Accountability & Tracking

Another quick update before I forget. I jumped on the scale this morning and noticed I was down another pound (or two... now I can't remember!) and am at 171.5 according to my scale. My goal is to get to 145 and stay in that general vicinity until I get pregnant again (which shouldn't be for another year). Tomorrow, Aaron and I are going shopping and I'm getting specific things for my new "menu". I'm going to restrict a lot from my diet in order to curb my cravings or at least find healthy substitutes. This will help me in my journey to a healthier and thinner Shannon. Each week I'm going to post a picture of my weight loss progress (I'm going to give a disclaimer right here and now that some of the images may scar you for life... I'm no supermodel. View at your own risk...pregnancy has contorted my body in ways I never imagined.) and write a little update.

Also, I've added a weight loss ticker to the bottom of my blog that I'm going to update weekly as well. I've currently only lost 5 pounds since I started this 2 weeks ago and I've got 27 to go. I'd like to lose the rest by spring so that I have at least a little while to enjoy my body before I get pregnant again. So here it goes... Wish me luck!! I'm going to need it. Seriously.

Since I'm at work, I can't post my "before" picture right now, but I can at least add my starting and current stats/measurements:

STARTING (mid-October)
Weight: 177 (pathetic, I know)
Waist: 35 inches
BMI: 24.7

CURRENT- 10/29
Weight: 172 (-5 pounds)
Waist: 34 inches (-1 inch)
BMI: 24.0

Six Years

Just a quick post while I have time and then it's back to work for me, but I just wanted to pop in and say that today is a special day: my six year anniversary with my husband. Okay, we haven't actually been married for six years (in fact we just celebrated our first year of marriage on Monday) but we have been a couple for six years today. My oh my how fast time flies. We've been through A LOT (and that's an understatement) in the last six years both as a couple and as individuals, but I wouldn't have it any other way because we've also learned A LOT about ourselves and each other over the years. I'm looking forward to the next six years, and the next after that, so on and so forth.

So, HAPPY (six year) ANNIVERSARY to Aaron and I. I love you honey!

Today is a wonderful day... :)

Checking In

So, it's been a bit longer than a week (actually almost two!) since I checked in, but it's been really crazy around here. We've all been getting over being sick the past couple weeks. Jayden came down with a fever on the 18th and I stayed home with him for a couple days. He had a bit of vomiting and diarrhea, but went back pretty much to normal with the exception of a cough and runny nose. Jaxson got the same runny nose and cough, but that was about it. Aaron was sick for a day or two and then I ended up coming down with it. Mine started out as a sore throat and just progressed from there. We are all doing a lot better, thankfully, but it's been a crazy 2 weeks.

Update on the diet/weight loss: I've lost 3-4 pounds since my last post but I think that's mostly due to being sick. I'm still trying but it's not going as well as I'd like. Working on the will power is hard!!

Also, I'm switching doctors for sure now! AND I'm writing an angry, but professional letter to Virginia Mason letting them know how incompetent members of their staff are. It's no secret that we've had problems especially this year with taking the kids to the doctor only to have them misdiagnosed ( like how they told us Jayden had chicken pox back in March when he was actually having an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin) or have them tell us we need to bring the kids in "right away" to be checked only for them to say that there's nothing they can do for them or that they won't give them medicine for a sickness they have. I love my PCP but she only works 2 days a week and so more often than not, we get stuck with one of her colleagues (and there's one in particular, I'll call her Dr. B, that we usually get stuck with) and they don't take care of us the way they should.

Case in point, I called at like 1am on Monday the 12th because Jayden had a 104 degree fever and I wasn't sure if I needed to take him in right away or not. Dr. B was the "on-call" doctor that evening and she not so kindly pointed out to me that it was 1am and that she was sleeping. Pardon my French, but who gives a shit??? No kidding that you were sleeping! I'd be doing the same thing myself except for the fact that my 2 year old is vomiting and burning up! Show some compassion...that's your job isn't it?

Then on top of it, I called the doctor to get antibiotics since our colds weren't going away and had progressed into sinus infections. They faxed in a prescription for me, but because of the ages of the kids I needed to bring them in to get checked. Based on the symptoms they were having, I was told (yet again!) to bring them in "right away" so I took time off of work and spent $25 in co-pays to go in only for Dr. B to tell me that both kids had sinus colds and to just give them Motrin, and then that they both had pink eye but she wouldn't give them any drops for their eyes (which is the only way to get rid of pink eye) because "they don't do that anymore and don't believe it helps". Oh, but I could bring both kids back in 7-10 days if they weren't feeling better (and pay another $25 co-pay per child) and she'd put them on a more "aggressive" treatment of steroids. Hmmm, but she couldn't just try mild antibiotics first? Last time I checked, MOTRIN doesn't cure sinus infections. And what's just as bad? She had a medical student in with her... great, teach the next generation how to be shitty doctors and give poor service to patients so you can rack up more money by wasting their time and money. Real good thing to teach a student.... :/

So, I took my kids back home and by Saturday morning they were way worse. Green goop coming out of their noses and eyes. All of them screaming and not sleeping well...so I took them in to a new walk-in clinic which was both a godsend AND a disaster. Jayden was a freaking devil screaming, running away from me, and totally bulldozing an innocent little girl (on purpose!) while I'm trying to calm a screaming and uncomfortable Jaxson at the same time as filling out paperwork...by myself, I might add, since Aaron decided to stay home by himself and play on the PS3. Anyway, 45 minutes later and I finally got in to see a doctor. When I told both the doctor and nurse what happened and what I was told about the boys on Friday, they looked at me in astonishment. "She (Dr. B) told you your kids had pink eye and she didn't prescribe any eye drops for them??!!?" Nope. So, we found out both kids had pink eye and sinus infections and poor Jayden also had a double ear infection on top of it...his 4th one this year. We are all doing much better now that we have antibiotics and eye drops. I'm so glad that SOMEONE cared enough about my kids to give them the medicine they needed.

In lighter news, we had pictures taken on the 17th for Jaxson's 6 months and for Halloween. We were going to do a family theme for Halloween this year but it didn't work out due to finances, so Jaxson is going to be a cow, and Jayden is a pirate. We plan on spending Halloween night with Tommy and Samantha and their cutie, Brayden. We are planning to do trick or treating at the mall and then hit up a neighborhood in our neck of the woods. It's been a while since we've gotten together with Aaron's brother so it should be fun. I might have mentioned this before, but they also found out that they are expecting baby #2 (due June 1st) so I'm excited to talk preggo talk with Samantha. I've got a bit of baby fever, so I've got to live vicariously through her until Aaron and I try again for baby #3 next fall. Anyway....pictures. They were a disaster since both boys were feeling crummy and Jayden did not want to cooperate. He was screaming, pouting, and the only way we could get him in a picture by himself was to hold this dang soccer ball... oh well! Without further ado, here they are!! Enjoy!

Falling off the bandwagon...

I've been MIA longer than I anticipated being, but work has just been absolutely crazy lately plus everyone in my house is currently sick except for me (knock on wood...). Jaxson turned 6 MONTHS old on the 5th and we took him for his 6 month checkup on the 6th. His stats are:

Weight: 16 lbs. 9 oz.
Length: 27 in.

He's catapulted in length but he's still small weight wise. I think they said he's around 30th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length... Also, he's almost crawling. I guess you could sort of call it crawling, but it's still a bit of a stretch considering he's not actually moving forward on his hands and knees. He can get on his hands and knees, but when he actually starts to move he just slinks along on his belly. He does move though...he followed me halfway down the hallway the other day because he was afraid that I was leaving him all my himself! Also, we discovered at his 6 month appointment that he has his first tooth! FINALLY!!! And the top of the 2nd one is on its way to breaking through so he should have his front 2 bottom teeth soon. :) He's been really constipated lately and has had 3 major spells within the last month where he's gone almost a week without pooping. We couldn't figure out what it was. He's testing out soy formula to rule out lactose intolerance and we've been ordered to give him fruits and vegetables for fiber to keep him regular... I hope it works. We've tried everything else and they can't find anything "wrong" with him.

Jayden is doing well. He's had a rough week with being sick though. He had a 103 degree fever on Sunday night and then had a huge vomiting spell on Tuesday, but now other than a runny nose, fussy demeanor, and cough he's doing well. He's so smart and he's learning something new all the time. Especially his colors...he knows almost all of them! I can't believe his 2nd birthday is just around the corner...

We are going to get family pictures this weekend. Jaxson needs his 6 month pictures and since Halloween is just around the corner, we are doing those as well. I'll keep you posted and be sure to share as soon as we get them. :) We are also planning on going to Remlinger Farms to pick pumpkins and share in their Fall Festival. We took Jayden last year, but he was only 10 months old so I think he'll enjoy it a lot more this time. This will be Jaxson's first time and I'm sure he'll be taking it all in. He's such a curious and happy baby.

So, the title of this sums up how I've been feeling lately... Not with just failing to blog lately, but also with this "quest" of mine to create healthy habits and get my weight back on track. I was doing really good and then I just stopped. So, I guess it's time for me to pick myself back up and get back to it. I'm still making foods from my Deceptively Delicious book, but not as often as I'd like. I did make some good (and healthy!) tacos the other day though. :) I've put my weight back on so I need to lose like 30-35 pounds now. :( I'm going to try to start making time for myself twice a week to work out and have Aaron watch the kids. I'd like to try hot yoga with my friend Stephanie (she said that you can burn up to 1200 calories in one 90 minute session!!) and my new naturopathic doctor, Sunita, said it would be a great idea. I'm also going to try another book to help me curb my addictions to fatty foods and sugar called "The Flat Belly Diet". Although it's designed more to help you lose inches, you can also lose pounds as well. I just hate feeling so FAT and UNHEALTHY! I know my husband loves me just as I am, and I'm grateful for that, but I wish I could say that I love myself in the same way...and I don't. I know in comparison to others I'm in a lot better shape and I understand it can always be worse, but I'm not in my happy place and I'm not where I need to be. I make sure my kids eat healthy...why not myself? My will power has always been my biggest enemy. Once I get used to a new lifestyle and a new pattern it's not a big deal, but it's always the beginning that's so hard because I've got that little devil on my shoulder that says "It's okay...go ahead and have that cookie. Eat that pizza!" and then afterwards I feel so much regret and remorse and horrible self-esteem. I don't want to wear my "fat pants" anymore, I don't want to feel like I can rationalize my weight yo-yoing due to having a baby recently (and it's not even that recent...he's 6 months old!), and I want to feel great about myself inside and out. So my action items from this rant are:

1. Buy the "Flat Belly Diet" book and stick to their suggestions along with making more meals from my DD book.
2. Make time for myself 2x weekly to exercise whether it's hot yoga with Stephanie, swimming at my apartment, etc...
3. Start taking all the supplements and follow the guidelines suggested to me by Dr. Sunita
4. CURB MY CRAVINGS and boost my will power! This also means not just avoiding the fatty/sugary foods, but eating smaller portions as well.
5. Regular and honest updates on my blog (weekly with any luck) to help with my accountability. If I feel like I have to "report" on something, I feel a larger obligation to deliver results. No one likes to feel like they are the caboose at the back of the train (or be the size of one...) right?

I really need to stick to my guns. Having kids has made me horribly lax in taking care of myself and I don't want to be one of those fat, frumpy moms. I want to know that I can take care of myself at the same time as my kids. I'm still young and deep down I know I'm pretty, but I can't make myself believe that when I feel and think that I look like the Michelin Man right now. I just want my outside appearance to match my inner self and that continues to be one of my biggest struggles. If I feel better about myself, I'll feel much better about everything around me.

Wish me luck. It's time to dust off my jeans and get back on the bandwagon...