improve my personal health and appearance

Recently I’ve been focusing a lot on my food intake, just small things like making sure I’m only eating when I’m actually hungry. 4.5 months post-partum, I am finally down to 10 lbs. over pre-baby weight. Since I started focusing on my food intake, I have noticed a slow but steady weight loss, so hopefully that will continue.

The exercise generally takes care of itself. I love being in a one-car family and living near work, since it means I have to bike or walk to work every day. I would still like to make more time for running, though.

to start taking care of myself again.

It’s been six weeks since Little Miss was born, the traditional recuperation period for a normal delivery. I return to work on Monday, and I was planning at six weeks to start actively trying to lose the baby weight. However, my visit to the dentist yesterday (3 cavities) reminded me that this goal is bigger than that. So, here’s my plan:

• plan healthy meals ahead of time
• salad and veggies with dinner every day
• only healthy snacks in the house
• portion control
• no eating between 9pm and 5am
• lots of liquids

• walk or bike every day to work
• find a strength training routine or video involving baby
• do couch to 5k again

• shower at least every 2 days (harder than it sounds with an infant in the house!)
• brush teeth every morning
• mouthwash, floss, and brush every night
• wash face morning and night

• get dressed every day as if I will be leaving the house, even on the weekends
• wear at least 1 piece of jewelry and some kind of makeup every day
• sort and store clothes in such a way that I have more options of what to wear until I lose the baby weight
• shave legs once a week
• do my hair every day, even if it’s only brushing and leaving it down
• keep hair trimmed every 6 weeks
• get eyebrows waxed and maintain them

This is a pretty extensive goal, so I will have to remind myself that it’s not all going to happen right away. The important thing is just to keep trying. I’m going to print this out and post it on my bathroom mirror so I keep all these things in mind.

I think I’ve been doing this lately. Although I need to gain some weight in this final month of my pregnancy, I suspect I’m gaining more than I need to. Every extra pound I gain is another pound I have to lose later. Most of those extra calories are not coming from particularly healthy food, either.

I need to be more diligent!

Starting today, I’m going back to tracking my food intake on FitDay so that I can make sure I’m getting enough of the right kinds of nutrients for the pregnancy. I’ve found it’s actually a little difficult to make sure I’m gaining enough weight. A sarcastic thank-you to all those healthy eating habits I’ve accumulated over the past two years that keep filling me up with low-calorie vegetables!

The good news is that FitDay helps me add up all the little bits of protein I get throughout the day. I’m already almost halfway to my 75g for today, even though I haven’t yet eaten any beans or meat!

Also, I am going to try really hard to get back into flossing every night. I’ve been really good about brushing twice a day (it feels gross not to brush) but that’s just not enough.

I have learned that not trying is not the same as “going natural” in terms of health or appearance. ha ha ha.

I like this goal. I believe it is very attainable.

I went shopping a little this weekend, tried on a few things but didn’t buy anything, since I’ve made a vow not to buy anything I don’t absolutely love. The positive side of this is that I didn’t waste money buying something I didn’t end up liking. The negative side is that I rarely find anything I’m willing to take home. I do actually need to get some clothing sometime!

I need to figure out a good compromise for my clothes shopping strategy.

I cut my own hair about a week and a half ago, and I’m really pleased with how it came out. I used these instructions and then cut a little extra off the back. It helps that my hair is pretty wavy, so it didn’t matter if I cut it exactly straight. I’ve actually gotten quite a lot of versatility out of this cut so far, and I like the way I look with bangs. The only problem is that I can’t allow my hair to air dry without any product or else it gets really fluffy and terrible (not as much a problem before when I didn’t have bangs/layers). The upside is that it’s great motivation to actually do something with my hair – so now it consistently looks good rather than consistently looking “not terrible.”

In summary, I saved money by cutting my own hair, and it looks good!

I read the book The Science of Sexy which is about dressing to match your body type. I think I found out about it through somebody on 43T, but I can’t remember who.

The book is structured such that you measure your body to find out which of 48 body types you are, then you can look up the 4 pages with very specific advice. Since a very small portion of the book pertains specifically to any given person, it’s probably a good idea just to borrow it from the library and photocopy the relevant pages (that’s what I did.)

It turns out that (for the most part) I’ve been dressing instinctively as the book would suggest. But now I understand why I look good in the things I do. I also found it useful to look at a smattering of other body types so that I can get a broader set of examples that demonstrate the basic principles.

I haven’t done any serious clothes shopping in awhile, but now I feel confident and inspired to go out soon, to fill out my wardrobe a little better.

I got the cards in the mail earlier this week but didn’t use them until last night because I’m always hesitant to try new things, even something as simple as this. But I did three cards last night before bed, just to get the ball rolling. It wasn’t so bad. I can see that once I get into it, they’ll be really motivational. The exercises are short enough that it’s easy enough to keep saying, “I’ll just do one more…”

I finally ordered my fitdeck last night. I’d been trying to decide between that, the Sane Fit cards, and making my own cards by printing out Self.com’s bonus body workouts. I decided on Fitdeck because of the higher quality and durability than making my own cards, the fact that they don’t require any equipment, there are more cards than the Sane Fit set, and I could also order a booklet on games to play with the cards.

Even the Self Challenge has not been motivational enough for me to do some strength training sessions, so I hope this will help.