Teatopia

Getting a Grip

We've been making a tremendous effort to eat healthier and just be healthier in general. I know I'm not alone in these efforts and I've enjoyed reading about healthy living on a few of your blogs. Seems a few of us are really working hard. I was on a great kick several months ago and could see some great changes in my body. I cut out most processed foods, tried to eat more raw fruits & veggies, started buying lots of organic, and made an effort to exercise regularly.
I even was careful when I went to St@rbucks, ordering skim lattes with artificial sweetener or sugar free syrup. I know my coffee obsession doesn't help and I've lapsed into ordering whipped cream again and licking gooey caramel syrup. Yikes! Sometime last summer, I got lazy and relapsed a bit, but still maintained some of my healthy habits, though not enough to maintain my weight loss. :-(

This time around, there have been a few things prompting my choice to regain a healthy life style. One obvious reason is this pregnancy. I'm much more aware of what goes into my body, and I feel guilty for some of the over-indulging I did in the first trimester. It's so easy to get that "eating for two" mindset, when really, eating for two should make me more conscious of what this little baby is being exposed to. It was much easier when I was pregnant with Olivia because I had more time to plan meals. When I went to work, I packed healthy lunches and had to eat them because it was all I had with me. Now, I'm at home and I go out to lunch with my sister and my friends and I end up eating crap. Or, I snack throughout the day. Even when I'm eating fairly low-fat snacks, too many of them definitely add up. I'm also notorious for eating late at night, which is awful, I know. I was also desperately thirsty during my 1st pregnancy, and often I drank so much water that I didn't eat much else. These days however, dinner often is whatever is easiest or fastest, and while I don't make anything really fattening (nothing fried), even boxed things like Hamburger Helper aren't so good. There's little nutritional value. Lately, I've been planning ahead and looking at healhy cookbooks for ideas, and I've been enjoying it. I just hope it lasts. I tend to get really excited about things, and then my focus shifts to other stuff and I stop doing what I was doing and get caught up in other things.

I think that in order to really be healthier, the next step is to start exercising more. It'll make my labor much easier. I know I can't lose weight right now, but I can maintain and get serious after the little guy arrives.

The other reason I'm trying harder is because of the shock I got when I finally weighed myself. I know it's terrible that I didn't know-- that I avoid looking when I go to the doctor's. I don't even own a scale anymore. Ours broke and I never replaced it. How's that for poor self-image? I actually have told doctors not to tell me. I know, it's bad. Well, I figured I needed to know for this pregnancy, and I almost fainted when I found out that I started out at the weight I weighed at the end of my pregnancy with Olivia. I lost a lot of weight last spring, so sometime between then and a few months ago, I put on a lot of weight. I stopped exercising when my health condition prevented me from doing so (the one I blogged about on my private blog-- you can leave a comment for the password if you haven't seen it or want to read it again). But in spite of it, my heart is more important and I might just have to deal with some discomfort from my health problem in order to live longer in the long-run.

James has been really making an effort over the last few months, eating oatmeal each morning and drinking slim-fast at lunch. I can see a huge difference. Neither of us is "fat", but we both need to lost some weight. I probably need to drop 40/50 pounds to be thin again, and that's not going to be easy. I'm not sure I'll ever be skinny again, but even average would be fine. I'm not plus-sized, but if I keep gaining a few pounds each year, I'll be headed that way. I'd love to be in a single digit size this time next year, or by the summer of 2009. Keep in mind, I still have 4 months to go before the little guy comes, than probably another 2 months of recovery, so it'll take some time...

Anyway, for now, putting good things into my body is going to give this new baby a great start, and also hopefully keep me from gaining more weight than I should. I've been making things like whole wheat spaghetti noodles with tomato sauce, tons of veggies (mushrooms, onions, garlic, peppers, spinach, etc) and lean ground meat.

On Friday, I made a meal inspired by a Diabetic cookbook, which I bought it when my blood sugar was a little high in my 1st pregnancy. I cooked pork, onions, and garlic in my crockpot on low for 9 hours. It was fall-apart tender and so good. I could smell it cooking from outside my house! :-) I also cooked sweet plantains in just a tiny bit on Canola and simmered black beans, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spices for a couple hours to pour over rice. It was divine and low-fat. Olivia loved it.

For dessert, I baked a strawberry cake made with low-fat strawberry yogurt, fresh fruit, and whole wheat flour. Olivia devoured it!

One of my current favorite snacks is light Laughing Cow Cheese spread on whole wheat saltines. Yum! Also, I've been eating fresh pineapple and strawberries dipped in vanilla yogurt when I have a sweet tooth. I also bought some of the Smart Pop pocorn, which is pretty good. I don't buy anything bad, I can't eat it, but I do struggle when I go to my parents a few times a week and I see my dad with chips and cookies. I usually give in. :-( It's soooooo freaking hard sometimes!

Anyway, we want to establish good eating habits for Olivia, who thankfully loves fresh food. Just look at her with her banana! :-)

And here's another just because I think she's so cute! :-) She makes this face a lot lately because we always laugh when she does.

Posted by Hannah at January 21, 2008 02:09 PM