnancy fit me perfectly just a few days ago and now there's muffin top. I'm not sure what to think about that. Food is still great, and Scott seems to be feeling at least some better in the tummy.

Mama's in a funk

I put myself through this so often. I make a big fancy workout plan and then get overwhelmed by it. I want to do everything to get the fastest results and then either get discouraged or burn out. I'm about to make my March workout calendar for the fourth time. Blargh. I really wish I'd kept moving while I was pregnant.

Day 17: 3/6/13

I slept terribly last night. Lexi is having a bit of a reversion in her sleep, which is hard, and I'm sorta at a loss as to how to deal with it other than try to be consistent at the start of the night. Anyway. Food stuff is still going well. Beef lettuce boats for dinner were fantastic! I'm not sure if maybe I should be eating more at meals or what, but I'm finding myself hungry between meals. Gonna work on figuring that out, even as I start working exercise into my day. The schedule I so painstakingly designed is basically moot till Lexi gets back to normal with sleep. I had plenty of energy today despite the bad sleep and really wanted to work out, but needed another day to rest my back-I think this is a sign the Whole30 is starting to boost my energy.

Day 16: 3/5/13

Food is still amazing every day and fun to make! Scott is still having tummy issues, he thinks from all the veggies. Hope that lets up soon! I started to do my circuit training while watching BL this morning and tweaked something in my back. I'm frustrated to tears. :-( gotta get my mojo back!

Day 15/ 3/4/13

Today was a hard day. Not with food, but with energy and emotions. I started the day determined to get this routine building started. I got up at 7:30, which is 90min later than my target, but considering Lexi had spent the night in our room, it was a win. I started my yoga DVD a bit after eating, around 830. I made it only 10 min before I was just done. Too sore and tired and bleh to keep going. So I spent the rest of the day feeling defeated. :-( I know getting started counts, but I also know I need momentum to keep going, and I'm frustrated that I had the time (Lexi slept till 10) and I still didn't fully make it happen. I've gotta stop beating myself up though, because tomorrow is a new day.

2 weeks in!

Day 15 today! I can't weigh myself till the end, but I know I'm shrinking. I'm very tired today, but I think that's from being behind on sleep. I'm a little bummed that I haven't gotten into a workout routine yet, but I'm working on it little by little. I got thru about 3/4 of my yoga DVD today and about 1/4 today. Another try and also some strength and cardio tomorrow. I'm loving the food and missing very little! This is Scott's halfway point and my 1/3 point!

Day 14: 3/3/13

2 weeks down! Sixteen more days in Whole30, but I think I'm extending mine out to 45, and staying Paleo overall for life. Scott is still missing his carbs, but for me, I just feel like it'd be nice to have dessert once in awhile-I'm excited to try paleo desserts! I'll probably have something non-paleo once in awhile too, but I know how good I feel now, so compromising that won't happen too much.

Day 13: 3/2/13

So today was more cooking-I just couldn't stop!- and a lot of cleaning the kitchen. I am just really enjoying the kitchen creativity that paleo affords me, I'm definitely feeling more energetic too. Scott's been experiencing a "sloshy" feeling in his stomach after most meals, so we got him a digestive enzyme supplement. Hope that helps him and that his body starts to adjust soon! Probably the coolest thing I cooked today was this batch of pumpkin pancakes!

Day 12: 3/1/13

Today I did my weekly cook up. Depending when you read this, there may be a picture of my disaster of a kitchen in the aftermath. Here's what I did:
-10 mustard chicken thighs (2 meals)
-1 giant salad with tuna, tomatoes, avocado and sunflower seeds(Scott's lunch)
-egg salad (my lunch)
-made 3 salt blends (rosemary, sage, lemon) with fresh dried herbs and sea salt
-chopped 2 heads of cauliflower for cauli rice
-shredded sweet potatoes for 2 batches of sweet potato pancakes
-chopped veggies for stir fry (2 meals)
-started 2 jars of raw sauerkraut (shredded cabbage, carrots, roasted jalapeño peppers-all now fermenting for 2 weeks)(this was the most time consuming-squeezing cabbage till water came out!)
-steamed broccoli
-made a cup of almond meal
-chopped sunchokes and parsnips for roasting
-shredded carrots and zucchini and used them in a frittata
-peeled, chopped, and roasted butternut squash

I think that's all. ;-) I still need to make the breakfast cupcakes for the week.
I had a blast, even though my hands are cut and grated to burger meat.
Dinner was mustard chicken thighs and broccoli and was soooo good! Super easy too!
Update: instead of my mess (which I'm busy cleaning up!) I decided to post a pic of our paleo fridge! Yay veggies!

Day 11: 2/28/13

Today's major event was grocery shopping. I love Whole Foods for meat, but am pretty sure I'm gonna start hitting Kroger and Trader Joe's for produce and canned stuff before we head over there. Gotta keep costs reasonable. I'll pay what's needed for good food, but not everything needs to be organic, and the conventional stuff probs shouldn't cost quite so much. I am, however excited about these meal plans and trying all the new recipes and veggies I never even heard of!