Maine Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Fit Chicks Check-in
I guess it's that time again! With a Snow Day Friday and a sick baby, it slipped my mind! Thanks to Megan for making us accountable the week before (and seriously, anyone feel free to post check-ins).
So - how's it going? Are you making progress? What's on the menu for the week?
Also, curious about this - how do you feel about your body image? Is it a size or a certain weight that you strive to be? OR is it just how you FEEL? Please share your thoughts!
Re: Fit Chicks Check-in
Progress - nope.
Maintenance of weight and fitness level - yeah, but that's really not cutting it for me!
My left knee and hamstring have been cranky, so my "long" run this weekend was only 5 miles. They were good strong miles but I'm cutting it close with my training. I've done a 10 mile run but wanted to get up to 12 before the actual race - it's a mental thing!! Plus I'm discouraged about being so slow, but I guess that too is my own fault for not training enough.
This week I'm actually going to try and do a meal plan! I have tofu and masala sauce; pasta and veggies; some fake meat stuff to use up; and lots of fruit to go in cereal for breakfasts.
Is anybody else starting to get a little stressed about bathing suit season? LOL. I'm so excited for warm weather but not for being scantily clad!!
I ran 4 times last week, including a 5 mile race on Sunday. I had a weird cold with only chest congestion over the past week, so I am proud of working through that and sticking with my goals for the week.
I have been slacking a bit with my food tracking, so I'm hoping to buckle down this week. Weight has been holding steady for the most part- up and down a lb or two, but AF was here last week, so we'll see what the scale says this week.
Haven't really though much about food for the week. Tonight will be left over grilled bbq chicken and pasta fagioli soup.
For me I try to focus on how I feel and how my clothes fit, rather than worry about numbers on the scale. Although there is a certain 10lb range that I tend to stay in and when I near the upper end I know it's time to reevaluate what I'm doing.
Down 1.6 last week and my milk supply seems to be holding steady, which is always a win! If I lose much more than that in a week my supply takes a vacation, it's a difficult balance. I'm down 17.6 overall, I wish it would go faster! I feel like I failed at week 7 of the Couch to 5K - I completed it, but barely. I was too ambitious with my pace and will be repeating it slightly slower this week. The last 5-8 mins (of 25) my HR skyrockets to 185/190 which is so not good.
I'm in Maine Tues-Thurs this week so no meal plan. I tend to eat ridiculously badly when I visit home, my parents still eat the same stuff that helped me grow up overweight and since I never have it anymore it's so tempting. It will be hard especially since I started that TOM today and am craving sweets!! But we'll have fun
My body image is kind of weird. I grew up overweight, much of my adult life I was over 200 lbs, but never really felt bad about it. Then in college I lost 75 lbs and was at a normal weight and was terribly insecure (even though looking back at pics I looked fabulous!!) I gained 15 lbs of it back leading up to and after the wedding, which I hated myself for, then another 40 with my pregnancy. Now since having Riley I'm back to not really feeling bad about my body. I don't know if I'm just happier overweight or what, but obviously I know it isn't healthy :P I guess at this point I know more kids are coming so I'm not obsessing over getting to a perfect point yet. My goal right now is pre-pregnancy weight and not gaining as much with the next if possible! Then once we're done I'll work on a forever goal.
Well, I haven't been the best Fit Chick, as of recent in regards to my eating habits, but I am pretty happy with how I've been doing on physical activity. Last week, I punched out three solid Long & Lean workouts before DH came home, and over the weekend, we walked a total of about 7 miles betweeen Saturday and Sunday- so nice to get outside and stretch out in the fresh air!
Nutrition-wise, I was pretty good through the first half of last week, but it all went to hell when DH came home (as it tends to!). Saturday, we were pretty good during the day- packed water, apples and bagels for out long walkabout, but that night I threw out all responsibility and made shrimp with cheddar grits and bacon. Yum. Sunday we had cupcakes for breakfast (I'm not kidding you), and had a late lunch downtown since it was the last day of restaurant week. Kyle heads back out to sea tomorrow AM, so I figure I'll get back on the responsibility train before I fly to Maryland for the weekend.
As far as body image, I struggled with it A LOT in my late teens and early twenties. As rediculous as it sounds, it really wasn't something I gained control over until I met Kyle, and he has helped me realized there is so much more worthwhile out there than being a "skinny girl", like being happy, in love and living a healthy life. I think this pregnancy has been one of the first times I have truly let go & relaxed about my body fears, and I have never felt better. I haven't put on a ton of weight (yet, but I know it's coming!), and I think that's due to the fact that I haven't had bad food cravings, and have tried to keep up with being active. It's such a weight off my chest to realize that I don't have to have "the" perfect body, and can be happy with "my" perfect body, whatever that ends up being.
The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware; joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. -Henry Miller
http://cookthehumbletable.blogspot.com/
I forgot to talk about body image. D'oh!
Mine has been pretty poor for most of my life.
In middle school an obese male classmate of mine called me "thunder thighs" one day when I wore shorts.
I got stretch marks on my thighs when I got taller (at 12) and later I got them going the other direction on my thighs when I put on a lot of unhappy marriage weight (early 20s).
My chest is disproportionately large for my body (D-E cup as a teenager, E-F cup as an adult). This makes it hard to exercise, as well as find cute, age appropriate clothing that fits, not to mention find bras that aren't grandma-style and bathing suits that are supportive but cute!
Aaaand I carry my weight up top/midsection - the dreaded "apple" shape.
So, it's really only been the last 2 years, since I started doing Zumba, lost the unhappy marriage weight, and then took up running, that I realized ... my body could be hotter, fitter, tighter, whatever ... BUT I feel like I'm a pretty girl and I've got a tough, strong body that is doing new challenging things all the time, and I can do more to lose fat and build muscle if I really put the effort in.
It's tough because M has a naturally very thin body type. He could eat all day and not gain weight. I weigh more than him, and since he's 6" taller than me, my 10 extra lbs. looks like more (IMO). I was worried at first, mostly about whether he would be okay with my body type. Fortunately that is NOT a problem and that's helped me relax about it.
Now I rely on the scale and how my clothes feel to let me know if I'm doing okay exercise-wise and nutritionally. My body starts to feel gross if I don't exercise for a while so that is motivation right there.
There IS a certain size/weight range I'd like to reach and maintain, and I'm only 15 lbs. away from it, but that's where it gets really tough because my body seems to like this size and weight despite the extra fat. I would love to get there but I am now okay with myself at the current size, too.
I made the mistake of weighing my self in the morning yesterday (versus at night) and my darling scale told me that I had reverted back to where I was a month ago.
I've been sucking at tracking my food and I've been super stressed, so I know I haven't been doing very well.
As a positive note, I tried on my bridesmaid dress from Maeghan's wedding and it actually fits (it was slightly big 3.5 years ago, but I couldn't even zip it a few months ago). So that was a big motivation for me.
I bought a heart rate monitor that I've been wearing religiously at the gym, which has made my calorie burn numbers much more accurate. So now I have a better idea of how much I'm burning at the gym (it is much lower than I thought), so I have more motivation to work harder to get a higher burn.
okay, first of all, I just finished writing this and apologize for it being so long...wow
well, first of all, I've been embarrassingly bad at using My Fitness Pal - as in, I haven't used it once since signing up for it - I need to start doing that.
as far as eating, I've been doing okay - I am actually just about to get the menu and grocery list together for the week, so we should do fine with a meal plan in place...the past couple of days had been rough...my boss finally came home from his looooong vacation and invited us over for homemade mac & cheese...my weakness...and I have yet to make my own successfully, so I'm a sucker when other people can...and he's the type of person who makes almost everything to the max, with extra butter, extra salt, extra cheese, etc...yum ...then, yesterday was my last day of work before a bit of a break, so by the time i got home, I was exhausted and we wound up walking to Otto for pizza and beer
anyway, I am happy to report that today will be Day 15 of the Shred and I'm going to move up to Level 3
as far as body image...I remember always thinking my thighs were too big...but I never really focused much on working out or anything until college...even freshman year, when I gained the cliche weight (I went to culinary school, so it wasn't terribly surprising), I very specifically remember trying to zip my jeans one day and being like, huh, looks like these are pretty tight! but not really caring! I would love to casually excuse myself for body imperfections still...
I'm petite, so if I slack off for a few weeks, a couple of pounds makes me feel awful...I've gone through periods of consistently working out and then consistently NOT working out...I've been looking for "my" workout...what will be the thing that keeps me motivated...I was really into yoga for a while and considered getting certified to teach, but chickened out and got out of "yoga shape"...and I know I'm waiting for miracle results from the 30DS...I feel like my jeans have actually gotten tighter around my thighs, which I'm hoping is because they've bulked up from muscle and will magically turn shapely and slender in the next two weeks
I guess, to wrap it up, I try to be easy on myself because I know I'm generally pretty healthy...not overweight, tend to eat well, have a fairly active lifestyle (between my job, always trying to walk/bike around town when possible)...but I wish I didn't compare myself so much to others...I'm seriously barely 5'1", so most people are going to have longer legs, carry their weight better, etc...I can't change my height! I'm going to be 30 this year and I've heard you finally start to get your s*** together and stop worrying so much about things that aren't really all that important, so...
I'm doing good with exercise, not so good with eating this last week. I did join the gym and went 5 out of 7 days; the only days I did not go were days Chris wasn't home in the evening. I'm doing about an hour of cardio, mostly the elliptical, and eventually I'll add in some strength. I did a couple days of week 1 of Couch 2 5k thrown in there; it's doable cardiovascularly, but it's rough on on my right knee. It feels like it's improving a little, but still problematic. Does anyone have knee/running suggestions? I did well all week tracking food and then I kind of lost it Friday through the weekend. I had been setting my calories to 1400 and then not eating any exercise calories that I earned. I think I need to be a little more strict, because the weekend had me gaining, I'm pretty sure. So today I bumped my calories down to 1200 so there's a little more of a cushion there when I do want to splurge.
Body image, hmmm. I don't think I've ever had a hot bod, but I don't really think I have body image issues. I'm happier at a lower weight and feel better about how I look, but I don't feel bad about myself at a higher weight. Right now my goal is to get my BMI from 'overweight' to 'normal', but I'll be happy enough being at the high end of normal. I can't actually imagine myself much smaller than that anyway, because I don't think I ever have been as a young woman or adult. When I did WW, their goal weight for me was 115...I cannot imagine being that small; my boobs must weigh 15lbs on their own. Anyway, point of it is, I'd like to be healthier, have my clothes fit better, but my value in myself as a person comes from who I am rather than my weight or my appearance.
Not entirely sure what kind of knee pain you're experiencing, but I wound up with terrible IT band/knee issues after I trained for a half marathon...one thing that has helped me most is using a foam roller on my legs after working out. I know I should do it more often, but it hurts sooo much (but that good type of pain...) and I am usually trying to squeeze in my workouts when I have the time, so I often skip out on it. It helps sort of stretch out and release tension in the muscles that may be causing you pain - of course, I am just passing on info I learned while going to PT for my diagnosed injury. However, I know a lot of people use them to prevent getting injured in the first place.
This is the one I have - there is a link to exercise suggestions and more info on how they work and what they are supposed to help with:
http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_5183_A_CategoryID_E_235Bwah ha ha ha! I have NOT been doing well with eating at all - not even paying attention unfortunately. Between me being sick and then Nolan being sick and then parent conferences, I've barely been able to focus on that or working out. And I've only been able to work out when Joe is home to watch Nolan.
UGH! I keep saying it'll get better when the weather gets better! For me, it's more about the working out because I know I don't gorge myself on stuff like sweets. (not too big a sweet person - YES I know I like Timbits and Cadbury Eggs but I don't eat those often). I need to watch Carbs and Portion sizes. Once I'm able to get out more often to run, I know I'll feel better.
I feel better when I focus on how I feel in my current clothes. Before I was even thinking about trying to get pregnant, I was definitely at my biggest weight. I lost almost 40 pounds before I found out I was pregnant, and was at the lowest I could even remember being since high school (and even smaller I think). But I was also running at least 6 days a week. Now that's really hard for me to make happen with a busy schedule and baby. If I can get out 3-4 times a week, I know I'll be happy. So my focus isn't my pre-preg weight because I just don't feel like I'll be able to get there again. I just want to lose another 10 pounds so I can fit COMFORTABLY into my summer stuff.
hmmm, well, the scale looks decent, but for some reason all my summer clothes (I had to go through a couple of bins to find stuff for our trip) don't seem to fit AT ALL. Apparently everything shuffled around a bit.
I'm hoping to get to the gym 3 times this week to run on the treadmill. It's still too cold and miserable to get outside
For yummies we have leftover haddock and steak for tonight, BLT's, raviolis, baked chicken, and for sides we have cous cous, lots of veggies, quinoa, roasted potatoes.
I had a pretty good week! Decent amount of exercise, good food and I (for once) wasn't all that hungry for dessert so I skipped it a number of days (shocking)! The weather will be nice this week so I'm hoping to get a couple of long evening walks in with MH. :-)
As for body image, I was very self-conscious of my body until I was 21 because I was so underweight. It didn't help that people were always pointing it out, trying to get me to eat more, telling me I had eating disorders...When I was finally a "healthy" weight it was wonderful! I'm still a bit self-conscious of how pear-shaped I am but it could be worse. One thing that was nice growing up is that my mom was adamant that clothes are not made to universally flatter and that you have to search for things that look good on you but there are always options. Her theory is that there is something for everyone you just have to go out and find it. When we'd go shoppping, if something doesn't look good on you, that was the clothes fault or designer's preferences and they were clearly out of touch. :-P
I think it's something with my knee cap - it crunches, clicks, snaps, and cracks, sometimes more painfully than others. Sometimes it's just pain in the knee after I irritate it. I had osgood schlatter's disease in that knee as a kid, I don't know if that would still affect it now or not. I think I probably need to go get it checked out from the PCP or the PT if I do want to continue stressing it out, but I just haven't made an appointment. I'm finding avoiding high impact and squatting stuff to be the best bet; it's fine on the elliptical, but I would like to have more options. I'll give them a call!
Getting an appt with the PT is a good idea! I have knee issues and can't run because of them. I went to PT a few years ago and have exercises I'm *supposed* to do and I notice when I keep up on them it helps me knees feel much better. Definitely worth it to get them checked out!
Food- I've been doing pretty well. I am bringing healthy snacks to work and doing better with my meal planning. This weekend I made granola bars and chocolate/PB muffins for snacks. The muffins are somewhat healthy I figure, because they are made with whole wheat flour, honey, etc (no butter or sugar).
Working out- hasn't happened. I just can't motivate myself to workout. It's been months! DH is supposed to be my workout buddy, but he's just as lazy as I am, so he's no help. LOL We are supposed to be doing P90X again, but neither of us has the motivation. It's such a long workout. We can't really start until 6PM each night. Then we don't get done until almost 7:30 and then we still have to do dinner, clean up, make lunch, etc etc. I really think I need to find a shorter workout we can both do. Or join the gym ( I HATE the gym though). On the upside, the dog has been getting more walks now that the snow is going and it's warmer, so that's been extra exercise for all of us. We all went on a snowshoe this weekend which was fun/active!
Body Image- Eh, I usually feel pretty OK with myself until I'm around someone younger/thinner than me. LOL