Checking in at the halfway mark

So here it is, halfway through my pregnancy. We found out on Tuesday that we are having another girl. We have decided to name here Karina Rose. My first trimester was not as productive as I had hoped. I only got to exercise maybe 2 days a week. I am going to make an effort now that I an approaching the halfway point of this trimester to weight train 2 days a week. So far, I have only gained 9 pounds which is great for me! With both of my previous pregnancies I had put on at least 15 by this point. I am still going to make an effort to keep my weight gain under 25 pounds this time around. I have one pair of pants from my last pregnancy and they still fit me, which is a good sign. I definitely do NOT need to gain anymore weight in my hips and thighs this time around! I am doing some research on what to do once the baby is born, and I think I will be going back to the Female Body Breakthrough. I was going to try ChaLean until I found out we are moving and I lost my exercise room. I will be joining a gym in October, so that will be when I start my program. Until then, I will be doing a post-pregnancy workout I have. It's all body weight exercises to get you body used to exercising again after pregnancy. I will check in again once I am in my 3rd trimerster.

Just when you think you're on a roll....

Yeah, so I noticed on Monday that I had not started my period yet. I checked my calendar to see when my last period was. Turns out I am almost a week late. So I get out my one remaining pregnancy test and pee on the stick. All the time I am praying that it does not turn up positive. Lo and behold, I am pregnant. So, this was definitely unexpected, but you just have to deal with what you are given at the time. So needless to say, I will not be trying to lose weight right now. I am going to try and only gain as little as possible this time around. I know from my last 2 pregnancies that I really don't need to gain anymore than 20 pounds. The other 15 stayed with me both times. So my goal is not to gain more than 25. I plan on continuing to strength train during my pregnancy. Obviously, I am not trying to gain lots of muscle, but I don't want to lose what I do have. The first trimester is always the hardest because of morning sickness. So I will deal with that as best as I can and try to exercise 3 days a week. So, here we go again!

It begins on Monday!

So, I have chosen the fitness plan I am going to follow. I have written down my "whys". I have taken my old pictures and my old clothes and hung them up on the walls as a visual motivator. All that is left now is to do it. I have had almost an entire year to lose my weight and have been unable to do so. I am taking my last year as a learning experience. I am going to ignore the little voice in my head that tells me that I will never be able to fit into my old clothes again. I am choosing to believe that everything I need to achieve my goals is in me. I am the only one who can change my circumstances. It's time to accept where I am now and know that I can stay where I am at and continue to buy clothes in this size, or I can do something to change my lifestyle and get back into the closet full of clothes waiting to be worn again. Nothing will happen until YOU do something. And don't do it for someone else. It has to be for you and you alone. 2010 is going to be my year!

Trial week

So I did 2 workouts this week. I haven't really been watching what I eat. I will focus on that next week. The workouts are great! It's amazing how you can take a move as simple as a squat and modify it so that every muscle in your body is working. I have been going through my old clothes and pictures from before I had kids. I took several of the pictures and put them up around the house. I also took some of my old clothes and hung them on the wall in my bedroom. That way I have a visual reminder wherever I go in the house. It's nice to have a "why", which I do, but it's also nice to have my old jeans to look at. Jeans that I can't pull past my knees right now. So starting next week, whenever I am tempted to cheat, all I have to do is look at my old jeans just waiting to be worn again. It's an extra motivator for me. I am a visual person, so seeing my old things and pictures of me when I was a size 4 will definitely help me on this journey. What are some things you do to keep yourself motivated?

The Time Has Come!

Well, the time has finally come. I finally decided which program I am going to follow. It's called The Female Body Breakthrough by Rachel Cosgrove. I picked this program because I actually read things in this book that I have never read before in any other program geared toward women. I won't give too much away, but needless to say, if you are looking for a program that will give you results and that will work with a woman's body, give this one a try. I will be posting my results at 4 weeks. I will also try to post a weekly update as well. I have my thermometer jeans ready to go. So we will see how far I can pull them up by then. If you want to know about thermometer jeans, get the book!

Putting it all together

So I have been doing a lot of thinking these past 2 weeks. What is it I really want? Is it just to get back into my old clothes? Or is it something more? I think it's something more. So now I am taking this coming week to examine what that "more" is. I will also be looking at what my obstacles are and how I can overcome them. I don't just want to be skinny again, it's more than that. I want to be an example to my daughters. I don't want them to have the same bad examples I had growing up. When I was a child, there wasn't nearly as much information about health and wellness as there is today. We have no excuses for raising our children the way we were raised. We know better. So part of my journey is not just for me, but for my daughters. I want to educate them about health and wellness so that they don't end up with the health problems that are plaguing society today. I also do not want to end up with diabetes like my mother and her mother and her sister did. It's more than just being able to get into my skinny jeans again. It has to be more than that or I could just starve myself for a few months and be done with it. I almost have all of the pieces, then I will be able to put my puzzle together.

Where I have been

Okay, so this is a brief summary of where I have been and where I am going. I was always a "chubby" kid. I wasn't what you would call obese, I just needed to lose a few pounds. I was this way through my mid twenties. When I turned 26, I moved to Tampa with my parents and got a job waiting tables. All of a sudden, I started losing weight. I was literally shrinking! At my smallest, I was a size 10. In the span of about a year, I went down to a size 4! I could not believe it. I had been chunky for most of my life up to this point, so I was stunned every time I looked at my new body. I started to change my eating habits and exercise to maintain my new weight. I really ate clean most of the time and started rollerblading a few days a week. So, life went on. I got married and got pregnant. I always maintained that I was going to eat healthy and exercise so I would be able to fit back into my old clothes. Famous last words! Of course I used my pregnancy as an excuse to eat junk. I tried to exercise, but morning sickness sidetracked that. I exercised off and on throughout my second and thrid trimesters. I ended up gaining almost 40 pounds. So, needless to say, after I had my first daughter I was carrying around 20 extra pounds. Fast forward one year. I made a half-hearted attempt to lose weight before I got pregnant with my second daughter. It didn't happen. So I gained another 35 pounds with my second pregnancy. Now after having 2 children, I am almost 40 pounds heavier than I was before I ever got pregnant. It's been frustrating for me. I know what I need to do, but there are 100 more excuses to come up with now that I have 2 children to care for. I guess I am starting this blog more for myself so that I have a written account of my journey. I guess I am waiting for something to click in my head or something like that. I know what I need to do, it's just that I can't seem to get my ass in gear! That doesn't mean that I will ever stop trying, though.