Weight loss is very hard for me due to genetic factors. For the past several years, I’ve had a pattern of losing 5 pounds, then hovering up and down a few pounds for several months, then finally settling around the next five pounds down. I hit this goal in February, but didn’t realize I had become pregnant. Going vegan worked for me because I am very prone to eating out and eating convenience foods. When my husband and I switched to vegan for ethical reasons, it did two things. First, I think it startled my metabolism into working harder, and secondly, we had to start eating more fresh, whole foods prepared at home. It made all the difference for me. I am still overweight, but being pregnant also caused me to lose 10 more pounds. At 18 weeks of pregnancy, I have just gotten back to my starting weight. I have been told to only gain 11-20 pounds, so after the baby is born, I should be under my starting weight. I should have around 25 pounds left to my goal weight after the little one gets here! I’m so excited to be meeting so many of my goals rigt now! I know that trying to become healthy has been the catalyst for all of my success.
courtney foxsparrow
The quiz says I'm an Organized, Healthy Self-Improver. Nice!OMG finally! I totally forgot I even had this goal…I’ve been so busy the past year that I haven’t had time to come here and think about my goals. I’m almost 18 weeks along and we just found out we’re having a little boy!
The irony is, we had stopped trying. My husband was laid off last summer and we lost our benefits, so we moved home to Colorado, bought a house, and he started school to finish his degree. We were so focused on moving and meeting our school/work goals that we just kind of got pregnant in there by surprise.
I’m due October 7th, 2011…we can’t wait to welcome our little son to the world!
I’ve been thinking about getting my nose pierced since I was in college, about 7 or 8 years ago. I didn’t really get serious about it until I was 25 or 26, but my then-husband told me “I wasn’t that type of girl.” I’ve resented it ever since, but I didn’t want to get one just out of spite. A couple weeks ago, I mentioned it to my now-husband (who is AMAZING by the way) and he said that I had the perfect nose/face for it and that he would find it incredibly sexy. He told me to go for it if I wanted to . So now I’ve been thinking about it non-stop.
Today, I ran into a lady and her daughter who had really attractive nose studs, and asked them where they got them. I was going to wait until the next time we were in Denver, since we live in rural Wyoming, but these ladies had gotten their locally and said they had no problems with their piercings and that the person who did them was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately, the place is only open on Saturdays, so I have to wait a few more days to call and get more information. I just hope I don’t chicken out before then!
Wow, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve been able to post on here. I feel that I’ve accomplished this goal at this point. I have found a really easy way to do this: I buy frozen fruit (in addition to fresh fruit) and steamable microwave veggie bags. Not only are they inexpensive, I have no prep involved so I literally cannot be too lazy to eat them. Having my daily servings of fruits and veggies has made such a difference. It’s helped me keep my blood sugar under control, lose weight, avoid intestinal trouble, and has helped my hair and skin. I can’t be happier that I’ve made this change in my life.
I had testing done last week, and all of my tests came back within normal ranges. My A1C was exactly 7, my liver and kidney functions were normal, my blood pressure was good and my cholesterol was within normal ranges. I still need to lose weight, bring my A1C down a little more and increase my good cholesterol, but overall, I’m looking healthy! My A1C was higher than I expected, but the doc agreed that it was probably because we only switched my medication 6 weeks ago and the A1C is a 3 month average, so the average would show higher than the actual results I’m getting at home. She’s going to retest at the end of November, where I should be at a 6 at the highest.
My doctor said that she could tell that I have made a lot of changes in the past 9 months, so she knew that not losing a lot of weight like she wanted me to must be frustrating for me and not entirely my fault. I love my doctor, but until this visit, she didn’t believe me that I’ve been working on my diet and excersize. It was nice that she acknowledged that it isn’t entirely my fault.
I’m very happy with my progress. If the test results are as expected at the end of November, she’s “going to release me back to the ob/gyn.” Woo-hoo! Baby, here we come!
Well, I addressed the envelopes today. Mark and I are meeting for the weekend (since he’s working out of town) and I’m going to bring the cards with me for him to write his half. I will do my half tonight. My goal is to have them in the mail by Monday, October 5th.
It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything. Life got busy and I didn’t have time to get back to the OB/GYN. It looks like my A1C (blood sugar) is down low enough to start trying again, so I need to make an appointment to go see her again. I’m hoping to get started again before the end of the year.
I have testing again this week. I looked at my average blood sugar results for the past month and my A1C would be at 5.4!!! It’ll probably be a bit higher because of difficulties I had the prior couple of months, but it’s finally getting down. 6 or less for a diabetic is ideal, so I’m really getting to where I should be. I’ve very excited.
My weight loss is also coming along…slowly but surely. The trend is ultimately downward, so I’m very happy about that. Soon, I should be able to start trying for a baby again. Yay!
I have just two more accounts to pay off an I’m done! October is a big month…we get three paychecks each and Mark gets his bonus from the quarter ending in September, so I’m paying $3500 out of the $6000 remaining. That will leave $2500 split between November and December, and we will be DONE! It’s so close, I can taste it.
Mark and I have to get fingerprinted and then send the cards that we will receive from the police out to CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) and the FBI for crimial checks. Then we’ll have to wait for the checks to come back before we can proceed with anything else. It can take 12-18 weeks for the criminal check to come back from the FBI. What a pain, but I know it will be worth it to have our new family name!
For my birthday, my husband and I are going to get fox sparrow tattoos! (Our last name is Foxsparrow.) They’ll be different designs, and it will be fun. I am going to do a drawing with the pose in this picture. I’m going to make the orange bolder, use slate blue where the grey is and add hints of yellow and lime green. I’m really psyched! Now to find a great tattoo artist!
My fourth entry is up and I have three friends following, and I am following their blogs. What fun! I was even able to start trading succulent cuttings with other people interested in succulents. One more entry, and I will condsider my blog “started!”
Well, I am still eating some every day, but I really am not getting all my servings in. I need to add one serving of veggies and one serving of fruit to each day. That is what I will be working on this week.
As I said in my last post, since I lost the 6 pounds for the month quickly at the beginning of the month, I just wanted to hold steady so that I could be sure to keep those 6 pounds off for good. I’ve fluctuated up and down a bit, but I’ve been able to keep the 6 pounds off overall! My plan is to keep steady for the rest of this week, then start next week to try and lose pounds again for October. My clothes are definitely fitting well and I’ve been able to wear some things that have been at the back of the closet.
I just keep having to tell myself that “slow and steady wins the race.” For me, I find it to be very true with weight loss.
This morning I made my third entry! I decided that the blog would be about my hobbies with my husband, which include plant, insect, and pet care. This entry was about my money tree plant that he gave me last year. I did some research and compiled it and wrote about my personal experience with caring for the plant. It was fun!
Also, I was brave and posted a link to my blog on facebook today. I’m hoping some of my other friends with similar interests will enjoy reading it.
Two more entries, and I will consider this goal complete. I figure five entries is a “start.”
I took a fashion quiz and it told me that I am “classic chic.” I agreed with the assessment for the most part, but I do like more pops of color than they suggested for me. I’m ok with this.
If I can get my weight down a bit more, I can start building a decent wardrobe. I would love to get some work pieces from Anthropologie. I adore that store, and they carry a lot of items that work in a professional setting.
I am having an easier time honing my professional style than my casual at-home style. I do have some very nice-looking jeans and I do tend to wear solid-colored tops. Some have details like empire waists and ruching but I would like a little more personality in my casual wardrobe. I’m still also stuck on quality issues.
On Saturday and Sunday, Mark made plantains with breakfast and I had veggies on my subway sandwich on Sunday. Today I’ve had a banana, a veggie mix with lunch and some cut-up apple. It’s harder to meet this goal over the weekends, but I did get some in this weekend, since it’s easier when Mark’s around and we cook regular meals.
I read that for someone of my age, weight, and activity level, I should eat 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit (minimum) per day. The fruit servings are so much easier than the veggie servings. I will have to work harder on eating veggies.
I finally went today! My teeth look sooo much better and I only had two cavities. I’m going back on the 29th to have them filled. As long as I go every six months like I used to, I should be able to avoid or minimize cavities in the future. Mark also had two cavities, in the same spot. It was a little creepy. Woo-hoo! It’s done now!
I’ve met September’s goal of 6 pounds already! I’m very pleased. I’m going to work hard on not gaining any back for the rest of the month. If I can lose more, then I will be pleased, but I will mainly be happy keeping it off for the rest of the month. Typically, if I can keep my weight steady for three weeks, I will not gain any back. That’s my plan, for now.
