Blabber from a Bonkers Pregnant Woman

I think I'm losing my mind a bit... I phoned my Dad to wish him for his birthday - 3 days early...  My husband gave me his keys to keep it safe and dry for him at the beach, and I swore that he didn't, until he took it out of my handbag to show me.... Okay, I think I'm losing my mind - a lot, not a bit.  I can't remember preggy-brain being this severe last time around... eeeeek!

I have been quiet on my weight-loss blog purely for the reason that there's not much to tell, except to keep tabs on my pregnancy weight-gain.  So excuse me for being quiet, I promise this blog is going to be much busier from June 2014 onwards!

At my gynae visit I weighed in on 83.7 with jeans on, and in the afternoon when I usually weigh in heavier.  I was quite chuffed with that.  Prior to conception I weighed in at 85.4, and after Reboot at 82.4.  Then I gained a bit over the week and weekend and weighed in a bit heavier on Monday, but I got my eating in check and this morning weighed in again at 83.5, so I am happy with that.  Just need to focus on keeping unnecessary weigh-gain to the minimum and keep my eating in check!

I'm going through a bit of a fruit stage - I love my summer fruit... just wish watermelons wasn't so expensive at this moment - No matter how I want some watermelon - I'm not going to pay R70 for a small one, that's just ridiculous.  But enjoying some nectarines at this moment.  Last night I only had fruit for dinner, and this week I'm having banana, cacao and coconut milk smoothies for breakfast.

Confession - I need to move more.  My exercise has taken a backseat during this time that I'm so exhausted and that I'm struggling with nausea.  I do feel guilty about it and I know I need to exercise... just need to find the motivation when my body says no... because I know I won't ever regret a workout.

Anyway, that's all fitness/weight news from my side!

High Expectations & Good Intentions

Last week I went through my previous pregnancy's weight stats to see what I have to work with in this new pregnancy.

The first 20 weeks of my pregnancy I remained the same more or less.  Did go up a bit, then down, up and down, and at 20 weeks I was only up by 0.4 kg from my pre-pregnancy weight, where after I gained steadily until I gained a total of 10.6 kg for the whole pregnancy.  Then after Jamie's birth it took me exactly 3 months to reach my pre-pregnancy weight again.

I think I did well way back then, but this means that I have my work cut out for me in this pregnancy, because I want to set my limit at about 10 kg this time around as well.

My intentions are so good - I planned to go on with my workout programme, and eat Lacto Paleo foods only. But then last week the nausea and incredible exhaustion started.  I lived off toast for a couple of days, because that was all I could stomach... I did not exercise, even though I wanted to, I just could not find the strength.  I can't keep my eyes open after nine in the evening, and I feel so drained.

One of my motto's on this journey is "No more excuses", but last week I did use the nausea and tiredness as an excuse.  I can no longer do that, not if I want to reach my goal.  Since I can't stomach eggs which were my previous go-to breakfast, and sometimes even lunch, I made myself a banana smoothie this morning.  My snack will be yogurt, lunch tuna salad and a fruit for my afternoon snack and tonight I will cook chicken with veg.  I will exercise today, even if it's just a 30-minute walk.

I will make this a good week, no excuses - this is too important!

Result-time and my news!

Okay, cool - results are in.  I lost 3 kg and I can see a slight difference in my before/after photos (not posting everything as I have done them in my underwear and the view from behind is just SCARY!)

It's really not major changes, but I am happy with the results nonetheless. Especially since I found out that I am pregnant 2½ weeks ago.  I am thrilled with the news, and have continued with Reboot (besides those two cheat meals - which meant I did not officially complete it).

Although I am pregnant, I'm not going to put my journey on hold - I'm continuing it.  I have decided to go Lacto-Paleo, so will continue eating Reboot-style as much possible, but going to include some full-fat dairy like Greek yogurt and such.  Will also continue with my exercise.

With my first pregnancy I managed to keep my weight-gain low at around 10 kg and I want to do the same this time around.  I still want to go sit and compile some goals for myself and will share them on my blog.

Exciting times ahead!

Winging it

Today should be Day 29 of this version of my Reboot.  BUT I consciously included 2 cheat meals into my programme, so I lost bragging rights of completing my third Reboot.  Both these meals were decided on beforehand and wasn't an unplanned binge.  Cheat meal 1 was on Monday when we went out as a family to celebrate something (more on this a bit later); and Cheat meal 2 was on Friday when Johnathan and I went out for our first evening date since my 3-year old son was born (haha yeah I finally got over my first-time mommy anxiety and let someone babysit)!

Besides these two meals I followed Reboot to the T and will finish (albeit unofficially) tomorrow, and will be leaving on a work trip on Wednesday morning.

I do hope these two meals didn't cause too much damage, but this past week my weight has been fluctuating quite a lot, so hoping that it will stabilize by the time I do my last weigh-in.

Will post details of my weigh-in as soon as I can!

Halfway through Reboot v3

Gosh I can hardly believe we're on Reboot Day 15 already.  My second Reboot was more difficult than the first one, but I must say that the third one is a breeze thus far - even though we try to limit the treats.  Perhaps it is because we are limiting the treats, who knows!

This past week we had another braai and we went to John Dory's with friends and I'm glad to say we were able to stuck to Reboot.  It's great that we have friends that respect and accept our choices in life and not try to persuade us that "one night off won't do any harm".  We also had a trip to my MIL, and my parents as well for the day on Saturday and that went well too.  I just packed our coconut milk for our coffee and our lunch for when we get hungry.  That way there were no temptations.

Training last week went well.  Did four runs (or rather run/walks) and also did my kettlebell exercises daily.  I still get out of breath when I do my minute's run, but the 3 minutes recovery time I had walking was enough so will be decreasing it to 2 minutes this week.  Will see how it goes first and if it doesn't go well, I will try for 2½ minutes or so.  I just try to play it by ear and not be too hard with myself, but also not too slack.

I just put in leave for next week Monday, so with Tuesday being a public holiday we're going to have a nice long-weekend!  It's going to be tough, as this week's challenge will be going to the movies without popcorn and cooldrink, but I'm sure we'll do just fine and come out stronger on the other side.

Reboot v.3 - Week 1 over and done with.

Yesssssss, I have survived the first week and the first weekend especially of my third Reboot.  Good job, Me, and Good job, hubby!  Look, I won't tell you that I have not looked with longing eyes at my toddler's Milk Bottle gummy-sweets, and that the braai on Saturday was easy without a glass of wine or two... but it's over and done with and I am surviving.  It's not that difficult after all, it's just a mindset, and you just have to keep it interesting and have to think it over and prepare in advance.

For Saturday's braai with friends I prepared beautiful snacks with sliced biltong, nuts, sweet potato chips and avo dip to have instead of the usual chips. Drinks was a bit tougher, because it sucks drinking only water so I squeezed out some orange juice, and we had bubbly water.  I made a lovely green salad with our meats, and wonderful, blissful Bliss Balls for dessert.  My friend told me "yuck" when I told her it was sugar-free, dairy-free, grain-free, vegan etc, but she actually loved it when she tasted it.

I'm also trying new recipes.  This recipe is absolutely divine - Paleo Fish Cakes with Tomato Sauce.  So succulent and the tomato sauce is to die for - best Paleo tomato sauce recipe I found thus far!    Today I have Paleo Pulled Pork in the Slowcooker and it's smelling absolutely delicious - can't wait for dinner!

So yes, week one was quite all right!  Over the toughest part already and I'm on the right path...

Well except for my training.  I did not sit still last week - no, I worked out with my kettlebell, but I have not ventured out to continue with my running programme after I was bitten by the dog yet.  I really have to find the courage  now because my friend is joining me for a run on Friday and right now I think I might have lost all the progress I've made thus far.  Eeeeeeek, hopefully I will not chicken out again when I go this afternoon.

May week two be even better!

A bit of an update post

I have been quiet for a bit due to so much hecticness in my life.  Was so busy at work with month-end, and so busy at home as well... plus an unfortunate incident.

I was getting on really well with my running-programme, and last Wednesday I decided okay it's time to move on from 4 minutes walk/1 minute run to 3 minutes walk for every minute's run.  It went well, and after 20 minutes I saw dogs coming out of their yard about a 100m away from me, so I crossed the street to the other side (I was in my minute running time), and kept on running whilst avoiding the dogs, not thinking that I was in any danger.  But they ran towards me, growling aggressively.  The bigger one bit me on my ankle and it immediately started bleeding terribly. The lady from that house just stood outside looking, even though I was screaming to her to get the dogs off me. It was quite traumatic...  I immediately phoned hubby and luckily he was on his way home and he came to fetch me to take me to the doctor's rooms.  They cleaned my wounds and I was put on an antibiotics course and I had to get a tetanus shot.

Luckily I'm on the mend now - the biggest wound (the one in the pic) still needs to close up properly - the doctor said he didn't want to put in stitches because he wants all the bad stuff to swear/bleed out.  That's going to leave a mark for sure!

Started training again yesterday - but just kettlebell. Think I might hit the road again tomorrow or Thursday if I feel up for it.  Granted I'm a bit nervous to go walking/running again.  

Other news is that I started my third Reboot yesterday.  I want to start off Spring on a high note!  With all the birthdays, and then a bit of emotional eating after the incident my weight sky-rocketed...  I feel like I've been stuck too long now, I need the scale to move downwards again.  Hubby is joining me again on this Reboot and he bought himself a kettlebell to start training with me - yay!

Want to make this Reboot a bit more strict and not indulge in too many Paleo treats... if I need something sweet I would rather want to eat strawberries or some kind of fruit.  I will reserve bliss balls, Paleo choc mousse and banana ice-cream for the odd occasion.  

I swear, September is going to be what I wanted August to be and did not achieve - I'm gonna fight for it! Yes!