Patience, my dear Watson

So, um, yes- I may have been delerious when I wrote that last post. Sorry 'bout that. Really.

Anyway, we're into a new week that, so far, has been illness free. Ok, puking free. I still have a cough that is taking up squatters rights in my lungs. Mr. D keeps telling me to go to the doc's, but I'm not listening (laa, laa, laa...can't hear you). I guess I just don't feel sick enough to (a) take the time from my schedule to go to the doctor's office and (b) bug the doctor. I know that it's their job to see sick people, but I like to be, oh, dying or at least limping or something (the last time I went for a sick visit was the day Mr. D ran over my foot with the car).

Today was my WW@work meeting and I am down another 1.6 pounds for a total of 4.8 in three weeks. It's a good number and I'm moving in the right direction, but I keep thinking back to when I started WW a few years ago. The first week I managed to lose 5.6 pounds. Shazaa! Then I lost almost five the second week. In other words, I got that initial "bonus" weight loss that typically happens when you start a new eating plan. But this time, I'm seeing a consistent 1.6 pounds/week. No bonus. No shazaa. Hmmm. I know that the loss has to be slow to maintain my milk, and I know that a nursing mom gets to eat a whole 10 points per day more than a non-nursing mom. But I am, of course, getting antsy about the pace of the loss. Forget that I put a freakin' turtle as my ticker on purpose because I know it's a slow process. Forget that I am actually losing more than a pound a week. I'm just fixated on the fact that it's been three weeks and I'm not yet at five pounds. I just have to remind myself that the slower it comes off, the more likely it will stay off. And this mamma is going to keep it off, darnit!

The other factor contributing to the apparent slowness is that when I last weighed what I do now, I was in a smaller size. But I was also pre-kid#2. My body shifted around a lot more in my second pregnancy, and I need to remind myself of that fact, too. The size 16 pants are hanging there waiting patiently. I just wish I could be a bit more patient about wearing them.

Flu-a-palooza

Welcome to the festival that really rocks the house! We got it all, I tell ya. Not only are you gonna feel the heat baby--like a fever, oh yeah--but then you're gonna hit the flipside with some monsta' chills. You be illin' if you be chillin', right? And then...oh, yeah, when you don't think you can take no more...you're gonna take a wild ride on the porcelain express! Heck, you'll be so messel won't know which end to be pointin' in the vessel. Oh, yeah.

Share it with all the family, too. 'Cause I know yo' mamma taught you to share.

Note to Self: milk = milk

SC had her first bout of vomitus maximus last night at bedtime. I’m not sure what triggered it, but she was eating cereal like crazy yesterday, so it could have been either the sheer volume of food, the fact that I added a small spoon of sweet potatoes for flavor on the last feeding, or a tummy bug thingy. I was ruling out the last one merely based on the fact that after she threw everything up all over her crib, she was all happy and giggles and coos. The most upsetting part for her was confusion about why the food was coming back out and why it had to be so forceful.

Then she was just so darn pleasant about the whole thing that I decided to cuddle up with her in the chair and just sleep that way in case she needed me again.

Well, at about 2am, she woke for a bit and seemed to be a little peckish (of course), and I decided that I should at least keep her hydrated so a little drink would be a good thing. So, I let her nurse because, of course, at 2am one’s brain doesn’t process that milk, in any form, is probably not the best idea for a kid that threw up a few hours prior. ‘Cause, you know, it’s breastmilk...so it’s not really milk.

30 minutes later...baaaaaaaaaaaaaarf.

Yeah, ok. Logic at 2am is not logic- it’s a recipe for more laundry.

Small bites

Well, I managed to lose 1.6 pounds in the last week (please note the decimal- I'm not that good). I had hoped it would be more, but I also messed up by not drinking enough water. Every time I have a slow loss week, it's the water. So, have I had a lot of water today? No. I am a slow learner. But I am down a WW point for my daily total, which means that the middle number in my weight changed. That always feels nice.

Tired today...more later.

In again, begin again

Today, as promised, I went to my first WW at work session in about a year and a half. It felt good to see a lot of the same faces (lifetime members- and those still working) and it felt good to be taking charge of my waistline again.

True, knowing how the system works, I could just as easily track my eating and such on my own. But something about the accountability makes me that much more motivated to stick with the plan. Knowing that next week a person I don't know well at all will be looking at the scale and then writing down that number (which makes it real, of course) keeps me on track. Will I have that person weighing me for the rest of my life? No. But I have already proven to myself that I can maintain. It's the losing part where I need a bit of help.

I posted a weight loss tracker on the right because it will help me to see that I am making progress. I like the idea of the turtle both for the aesthetic alignment with my blog design and also to remind me that slow and steady wins the race. For some reason the tracker wants to appear and then disappear, so it may be a ticky ticker for a while. I'm guessing that it doesn't like that I am posting it on day one. Maybe next week it will resolve itself.

Until then, I have buckets o' points to eat. Nursing a baby really boosts up your daily allotment, I have to say.

Sick

I'm home today with a mix of germs attacking my body. It's not all that surprising considering that in the last two weeks I have been juggling sick kids, deadlines, and dual funerals. That's a whole lot of opportunities for exposure. I actually feel better just having slept in today, so I am on the road to recovery.

Tomorrow I start back with Wei*ght Wat*chers. There will be an "at work" session in the building next to mine (conveniently connected by a bridge- no snow or rain for me) and when I was a member a couple of years ago, it did wonders for my waistline. In fact, after a short break from the meetings to accommodate a hectic schedule, I was planning to return to them in January 2007. The day I was to go back I peed on a stick and found out that there was a little surprise for us in the form of two lines. So, the whole WW thing had to wait. Now that our little surprise has arrived and my milk is doing well, I am back to the place that helped me to lose 55 pounds.

Right now, I still have about 20 pounds of pregnancy to lose. I had gained 5 pounds in the six months prior to getting pregnant. So, I'm up 25 pounds from where I ended last time. My goal, then, for this first 17-week session is to get back to where I was before (aka, lose 25 pounds). It is doable if I work hard. I plan to use a ticker like Sherry (Horkin' Ramblings) to keep myself accountable to not only myself, but to the internets in general. I'll post it tomorrow when I know my official starting weight.

Catch you tomorrow with the official start of the new me.