So almost 2 months since I started (and last posted) on my blog? Am I lazy? No, a lazy blogger perhaps though.
I happened to start work properly again 4 weeks ago, and did a lot of keeping in touch (KIT) days the month before. I'm not complaining, I love my job, and working from home has it's benefits too, a lot easier to stick to eating good without all the cakes coming into the office , which happens with every-bloody-job I have had.
So, what shall I write about first, the shrinking part or the mummy part? I think the latter has probably gone better than the former, so I choose that first.
Josh appears to have his own ideas though in what suits him in terms of routine etc. I was all planned to be a good "gina" or "tizzie" mummy this time round, naps all set out right etc, it just ain't happening.
Chronic one nap cycle issue+preschooler+going to nursery 4 days a week=not much set routine in terms of his naps other than trying to put him down around 2 hours after he has woken. Doesn't seem to be affecting nightime (yet!) I don't think, so not overly fussed, plus I love the sleepy cuddles I sometimes get if he is set on not napping in his cot at that point.
However, he seems to be, in general, a very happy baby. We also moved him into the room with his sister just over a week ago, which I love, sorry to say, because I do sleep a lot better. Although both Friday night and sunday night he co-slept with us from about 3am as he has an annoying cough, as does his big sis, which wakes him up. It's amazing the new found hatred you have for germs when they are affecting your kids (and subsequently also your sleep-yes I am being honest here, this plays a BIG part).
Hmm, now the shrinking part. Got to work this out , since 7th Feb I have lost 8.5 lbs, not bad actually in 8 weeks, but it was very yo-yo like, hence the despondent feeling. Weight loss is VERY psychological for me. Most sane (?) people when they have had a stressful day reach for a glass or white or red. I reach for the chocolate, or more often than not, the takeaway menu! I then tend to feel like I have blown it and eat whatever I want for the next couple of days, not productive!
About a year ago I heard of 5:2 (or intermittent fasting) , where you spend 5 days eating normally and 2 days on about a quarter of the calories you need to go about your daily life and stay the same weight. I wasn't keen on that approach when I heard of it, I thought it was, quite frankly, a bit mental. However, last month I kept coming back to the idea in my mind, and last week I decided to give it a shot. Last Thursday and yesterday I spent my day on 500 calories, yes I still squint when I say that out loud (or on the computer, you get my drift). When in actuality, it wasn't that bad. I still ate 3 square meals each time and wasn't ravenous at bedtime.
I weighed in this morning, and due to the domino's (I told you) I consumed last Tuesday evening before I decided to give this a shot, I wasn't expecting a major loss, it was more about making sure I didn't gain weight, but I actually lost 2.5 lbs this week! Amazing! I am definitely sticking with it, I feel it is more sustainable for me, especially when half of the week I have my daughter trying to shove bits of her chocolate in my mouth.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Friday, 7 February 2014
The Relaxed Mummy Relaxed Baby Conundrum
It's like the chicken and the egg, which came first? Is he more relaxed as a baby then my daughter was because I am more relaxed (having been there, done that and got the t-shirt covered in puke) or am I more relaxed, because he is a more relaxed baby?
With my daughter, granted she had silent reflux , which did make things 100 times worse, but I totally felt out my my depth. I got told, "just listen to your baby", but if I was listening, she must have been speaking another language because I did not get it, AT ALL.
In the early few months I did not even contemplate the idea of a routine, because, everyone knows that routines mean you leave your baby to scream until their next scheduled feed time, let them cry it out and only eat when prescribed (yea right, would I have got this size by doing that). I tried to be "baby led", but the only place it was leading me was round the bend, I was going seriously loopy. OK, so postnatal depression combined with her silent reflux did not help, but that wasn't the only issue. I just was not one of those "natural mums" who knew everything their baby wanted without thinking about it too much. And the idea of having my baby with me at all times , co sleeping, going to bed when they do or keeping them up with us left me feeling like someone that wasn't me. Don't get me wrong, if that's the way someone else likes to play it, that is fair game, it just wasn't for me, we are all so different.
When I did eventually break and start guiding her into a routine I read "The Baby Whisperer", and that was about it when it came to routine books. I had heard of Gina Ford's "contented little baby" book, but from what I had heard at the time, following that book was akin to admitting you practice satanic worship.
Eventually, and without too much stress, she did get herself into a loose routine with a bit of guidance and that is when the fog started to feel like it had lifted a bit. Of course, with that also came the 4 month sleep regression and we started with the early morning waking, I won't go back to sleep unless I am in your bed mummy phase, which with around 3-4 weeks until we hit the 4 month stage with our son, am quietly cautious about happening again.
Anyway, funny thing was, come a year old I decided to look at this "contented little baby book" and what did I find? Lots of "leave them to cry" and "if you don't get this right first time you are a failure"? Nope, none of that in there. It was actually full of guidance on approximate sleep needs (although she does veer on the short side, some need more) , how to feed them before they get hungry so they have enough feeds in the day and support to say if a day goes wrong, well, tomorrow is another day, and they won't get there straight away, it takes time. Unfortunately, no one had invented the time machine, so I couldn't go back and tell the sleep deprived mum of a newborn -me that it may actually save her sanity.
This time around I looked through the book continuously whilst pregnant, and also looked at Tizzie Halls "save our sleep" another book that gets very bad press, unduly it seems. I didn't go gung-ho into forcing the routine onto my little newborn, but after the first couple of weeks we did start a few ideas, that worked for us and worked from there. Does my routine look like either of these two books exactly? Nope, but he is a contented baby most of the time and sleeps well at night, so think we are going well. I feel like this time I can "read my baby", but only because of reading these books. I know about structuring feeds, the importance of napping, over tiredness, the importance of introducing a consistent wake up time etc, and due to this, feel like I can listen to my baby better now.
With my daughter, granted she had silent reflux , which did make things 100 times worse, but I totally felt out my my depth. I got told, "just listen to your baby", but if I was listening, she must have been speaking another language because I did not get it, AT ALL.
In the early few months I did not even contemplate the idea of a routine, because, everyone knows that routines mean you leave your baby to scream until their next scheduled feed time, let them cry it out and only eat when prescribed (yea right, would I have got this size by doing that). I tried to be "baby led", but the only place it was leading me was round the bend, I was going seriously loopy. OK, so postnatal depression combined with her silent reflux did not help, but that wasn't the only issue. I just was not one of those "natural mums" who knew everything their baby wanted without thinking about it too much. And the idea of having my baby with me at all times , co sleeping, going to bed when they do or keeping them up with us left me feeling like someone that wasn't me. Don't get me wrong, if that's the way someone else likes to play it, that is fair game, it just wasn't for me, we are all so different.
When I did eventually break and start guiding her into a routine I read "The Baby Whisperer", and that was about it when it came to routine books. I had heard of Gina Ford's "contented little baby" book, but from what I had heard at the time, following that book was akin to admitting you practice satanic worship.
Eventually, and without too much stress, she did get herself into a loose routine with a bit of guidance and that is when the fog started to feel like it had lifted a bit. Of course, with that also came the 4 month sleep regression and we started with the early morning waking, I won't go back to sleep unless I am in your bed mummy phase, which with around 3-4 weeks until we hit the 4 month stage with our son, am quietly cautious about happening again.
Anyway, funny thing was, come a year old I decided to look at this "contented little baby book" and what did I find? Lots of "leave them to cry" and "if you don't get this right first time you are a failure"? Nope, none of that in there. It was actually full of guidance on approximate sleep needs (although she does veer on the short side, some need more) , how to feed them before they get hungry so they have enough feeds in the day and support to say if a day goes wrong, well, tomorrow is another day, and they won't get there straight away, it takes time. Unfortunately, no one had invented the time machine, so I couldn't go back and tell the sleep deprived mum of a newborn -me that it may actually save her sanity.
This time around I looked through the book continuously whilst pregnant, and also looked at Tizzie Halls "save our sleep" another book that gets very bad press, unduly it seems. I didn't go gung-ho into forcing the routine onto my little newborn, but after the first couple of weeks we did start a few ideas, that worked for us and worked from there. Does my routine look like either of these two books exactly? Nope, but he is a contented baby most of the time and sleeps well at night, so think we are going well. I feel like this time I can "read my baby", but only because of reading these books. I know about structuring feeds, the importance of napping, over tiredness, the importance of introducing a consistent wake up time etc, and due to this, feel like I can listen to my baby better now.
An intro
This is my second ever blog, not sure what happened to the first, I left it for a couple of years and it seems to have been taken over by some other person, strange times.
Let me start of by introducing myself. I am Vicky, due to hit the big 3-0 in just over a month, been married for 7 years and have two children, Hannah (3 yrs) and Josh (13 weeks). Getting there wasn't easy, and for each it involved a lot of people looking at my lady bits to a point where smears are now a walk in the park, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
That sums up the Mummy part, but what about the shrinking part? Let's see. I want to get from this: (15 stone 4lbs, BMI around 35, size 20 clothes and feeling yuck)
Back to this; (under 11 stone, BMI under 25, size 12/14 and feeling fab)
Let me start by saying I don't normally go along with the pressure to "loose your baby weight", but this is not inherently baby weight. It is who ate all the pies (and pizza's, burgers and chocolate buttons) weight. During fertility treatment for my daughter I gained about a stone, and by the time I had her at 35 weeks pregnant I was almost 4 stone over that! I dropped a stone within a couple of months of the birth, but that was it. My greedy tummy refused to let me shift the rest of it. So when I got pregnant with my son, I was 3 stone heavier than when I got pregnant with my daughter, and I gained another 3 stone during his pregnancy. At least this time things were a bit different and I lost 1 stone 9lbs of that almost immediately (well within a fortnight). Since then I have managed to loose another 11lbs , so am only 8lbs over my pre pregnancy weight. However, the lard from my daughters pregnancy is still hanging around like a bad smell also, so that needs to shift.
This is where the shrinking mummy comes in. I refuse to be "that mum" in the playground that is too ashamed and embarrassed about the way she looks that she doesn't talk to any of the other mums for fear of being talked about (we all know it doesn't really happen, but it is amazing how cruel your mind can be with the thoughts it puts in your head). My daughter starts school in September 2015, so that gives me just over 18 months to kick myself into shape and loose just under 5 stone.
My goal weight is 10st 6lbs , or so I feel at the moment. If I feel comfortable in my skin before this point, it may well change.
This blog is to be a collection of my thoughts on weight loss, motherhood and life in general
Let me start of by introducing myself. I am Vicky, due to hit the big 3-0 in just over a month, been married for 7 years and have two children, Hannah (3 yrs) and Josh (13 weeks). Getting there wasn't easy, and for each it involved a lot of people looking at my lady bits to a point where smears are now a walk in the park, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
That sums up the Mummy part, but what about the shrinking part? Let's see. I want to get from this: (15 stone 4lbs, BMI around 35, size 20 clothes and feeling yuck)
Back to this; (under 11 stone, BMI under 25, size 12/14 and feeling fab)
Let me start by saying I don't normally go along with the pressure to "loose your baby weight", but this is not inherently baby weight. It is who ate all the pies (and pizza's, burgers and chocolate buttons) weight. During fertility treatment for my daughter I gained about a stone, and by the time I had her at 35 weeks pregnant I was almost 4 stone over that! I dropped a stone within a couple of months of the birth, but that was it. My greedy tummy refused to let me shift the rest of it. So when I got pregnant with my son, I was 3 stone heavier than when I got pregnant with my daughter, and I gained another 3 stone during his pregnancy. At least this time things were a bit different and I lost 1 stone 9lbs of that almost immediately (well within a fortnight). Since then I have managed to loose another 11lbs , so am only 8lbs over my pre pregnancy weight. However, the lard from my daughters pregnancy is still hanging around like a bad smell also, so that needs to shift.
This is where the shrinking mummy comes in. I refuse to be "that mum" in the playground that is too ashamed and embarrassed about the way she looks that she doesn't talk to any of the other mums for fear of being talked about (we all know it doesn't really happen, but it is amazing how cruel your mind can be with the thoughts it puts in your head). My daughter starts school in September 2015, so that gives me just over 18 months to kick myself into shape and loose just under 5 stone.
My goal weight is 10st 6lbs , or so I feel at the moment. If I feel comfortable in my skin before this point, it may well change.
This blog is to be a collection of my thoughts on weight loss, motherhood and life in general
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