30 Before 30 Challenge: #7: Get back to my wedding day weight.

On my wedding day, July 2, 2011, I wore a size 0 dress, and I weighed 110 pounds.  Then I got married.  Within the first year of marriage, I rapidly gained 15 pounds and then crawled all the way up to 130 before deciding it was time to GET SERIOUS about losing weight.

I lost about 5 pounds, but I could not seem to drop the rest, due in large part to the fact that I often just fell off the wagon.  I LOVE food so much, and it is so hard not to eat yummy things, especially because healthy stuff never seems to really fill me up.  I end up hungry all day long, and being hungry makes me weak, physically and mentally.

I did experience some success when I started eating a lot of hard-boiled eggs for breakfast and lunch.  They would fill me up so that I could go a few hours without eating, and then I could still have a big meal in the evenings.

And then I got pregnant, and the whole thing went out the window.  I ate pretty much whatever I wanted, within reason (or sometimes not within reason, like the epic fried pickle craving day, of which I cannot speak without experiencing both pride and shame).  I gained about 38 pounds during the pregnancy, and my weight topped out around 164.  

Once my son was born, I lost most of that weight in just a few weeks.  He was more than 10 pounds of it, and I was breastfeeding, so it was easy to drop.  But then I hit 133 pounds and just stopped.  For more than a month, I sat at 133 pounds, not gaining or losing anything.

Yesterday, my mom called me and said she was going to be trying to lose some weight and asked me to help hold her accountable and encourage her.  I was inspired and decided that it is time to get myself motivated and start losing the rest of this weight.  Coincidentally, yesterday was my half-birthday, which means I have exactly 6 months from yesterday to reach my wedding weight in order to accomplish #7 on my list of 30 things to do before I turn 30.

My first day was a rough one because I ended up eating way too much and then having to stay up late exercising in order to even things out.  I chose a calorie goal of 1,350, which I think is probably reasonable, but I ended up so hungry last night.  I was already discouraged by this morning, but when I did my weigh-in at 10:45 - according to my Wii Fit, I should weigh myself at the same time every day - I discovered I had lost 1.8 pounds since yesterday.  I realize some of that is probably water weight, but it is most likely excessive water weight since I did manage to get in my recommended 8 glasses of water yesterday.

Today, I am doing better, and I even ate some carrots this morning, even though I really do not like them.  I do miss being able to fit into my clothes, and I know that if I cannot lose the weight soon, I will have to start donating all of my itty-bitty clothes and buying bigger ones, and I just do not want to have to do that.

If you are interested in losing weight, join me on MyFitnessPal.com, and we can cheer each other on as we log our food and exercise!  Gooooooo team!

Mission accomplished: Traveling with cloth diapers

Well, I did it.  I got through my first weekend of traveling with cloth diapers only.  Last week, I posted about the planning process, and I felt I was quite well prepared for the trip.  Unfortunately, I forgot my diaper pail, which was not a game-ender but was definitely a game-changer.

Part of the reason I forgot it was because I did not fully consider the fact that there is never a time when ALL of my son's diapers are clean.  I realize this seems pretty obvious, but I thought I could just leave one or two in the pail as we traveled, and I just did not plan laundry time right.  I did plan to just take out what was in there and leave them, but then I just forgot the whole thing.

To make matters worse, my son decided to have one of his "poop days," so I had poopy diapers with no pail in which to store them.  I ended up just using some plastic grocery bags to store the poo diapers and tossing them, along with the wet diapers, into a garbage bag.  It was pretty stinky when I opened it up at home, but all in all, it really was not too bad.

I really enjoyed showing off my son's diapers to family.  I made sure my sister got to see the adorable Charlie Banana robot diaper she got him.  (By the way, I highly recommend Charlie Banana.  I do not particularly like the front-loading pocket since that part of the diaper is always soaked when I take it off, but it works so well that it is still one of my favorites, especially when we are out and about.  I love any diaper that I can put on without having to worry about leaks.  It's the little things.)  I also loved being able to put him in his BumGenius 4.0 and send him off to bed for the night without worrying that his clothes would be soaked in the morning.

All in all, it was a successful weekend, and I look forward to doing it next time, hopefully with my diaper pail along for the ride.

Getting ready to travel with cloth diapers

The weekend is almost here, and I am excited because tomorrow I am taking my son up to Pennsylvania to see my family.  My husband is not able to go with us, so it will be just the two of us, plus our two dogs.  Fortunately, it is only a 2 and a half hour drive, and if I time it just right with his usual morning nap, we might even make it without having to stop.  Maybe.

I am also excited - and a little nervous - because this is going to be our first time traveling with cloth diapers.  The first few times we went away overnight, we used disposables for the sake of convenience and because we did not have anywhere to launder the diapers or enough diapers to go without washing for the length of the trip.  This time, we have my mother's washing machine available to us should we want to use it, but we also probably have enough to make it through without washing.

Traveling overnight with cloth diapers does require a bit more planning than using disposable diapers, but I think it is manageable.  I am definitely taking all of my BumGenius diapers from Kelly's Closet and my SmartSnugs because those are, by far, the best in my stash.

I have several BumGenius Freetime diapers, but I have even more BumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers.  The 4.0s are my absolute favorite diapers.  I use them as my son's overnight diapers and any time we are going out or doing something where I know I cannot change him as often as I do at home.  I can leave them on him for as long as I would leave a disposable because the material wicks away moisture.  Even when his diaper is soaked, his skin is not.

I also have several SmartSnugs pocket diapers, including 1 NatureSnug and 3 SimpleSnugs.  I love them all, but I do think the Nature Snug does just slightly better at keeping my little man's tush dry over time.  I use them with the 6-layer Bamboo Charcoal insert, which is one of the best inserts I have found.  It defies logic because it is thin, absorbs a ton, and somehow dries super fast after washing.  I don't know how it works, but it does, and that's good enough for me.

For storage, I am taking my Bambino Mio diaper pail, which I absolutely adore because the lid locks, which makes it great at trapping odor and travel-friendly.  It is just the right size to hold about 2 days of diapers, which is perfect for me since I do diaper laundry every other day.  I am also taking my SmartSnugs wet bag.  I wish I had more wet bags, but hopefully in the future I can snag a few more.  So far, one has been enough, but I think traveling may change that.

Finally, I am taking along my Bummis Super Whisper Wrap and some prefold cloth diapers, just in case my son has one of his poopy days.  (Being breastfed, he only poops every 5-7 days, but when he does, it tends to happen in three's, and it tends to be ferocious.  I'm still not sure which is the better way to go - regular small poops or rare but deadly poops.)

The Bummis Super Whisper Wrap is something I never would have purchased on my own, but it came with a big stack of prefolds that I purchased from another mommy.  This is my absolute favorite diaper cover.  I have 3 of them in medium, but they fit my son well before he reached the minimum weight.  They are so easy to use, and I love being able to just lay a prefold into the cover and put it on.  They are also super trim, and they fit so well under my little guy's clothes.  I use them with his one fitted diaper, too.

And that's it.  I am doing up all my laundry today and using as few of his "good" diapers as possible, so he will have plenty that are clean and ready to go in the morning.  If nothing else, it should be interesting, and I am hoping to influence my sister a bit, just in case she decides to go for baby #3.

Have any tips for traveling with cloth diapers?  Please share them in the comments below.  Thanks, and wish me luck!

Hooray for small victories: Recovering after pregnancy

Today, I wear a pair of jeans - not sweat pants, people! Jeans! - that are NOT maternity jeans.  Now, granted, they are a couple sizes larger than what I wore pre-pregnancy, but only a couple.  And last week, when I tried to put them on, I was able to button them but not able to breathe comfortably after doing so.  Although I cannot see a difference in the size of my belly since last week, the fact that I can wear these jeans is an indication that it is still getting smaller, even though it does not appear to be.

I am absolutely floored by how long it is taking to get rid of the belly, but I am so glad to know it is shrinking, albeit much too slowly for my taste.  I have tried doing abdominal exercises to move the process along, but that still causes me a little pain around the incision from my C-section, so I am going to wait a bit longer before getting too crazy with ab work.

I still cannot fit my wedding and engagement rings on my fingers, at least not without feeling as though I might be dangerously close to cutting off all circulation, but I think I will be able to soon.  I was so not prepared for this to take so darn long, but everyone keeps telling me that it took 9 months to grow the baby, so I should give myself 9 months to recover.

2 and a half down.  Only 6 and a half to go until I am "normal" again?  And really, I doubt I ever will be like I once was...5'2", 100 pounds soaking wet, flat tummy...but you know what?  Even though I still look pregnant, I would not change it for the world.  Carrying my little boy in my belly was the most amazing thing I have ever done.

And, on the bright side, at the rate we're going, we'll be ready to try for the next one before this belly is gone, so my son will be used to seeing Mommy with a big tummy.  Ha!

Taking time for Mommy

A few days before my son was born, my husband surprised me by presenting me with a "push gift," which is essentially a "thanks-for-having-my-kid-gift."  My hubby had filled mine with my favorite wine, my favorite vodka, my favorite coffee, my favorite snacks, and a gift certificate to Brush Strokes, a very nice salon in our area, so I could go get my hair done after the baby arrived.

After 2 and a half months, I finally managed to get to the salon this past weekend, and it was glorious.  I got my hair cut short and had highlights put in, so it took almost 3 hours.  It was the longest I have been away from my baby thus far, and I definitely missed him, but it was nice to just sit still for awhile and relax.  (It was also REALLY nice to get back home to my little boy.  Turns out I just cannot get enough of him.)

The salon was a lot more expensive than where I usually go (Hair Cuttery, I'm not ashamed to admit), but the service was noticeably better.  It was so nice not to have someone tell me six times that I have an awful lot of split ends and should have come sooner for a trim or that my attempt at coloring my hair on my own was a bad idea (even though I obviously know that because I said so when I came in).  They were so nice and even did my makeup for free.

Since I am still carting around a decent potbelly and starting to wonder if round is just going to be my permanent look from now on, going to the salon made such a difference in how I feel about myself.  I got myself dressed instead of just rolling around the house in sweat pants and a nursing tank like I often do, and I daresay I may even consider shaving my legs tonight...well, okay...maybe tomorrow.

The point is that it is so important to take time to do something nice for yourself from time to time.  Whether it is a trip to the salon, a new outfit, a massage, a mani-pedi, or whatever does it for you, make it happen.  If money is too tight for luxury items, treat yourself at home.  Have your spouse or a friend watch the kids for a few hours and take a long bath, do your hair, and give yourself a manicure.  It will make such a difference and make you feel so refreshed. Do it for you.  Do it for your spouse.  Do it for your kids.  Do it!

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