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Monday, April 30, 2012

334 Days Left: When a Sickness Knocks You for a Loop

April 30th

Out Sick

Wow. I didn't realize I haven't posted in this long. I know I've been gone for a few days, but geez.

Last Monday, my youngest and my husband came down with a wicked stomach virus. Guess who was the caretaker? Yup; it was me. Fun times. Even more fun was when I came down with the same wicked stomach virus on Friday. Chills, fever, gross stuff... Saturday I felt great but then Sunday I had a relapse.

I'm praying that today is a healthy day. I'm going to take it easy and do what I can, which most likely means no workout unless I do some yoga.

On a 'good' note, I may have lost some weight. I say 'good' because it wasn't really in a healthy way. I barely ate anything and felt terrible. Why do people with eating disorders continue like that? I wouldn't recommend it for anyone.

But anyway, I now have to be careful. The tendency for me to eat a lot after being sick is pretty good. I have to just continue to make healthy choices and eat my allotted calories as given by MyFitnessPal.

So here's to a good day!

~Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.Blogspot.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Sweating and Burning with EASA 2

Phew! My workout today rocked! I did my Summer Body workout again (see my post here) and it was awesome. I couldn't believe how quickly it went!

Here are the stats:

workout exercise
April 24th Workout
Source: MMMcK
I feel great! I also lost a pound, which is incredible considering the terrible food consumption I had this weekend. I'm back down to 220lbs after gaining that one miserable pound last week. It's a loss; I'll take it!

I recorded the workout on MyFitnessPal. It gave me some calories back to eat, but you know what? I'm going to try my darnedest not to eat them.  There's no reason to eat more when the goal is to eat less! Of course I'm going to make the right choices for the rest of the day and not starve myself.

Hope the rest of the day feels this good! I'm off to do some other writing while the kids are napping.

~Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.Blogspot.com


Deadly Pizza and Trying MyFitnessPal App

It was a tough weekend for me, mostly because of, well, me. I wasn't watching what I ate, even though I started tracking WW style.

Saturday, I did well during the day, but when my husband proposed pizza that night, I said yes without hesitation. It's not like we haven't had pizza in a while; we have it every week!

He brought home Sicilian style red, white, and white with broccoli, all deadly in their own way. I started with two pieces: one red, one white broccoli. Great. Not so bad.

An hour later, the white started calling my name. I went for it, but when I got there, another white broccoli whined that I wasn't eating it too. So there's two more pieces...

An hour later (did I mention it was a late night?) another piece called out to me.

Why do I do that to myself?? Ugh. I felt gross when I realized what I did to my body.

At least I (hopefully) burned off some calories with cleaning and chasing after the kids.


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Days 9-10: WW, Interruptions, Cleaning, and Outdoor Fun

April 20th: Day 9

Today I started tracking my food using old style Weight Watchers points. I still have my books from when I joined back in 2009, and last year when I used this tracking I was able to lose 30lbs.

Right now I am able to use 30 points. I could track extra exercise points, but I'm not going to since I tend to go overboard.

I so wanted to complete my EASA workout today, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, I had to deal with a belligerent trespasser and her dog who was harassing my dog as they walked on the private property next to my fence. Argh! I'm sick to death of people like her and all the other druggies and drunks who trespass back there...

Anyway, here are the stats from EASA:
Source: MMMcK


At least in the afternoon I was able to run outside and play with the kids. It was a gorgeous evening. My youngest brother came over and we played baseball. It felt great that I could run the bases without getting winded!

April 21st

Today I was up early to attend a semi-annual spring cleaning at our church. My job is to climb up and down a step ladder to clean the stained glass windows and anything else that is up high (I'm one of the tallest in a small group of Italians..tee hee). My thighs were killing me from running around yesterday, but hey, that's good, right?

When I got home the kids wanted to play outside for a while, so we did. It was great to be outside and soak up some sun. I love that my lilacs have bloomed; they add such a wonderful fragrance to the air, one that relaxes me....

flowers, lilacs
Lilacs
Source: MMMcK


And now my cranky Teething Tyrannosaurus Rex is awake from her nap. Mommy time is now over.

Have a great weekend!
~Marissa

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Exercise--Yeah, Not So Much

Today's exercise wasn't my best effort: 24min and 162 calories burned. I had to quit midway due to a headache and the feeling like I was going to pass out, which isn't cool when I have two toddlers in the house with me....

Here's to a better tomorrow.

~Marissa


Day 7: The Baby Story--Me vs. Depo Provera

April 18th

Goal: Baby # 3
baby
I want another one of these!
Source: MMcK



I want another baby. It's simple as that.

My husband and I already have two beautiful, wonderful kiddos: a 3yo and a 1yo. I thought I'd be happy with just two, but the baby itch has hit me again recently.

But there's a problem: it's been six months and zip, zero, nada. 

When we decided to have our first baby, it happened quite easily. We planned, and we had a baby. It was perfect: he was born in June so I was able to finish almost an entire year of teaching.

Our second baby was a 'sort-of' surprise. We tried for a few months, but then I was injured in a car accident. Low and behold a few months after that, we had a baby on the way! She was due in January but arrived three weeks early in December (of course in the week when my OB/Gyn was on vacation...). When she came, I decided to resign from my teaching job to become a full time SAHM.

Now onto the third. It's been six months that we have been trying. So far, it's been a no go. That's concerning to me, knowing that the other two were conceived quite easily.

Here's my number one concern: my one shot of Depo Provera a year ago has forever messed me up.

After my daughter, my husband and I decided that we would wait a while before trying to have another baby. The Pill was out since I experienced massive migraines with the hormone filled ones and I wasn't consistent with taking it anyway. I wanted to get an IUD, but after considering the cost, I decided to get the Depo Provera shots.

Big mistake. 


I had one shot. The side effects were terrible to me: they were all like pregnancy symptoms! Headaches,  nausea, dizziness...Why would I want that when I had just had a baby? I discontinued the shots, even though I was supposed to have a second one that May. That June, I didn't get a period. I thought I was pregnant.

Turns out I wasn't, which actually saddened me. I was surprised that I had that reaction. I knew then that I did want another baby, and I wanted one before I turned 30. We officially started trying in October....but nothing.

I'm going to address two things: how Depo Provera messed me up and why I want to have the baby before 30.

Depo Provera prevents pregnancy by basically making the body think that it is already pregnant (hence the pregnancy symptoms...). It prevents the ovaries from releasing an egg at ovulation, thickens cervical mucus to block sperm and makes changes in the uterus to deny any chance of implantation. After the last dose, even after only one shot, a woman may not get pregnant for 12-18 months later (note: not true for all women, but for most who have the shot).

That's all great if you don't want a baby for a long time. I want a baby, um, now.

Here are my stats: I had the shot in February 2011, and only one shot. That's more than 12 months ago. Regular periods returned in October, hence the beginning of 'trying' then. I track ovulation, I know the right days, etc. etc. etc.

After doing some research (thanks Google!) I found that I am not the only one experiencing long term effects from the shot. It takes the body a long time to rebuild progesterone, the hormone responsible for helping your body keep a pregnancy (and other things, of course) and the hormone that is decreased when on Depo Provera.

Sigh. I guess I knew all of this before I got the shot (yes, I did read the literature) but it's killing me now.

To combat the (potential) loss of progesterone, I did some more research to see if there was something I could eat or take to supplement progesterone or support the amount of it in the body. There are some things to eat and supplements to take (view my article about Getting Pregnant After Depo Shots).

Okay, now on to the 30 stuff.

I want to have my next baby before I turn 30. Why? For starters, I'd like to keep my kids relatively close in age. My first two are exactly 2.5 years apart. My daughter turns two in December this year, so by the time I turn 30 in March next year she'll be 27 months old.

Next reason: my body is going to start the process of not being able to make babies soon. I know that many women have babies well into their 30s and even 40s (my mom had my youngest brother at 40), but I don't want to risk waiting. I started very early with periods--nine years old!--so I've been losing eggs for a long time. Fewer eggs means fewer chances of babies...

I also want to be a 'young' mom forever. When my potential youngest would be in school, I'd still be in my 30s, able to be in shape and active. When my kids are old enough to have kids, I'll be nearing my 50s, at which time I hope to be in shape and still active for those grandkids.

Am I planning my life too much?

Of course, I'll take whatever God gives me. I'm definitely blessed with what He has given me so far and would be content to accept that I wasn't meant to have a third child.

For those saying "At least you have two kids already", I know, but you don't understand. Wanting to have a baby is still wanting to have a baby, no matter how many a person already has. I love my kids, and I'd love to give them at least one more sibling to grow up with and love.

Also, what about losing 30 lbs? Well, I'd turn that into staying in shape and only gaining the required pregnancy weight and working that off until it's gone.

C'est la vie.

Thanks for reading!

~Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.Blogspot.com

Monday, April 16, 2012

Day 5: Two in One


April 16th

Goals: Exercise and Outside Fun

It is beautiful today, but HOT! I had the kids outside to play for a while earlier. My son was trying to play t-ball and my daughter was picking all of the dandelions in the yard while I tried to keep up with both of them. We just couldn't take the heat and humidity after an hour so we went inside.


Tip! 
On hot and humid days, make sure everyone has plenty of water to drink, including you, kids and even pets! You have more chances of dehydration on days like this than other days, especially when you are active outside.


Day 3: 350 Days Left--Saving Money

April 14

Goal: Saving money

Have I mentioned yet that I'm jobless?

Yep, I'm jobless, but that's by choice. Right after my second child was born, I decided to resign from my teaching job (which I LOVED) to be a stay-at-home mom for my kids. So what does that mean? It means a loss of a second steady income for a family of four, a dog and a turtle. Not that it means I don't have anything to do all day; I feel like I work more now than I ever did at a job!

Luckily my husband still has his full-time job, a second job and a small business to keep us afloat. We've also made sacrifices (okay, let's not call them that...I ain't no saint), I mean cuts to our everyday spending habits. In other words, we watch our money supply very carefully.

I almost resorted to extreme couponing, but what was I going to do with a million tubes of toothpaste?

Don't get me wrong. I do use coupons. I do shop sales. I do use generic brands. I just don't have the time right now to find, cut and sort an entire binder full of coupons... I digress.

Money saving. Right.

We have a separate account from our main account that houses our 'extra money', aka the money we dip into if we need to pay bills. I want to make it my goal to add to keep adding to that account at least every two weeks since we need it, but I'd also like to save money for fun things as well.

So far, I have been collecting change. That's right: collecting change in coins, and it all comes from this house. Just this morning, I gathered the change from my husband's nightstand, which totalled $20.00. Not bad, eh? I also checked the jar I have in the kitchen for collecting change: $11.00 there. Not too shabby.
money, coins
It all adds up! 

change, money, coins, saving
Change Jar in Kitchen


I'm going to keep collecting the change I find in the house, bags, pockets, etc and place it in a 'secret' jar (one that my son can't find..he loves to 'feed' his piggy banks...). I'd like to collect enough to put towards a beach vacation for the family next year. We need something like that--a place to get away and spend quality time as a family.

That, and mommy misses the beach.

~Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MmmyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com

Friday, April 13, 2012

Day 2: 351 Days Left

April 13th


Wow. Yesterday's workout kicked my butt. I was so achy this morning that it was hard to get out of bed (oh, yeah...getting up with the 1yo several times last night didn't help either). 


So what did I do? Another workout! I'm determined, people!


Today's workout, while shorter by 10 minutes, was still great. I burned nearly 187 calories and worked up a sweat (ew!). 




My trainer was proud of me. Can you tell? Go me! 


Here are the exercises for today:


exercises

exercises


Pretty good workout, eh? My muscles say YES! 


I'll probably be taking the next two days off, simply because my body needs to rest. That and if my muscles are too sore, I won't be able to lift and carry my teething tyrannosaurus rex...


TIP: Remember to breathe when exercising! Sometimes you get so into the exercise that you forget! It's super important to breathe the right way. EASA 2 actually gives you advice about breathing, saying that you should exhale when you are doing something with force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exercise, Day 1

April 12th

I'm losing 30lbs. Care to join me?

One of my goals before I turn thirty is to lose 30lbs (check out my first post for details!). I'm determined this time. I will be at the weight I was at my wedding six years ago, which was fine for me. Now if I could lose 40lbs, I'd be at my high school weight, but we'll see...

For my first day back to exercising, I used EA Sports Active 2 for Wii. It's what I used when I lost my first 30lbs after my second baby. (I know. 30lbs before, 30 more lbs? Heffer.) Right now, I'm at 220lbs. (I weighed myself with Wii Fit, which said I was 217, but that was before my workout and they're kind enough to deduct the weight of clothing...).



I'm going to try to exercise 30 minutes a day for at least 3 days a week. If I can do more, I definitely am going to do more. My routines will be my own workouts, ones I create using the exercises in EASA2.workout. I like that because I am able to modify the routine to avoid exercises that will irritate my arm/neck/shoulder/back injury sustained from a car accident (ever feel the impact of two wheels hitting your car? It hurts.).

My workouts will all be at the medium intensity until I feel I can kick it up a notch.  All routines will include warm-ups and cool downs. I will also be drinking at least 32oz. of water during the workout and 32oz. after the workout.

I have three problem areas I intend to focus on: arms, thighs and belly. I'd rather see muscle in those areas than what I see now.

Here's my workout from today (Time 36:31):


  1. Alternating Shoulder Rotations (Warm-up)
  2. Goodmornings  (Warm-up)
  3. Hip Circles  (Warm-up)
  4. Bent Over Reverse Flys
  5. Bent Over Rows with Triceps Kickbacks
  6. Hammer Curls with Narrow Shoulder Presses
  7. Overhead Triceps Extensions
  8. Seated Rows
  9. Alternating Side Lunges
  10. Sumo Squats with Pivots
  11. Hip Bridges
  12. Foot Fires
  13. Fitness Trail--Follow the Leader (Med)
  14. Reverse Crunches
  15. Squats with Overhead Triceps Extension
  16. Mountain Biking
  17. Boxing--Combo Station 2
  18. Boxing--Sparring 2
  19. Mountainboarding
  20. Step Aerobics--Dance 1
  21. Step Aerobics--Mixed
  22. Soccer--Goalkeeper
  23. Basketball--Passing
  24. Basketball--Shooting
  25. Arm Across and Pulls (Cool down)
  26. Pretzels  (Cool down)
I did more cool downs than what is listed here, but you get the idea. 



It was an awesome workout with nearly 280 calories burned. I felt the burn, definitely.

I even made sure to add the housework I do, since every little bit adds up (right, moms?). 180 calories for the physical work I do in the house isn't too bad. 



Hopefully this will be the kick start I need!  Thanks for reading!

Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com



Thursday, April 12, 2012

Day 1: 352 Days Left

This is the start of a new beginning for me. A little over a week and a half ago, I turned 29 years old.

Big whoop, right?

It is kinda a big thing for me. Next year I'll be....gulp....thirty. Gasp! I know. My husband turned 30 last year, as did most of his friends. Now my friends are all starting to turn 30, or at least approach it. Thirty used to be an old age to me, the age my mother was when she had my youngest sister. Thirty is nearly ten years post undergraduate schooling. Thirty is the beginning of the end of my reproductive cycle. Thirty is when my body will refuse to lose weight, refuse to gain muscle. My kids are going to look at me and go "Ew! She's thirty!".  Thirty is scary, right?

For me, it actually isn't. For me, it's a goal to reach. It's just a number. It's the beginning of the summer of my life, the time when I am fully into adulthood and I continue in life to mature and grow as a person.

Yep. Lookout 30. Here I come. I'm ready for you. For the next 352 days, I'm going to change me. You're not going to change me; I AM going to change me.

This is what I am going to accomplish in the next 352 days:

1. Lose at least 30lbs. Not so hard, right? Wrong. I had two kids in the past four years, and I'd like to have at least one more. Since my daughter, I lost 30lbs of pregnancy and pre-pregnancy weight. At that point, I sort of hit a plateau and stopped exercising. I have stayed steady, but the rest needs to come off. More on this in my next post.

2. Try to have baby #3. Yeah, just throwing this one out there. We've been trying, but to no avail. More on this at a later time.

3. Get outside 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Is it getting corny yet with the reference to 30? Well, my birthday is 3/30...I digress. I want to become an outside person. Right now, I'm very much an indoor person: no bugs, no sunburn, no cold, etc. Now with kids, I have a need to be outside, at least for them. They need to be outside. I'm going to get out there and at least let them play. I also am starting a garden--a full fledged garden--with them this year. Even if I go for a walk, it'll count.

4. Try 30 new recipes. I am not a cook. My husband is the cook in this house. He actually loves it. For me, cooking is torture. Now that I am a full-time SAHM though, the cooking is part of my routine. I am going to find recipes that I find appealing and I am going to incorporate them into the lineup.

5. Write 30 awesome new hubs. I am a writer at ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com and also at my other blog, MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com. The HubPages account is what's bringing in some money though. I want to increase the amount of articles I have there by at least 30 and make them awesome. That is all.

6. Enter my 30th year with flair and meet all challenges head-on. Yeah, my list is relatively short now, but as I think of more goals, I'll add them. Basically, I want to make this year rock. I want to meet all challenges and reach or even surpass my goals.


Here's to my 30th year. Cheers!

Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.Blogspot.com