That Time I Cried

In general, I’m not a very weepy person but apparently if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen in public.
(Like the time in IKEA. Or bed bath & beyond. I guess I shouldn’t shop for housewares)
On Monday, I weighed in after Boot Camp certain that I had finally lost some weight. I had been eating better (though not my best) and the previous day I had been able to fit in a shirt that I hadn’t worn since I was pregnant with Judah. So when I stepped on the scale and saw that I had, in fact, GAINED 2 pounds in a week I nearly lost it. I continued with the weigh in and though my body fat percentage was less, it wasn’t significantly less. I was so discouraged and confused. Until I got home and put my weigh in in the app we use to track our progress. Here’s what it showed me:

I immediately texted one of our fitness coaches because I had to know if that was accurate… I gained 5 lbs in muscle? And lost a pound and a half in fat? She confirmed that this was something to get excited about and, believe me, I am!
I had focused so much on getting back to my pre-baby weight that the adage that “muscle weighs more than fat ” seemed like just an excuse. But apparently it’s really true!
I still have a ways to go but thank goodness for something more than a scale to tell me how far I’ve come. Not to mention it’s great to have more strength than I’ve ever had before!

Boot Camp Update

Y’all sometimes the truth hurts. And today’s truth is that I no longer have the body I used to. I’ve been blessed with a metabolism that has hitherto been able to handle my fried food addiction with great success. When I was 19, I worked out a few times a week (since I worked at the fitness center on campus, I felt like I should) ate cookies, ice cream, and fried chicken nearly every day and LOST WEIGHT. However that body has since put in its notice. It has said, “Lady, I got you through your first jobs, got you a husband (because without me you’d be 800 lbs) and grew and sustained another human being. You’re going to have to try a little harder.”
Like I said, brutal but true. The boot camp workouts have actually been great. It reminds me a lot of PE, like elementary school PE where it was still fun to sweat. And even though actually getting out of bed at 5:15 is hard, I don’t feel totally wiped out all day but actually more energized and ready to go. So when I left to go to Massachusetts, I wanted to work out and eat well like I had been doing but the logistics of caring for toddlers and planning meals for the extended family meant that it just didn’t happen. When I got back I weighed myself and was thrilled to see that I hadn’t gained any weight and actually lost some body fat %. This week I was convinced I must’ve lost since if I could stay the same while eating bad and not working out surely adding in daily workouts would burn more fat. Um, false. I realized a Very Important Lesson which is the difference between eating out bad and eating at home bad. It shouldn’t make that much of a difference but it does! Because while I ate things like stuffed shells, mashed potatoes and pancakes in MA they were all foods made at home with “real” ingredients.
my take away is this: I have to eat at home more if I really want to lose weight. Eating my good foods is really 80% of the battle like they say. And I’d wager 90% of that battle comes between the hours of 3 and 5 when I have to decide to cook dinner.
So here’s to a new week and some fresh attempts!

We’re Back!

That’s right, Judah and I have safely returned home and did not freeze to death in the Arctic (also known as Massachusetts in January). I loved getting to spend time with my sister but I’m glad to be back too. Josh texted me something like this while I was gone:

“I’ve been ironing for over an hour. Don’t ever leave me.”

A lot happened in the two weeks we were there so I’m going to try and hit some of the highlights. Firstly, I have a new adorable nephew! Tyler was born on January 22 and I got to experience “taking two toddlers to the hospital” a few times to visit.

Speaking of two toddlers, watching Mason and Judah interact was super fun. Mason has a lot more words than Judah so it was always funny to hear him calling for Judah over the monitor when he woke up from his nap. I know they’re both too young to really play together but they definitely loved having the other around! Sometimes Mason would do something over and over again just because it made Judah laugh or vise-versa. One of their nightly activities was racing their little walkers around the living room/kitchen/front hall. It was kind of like toddler NASCAR.

 

Mason did get stomach sick two days while we were there, which was a bummer, but it allowed Judah and I to go on some adventures to the Children’s museum and IKEA. The Children’s museum was great! I wish we had one around here (an IKEA too, for that matter). Judah loved being allowed to climb as many stairs as he wanted, “drive” an ambulance and lower this contraption into a giant bubble maker.

I’m actually thankful we got to experience some snow while we were there, otherwise it’s just cold. Judah didn’t hate it, but he didn’t love it either. Jeremy was excited to finally use his snowblower and Mason “helped” so it was a good day for all the boys!

Judah did great on the car ride, both ways and I am so thankful. That was the one part of the trip that scared me the most – I was so afraid that he would either scream the whole time or we would stop every half hour and never get to where we were going. Thankfully my over-preparedness and Googling for weeks paid off and we made extremely good time, especially on the way home.

So we are safely back and I am looking forward to Valentine’s Day with my hubby!