dreams

Me, the HCG Diet, and a Challenge

Posted by Nat on Apr 30, 2012 | 13 comments

…

I’m not a person of extremes.  At least, I don’t think I am.  I definitely tend to go “middle of the road” in most social situations; I don’t like to stand out, but I’m not a wall flower, either.  But this story here, friends, is a bit extreme for me.

For a long time I had it in my mind that while I was in my childbearing years I would not be hard on myself about my looks.  I didn’t want to work myself into a frenzy after each birth to lose weight and get fit, only to get pregnant again and gain the weight back.  I didn’t go crazy (for the most part) with eating, but I ate pretty much what I wanted.  I exercised as I could, but with the addition of each child it has become increasingly more challenging to workout for obvious reasons.  When you have three kids ages 4 (soontobe5holycow) and under, things are busy. Looking back, I don’t regret that choice.  It was nice to just let myself be me, not worry about it, and let life happen.

With my first pregnancy I did gain a significant amount of weight, and after Anna was born, I had a hard time dropping the weight, so I did a shake cleanse to give my body a boost.  It helped, and then I went back to “normal” eating.  After my 2nd, Jack, was born I had a much easier time losing the weight, probably because he breastfed (Anna and I had a tongue thrust issue) and the weight sort of melted off me.   Once Emily was born, nearly the same thing happened.  I breastfed, the weight came off, and I didn’t think about dieting much.

When Emily turned seven months, we stopped breastfeeding (mainly because the introduction of teeth to the process made it less than fun).   I noticed pretty soon after that my pants were getting tighter and my clothing choices were becoming limited.  Things weren’t fitting.  I was putting back on my “fat pants” because they were comfy and they fit around my waist.  But it wasn’t until I saw this picture of myself from Jack’s Birthday that I realized something needed to change.

I know that the camera adds 10 pounds, but it was very clear to me after seeing this photo of myself that there was more than a 10-pound thing going on here.  But the way I looked wasn’t the only issue.  I didn’t feel good.  I was tired, I’ll spare you all the bowel issues I was having, and I just didn’t feel like I was where I wanted to be.  The day after this photo was taken I turned 36 years old.  It was time to think about things.

Back in November a friend of mine’s son was turning 3.  This friend and I used to work together, so I used to see her on a nearly-daily basis.   At her son’s birthday party, though, I hadn’t seen her since summer time.  I walked across the field at this park and did a mental double take as I saw her walking towards me from a distance.  Was that her?  Yes.  But something was different.

As I got closer to her I realized that she had lost weight.  Not just a little weight- a LOT.  This friend, who I’ll call T, has a similar body-type to mine.  She has a bigger bust, but otherwise we are similar.  The new T, however, was svelte, had what seemed to be a new jawline, and looked flippin’ fantastic.  I hugged her.  I stepped back.  I gave her the once over and asked, “What did you DO?!”  She told me about this crazy-sounding diet called HCG.  I asked about it, and thought to myself, “That sounds insane.”

A few months passed and then T came over to my house.  She had lost more weight.  She was wearing a size 8.  EIGHT.  “Hmmm,” I thought.  “Maybe I’ll look into it.”  I read up online.  I thought about it.  I ordered some HCG drops.  They arrived, and I put them in my guest room/craft room in a corner and went about my life for a while.  The tighter my pants got, the more inclined I was to read the literature that came with the drops and do it.  Pretty soon, I had a plan in mind.

If you haven’t read about HCG, it’s a pretty controversial diet.  I’m not going to get into the details of it- you can Google it on your own for all of the details.  The main thing is:

• You take a set amount of HCG drops (which varies by brand)
• You limit your intake of calories to 500 per day.  Yes, you read that right, 500.
• The foods that you can eat are pretty limited.
• Most HCG drop brands claim that you will lose approximately one pound per day.
• You do not exercise; to do so when you limit your calories so severely would be insane; this was nice for me- I didn’t have time to workout anyway.

It’s extreme to many people.  But for me, it also made some sense.  I needed to sort of “break up” with food.  At the time of Jack’s Birthday I had passed the point of just eating what I wanted.  I had ventured into mindless eating.  If I was the slightest bit hungry, I ate something.  Cookies, cake, carbs, high-fat foods- I didn’t have too many limits.  I had cut back on processed food for our family, and had quit drinking soda, but I was still frying chicken, and eating too many baked goods.

I told my husband I wanted to do the diet, and that I had already bought the drops.  I waited for him to tell me I was crazy, but instead he gave me his support, which really helped.  It may have helped him to know that I wasn’t planning on cutting my calories back to 500/day.  That just seemed unreasonable to me.  But I did feel that trying the drops, which were supposed to help with appetite suppression, combined with really limiting what KINDS of food I ate, would give me results.   I wasn’t sure how long I would do it, but I told myself I’d try it for at least a month.

At the time that I started the HCG diet, I weighed 180 pounds.  I did it for a month.  I lost 15 pounds, which felt much better than losing 30 pounds in 30 days.  Here’s my before and after pictures:

(Remember, new camera=bad pics for a while.  And DANG I need to smile!) 🙂

 Some people will look at these and say, “Not much of a difference.”  But I feel SO much better.  Some things I did during this last month that have really changed me:

• I cut out red meat.  This is not a requirement of the diet, but one that I made.  I think I ate one steak soon after I started because it was a birthday dinner, and I had a burger at one point, but that was it.
• We joined a CSA.  I’ll post more about this soon.
• I snacked on almonds. A lot. They were my go-to snack.
• I let myself be hungry.  I had become so automatic with my eating habits; at the smallest pang of hunger I would shove something in my mouth.  Now, when I am hungry, I drink some water and wait.  If I’m still hungry I grab a few almonds.
• I drank tons of water and gave up everything else except coffee (I’m a mom of 3; I need coffee).
• I cut out all dairy.  I hated it at first. But now I realize that I need to see a doctor because I think I either have a gluten intolerance or a dairy intolerance; maybe both.

What did I eat?  Mainly fruits, vegetables and proteins via fish and chicken.   I got really close with the chicken breast and my panini press, which can also be used as a grill.

I decided, though, to take a break.  Two reasons.

Reason #1:

I was tired on this diet.  It was a different kind of tired- I actually felt better because of my food choices, but my energy levels ebbed and flowed throughout the day, and I was more tired than not tired.  By the end of the day I would crash and have headaches.

Reason #2:

I’m joining a fitness challenge, and it starts TOMORROW!  I’m so excited to be part of my friend, Wendy’s challenge, called “I Will Rock This.”    There’s cash money involved, and 25 women working together to cheer each other on.  It’s neat- we’re competing against each other AND we’re being nice to each other.  Very cool.

So tomorrow I’m going to be starting a new workout plan, maintain a diet of protein, fruits & veggies (emphasis on the veggies), and we’ll see how it goes.  I will give you updates every week or so, just for grins.

If you have any questions about the HCG diet, please leave me a comment or feel free to contact me.  Just don’t leave me any nasty comments- “to each her own” and I’ll just delete nasty remarks anyway. 🙂

Wish me luck!

A New Chapter: We Have a Piano

Posted by Nat on Jan 12, 2012 | 1 comment

We have a piano now.  Seems a bit full circle.  You may or may not know that I majored in music education in college.  I played piano as my main instrument, though I also play flute.  In high school my parents recognized my desire to make music a big part of my life, and we got a Steinway grand piano.  I got to pick it out.  Talk about amazing.  So if you told me back then that someday I’d be excited to have an electric, plug-in piano, I would have scoffed and said, “Never!”  Ah, how things change.

Once we got the piano, this whole room seemed to come together in terms of furniture arrangement.  Our poster of Louis seems so much more appropriate now with something musical underneath him.  Before he was just hangin’ out, smokin’ a cig.  Now he has some company.

My parents gave this piece of art to me years ago- I think they got it in New Orleans.  We finally got it framed and it now hangs next to Louis.  I love it because it combines my two instruments, flute and piano, into one piece.  Rad.

Why the electric?  We have kids.  Who sleep.  The only time I can possibly play for my own enjoyment is when they are asleep.  With an electric piano I can plug in the headphones and play to my heart’s content.

I am also loving our lamp.  I recovered it after being inspired by this pin.  As much as I would love to buy one as I saw it, I couldn’t justify it when I had all the materials to make one myself.  Music paper, hot glue annnnnd…. done!

Now if I can just get my confidence and my super-speedy fingers back….

2012: Resolution Schmezolution!

Posted by Nat on Jan 2, 2012 | Comments Off on 2012: Resolution Schmezolution!

Happy New Year!

(photo taken by the lovely Amber of LifeArt Photography)

Hello everyone!  Happy 2012!  I hope that you had a marvelous holiday season filled with family, friends, and food.  Don’t forget the food. 🙂  I had a wonderful visit with my family in Kansas that included lots of giggles with grandparents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as… you guessed it… FOOD.  My family knows how to EAT- I love it!

Every year I sit back and marvel at what 12 months can bring.  One year ago I was pregnant, anticipating the arrival of our baby girl, Emily.   Now she’s here, adorable and healthy, and our family is complete.  I’ve left my teaching job, I’m a SAHM but soon I’ll be a WAHM part time. Un. Real.

The trend, of course, is to talk about what resolutions we might have this time of year.  I have done resolutions in the past- entering them into a list on my phone to “help me remember.”  Yep- doesn’t work.  Out of sight, out of mind- that’s me.  Plus, life with three kids always keeps things busy, interesting, and crazy, and other things tend to creep over those resolutions.  So this year, I’ve decided to have a theme.  I’m going to come up with a print or something to put somewhere to remind me daily what my theme is and try to stick to it.

What’s my theme?

“Keep it happy.”

Why?

Who doesn’t need happiness?

I’ve seen too much hardship in 2011.  Too many friends losing loved ones, too many struggles, too many battles with illness.  And really, all anyone wants, is to be happy.  So I want, this year, to make sure that everything I do focuses on keeping things happy.  Sort of like Ella Fitzgerald and her song, “C’mon Get Happy.”

I do have a few “must do” items on my list that will likely disappear.  I need to go to the dentist yesterday.  I need to make good on a laser treatment that I bought on Groupon- I’m thinking upper lip.  I need to go to the dermatologist because I have NEVER BEEN to the dermatologist and I live in flippin’ “TAN” DIEGO!!!!   But those should not be resolutions- those are more like, “Dude, it’s 2012 and you said you’d do this stuff in 2010!” kind of things…

I look forward to posting more this year, learning, and hopefully expanding my little corner of real estate on the WWW!

Do you have any resolutions or themes for 2012?  I’d love to hear about them!

Back in {one} saddle again

Posted by Nat on Oct 21, 2011 | 1 comment

Right about the time I had my son, Jack (my second child), I remember thinking to myself, “I can’t wait to have my body back.”   I think that’s something that sneaks up on you in mothering and parenting in general- it’s a physically demanding task.  It’s one I love with all of my heart, but it’s taxing and strenuous, just the same.  Breastfeeding alone is enough to make me want to cup my hands over my chest and say, “Mine!” from time to time (though I haven’t acted on it…)

My wonderful husband, Michael, has really payed attention to me.  Well, he pays attention to me regardless of the situation- I’m lucky like that.  But he really listened when I would toss comments left and right, sprinkling them into conversations here and there.  I’d say things like, “When I’m done having kids, I want to set some fitness goals.”  Or, “How in the he** am I going to exercise when we have 3 kids?”  Recently, near our home, a new YMCA has opened up.  That alone is cool, but then we found out that the Y has FREE “child watch” with a family membership.  Meaning I can take my kids with me, drop them off in a cute playroom with an outdoor, fenced in playground attached, and waltz on over to the gym and workout.  Try a class.   Do some Zumba.  Run a 5K on the treadmill.  All things I can’t do quite yet because my rear is so out of shape.

Michael listened.  We signed up.  We can’t necessarily afford it 100%, but we’re doing it.

So I’ve started.  The mission has begun.  I am going to workout three times a week.  That’s my goal.  A hefty one for our lifestyle and what we’re used to.  It’s a total pain to get there- Jack cries when I drop them off, the Child Watch girls can already hear us coming and I can see them bracing for at least 10 minutes of crying, but once I hop on a machine and start sweating, feeling 3-babies-worth of belly jiggling and (hopefully) melting away (slowly, I’m sure), I’m happy knowing that I’m at least doing something active for myself.  Last week the schedule I tried did not work, so I’m going to try a different one this week- still some stuff to figure out, but I’m exercising.  Yay for me!

My goals?  I’m not one to get caught up in numbers.  It’s not so much how much do I weigh, it’s what clothes can I fit into next?  What (relative) size am I?  Can I put on my favorite old jeans?  That cute skirt?  Will my thighs stop rubbing together so I can wear skirts and be comfortable again?  Can I do without Spanx?  This is where I’d like to be. Aside from that, I’d like to start by running a 5K, and work up to a half marathon.  And I have always wanted to do a mud run.  We’ll see.  Yes indeed- we will see!

The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to BlogHer

Posted by Nat on Aug 8, 2011 | 3 comments

Well then.  Dang.  I am ti-RED!

BlogHer ’11 was amazing.  Really.  I’ve attended a lot of conferences in my life, and this one was by far the most well-organized, friendly and easy to access conference I’ve ever been to.  Little confusion, lots of friendly faces.  Well done, blogging women, well done.

I have so much to process, as I’m sure many people who attended do.  I need to revamp more and more of this little plot on the internet, and I’m sure that’s going to happen….eventually.  The biggest take away for me:  my blog is what I make it.  And I want to make it about more than crafting, yet stay away from family stuff since I already have my family blog.  The only thing holding me back from making it just that is… me.  Changes are a-comin’.  There’s just one thing holding me back, and it’s this:

photo by my amazing friend Amber of LifeArt Photography– isn’t she outstanding?!

In the meantime, while I get this whole “mommy-of-3-and-trying-to-start-anew” thing down, I thought I’d share the part of the conference that surprised me the most:  boob stuff.  That’s right, I said boobs.  That’s funny for a few reasons, one being that before I had children, I hated the word boob/s, but now… I’m okay with it (ah, the hands of time, how they help us change…).

Before I bit the bullet and bought my ticket to BlogHer, I emailed my friend Tonya and asked her, “Can I bring a baby?  She’ll be really little.  Am I insane to do that?”  Tonya assured me that there would be kids everywhere.  BlogHer also provided child care for bigger kids, and I ran into many people who took advantage of it- hooray for that.  But I couldn’t leave my  nearly-5-week-old Em with anyone- she needed me and my boobs.  So, in case anyone in the future wants to attend BlogHer with a new baby and isn’t sure, check this stuff out and you’ll find that it’s not too bad.  You’ll be hell-a-tired afterwards, but it is possible.

Awesomeness #1:  The Lactation Lounge!

When I received my email with my pdf document containing all things BlogHer I scanned the map of the convention center.  My eyes lit up when I saw the words “Lactation Lounge sponsored by Lansinoh.”  Holy crap.  A place to feed my baby?  Where other moms can pump?  In privacy?  Rock ON!  That’s what I’m talkin’ about!  I didn’t nurse every single time in there, but it was so nice to escape the craziness for a bit and just sit back, relax, hold my babe, and let her do her thing without a bazillion people in the midst.  Every conference with even 50% women should have this available.  Just sayin’.  I actually met some of the nicest women ever while nursing Em.  I even picked up a few nursing tips.  I did have visions of rocking chairs, pillows, nursing swag, soft music, dim lighting, etc.  That is not what it was- it was basically an empty room with a bunch of sectional chairs and some Lansinoh freebies, but it was so much better than a whole bunch of nothing.

Awesomeness #2:  Undercover Mamas

My friend Jane turned me onto these.  Well, actually, she gave them to me to wear.  How cool is that?  If you have not discovered these yet, get some.  They are tank tops that have no straps; instead they hook into your nursing bra and you can layer them with anything from your wardrobe.  Anything.  No nursing top required, no tummy showing.  Awesome, right?

And a side note:  best nursing bra ever:  find it here.  I love it! It’s cute (I need to feel cute right now), comfy and it works so well!  I just noticed it’s a sleep bra.  Whatever- it’s comfy.  Wear it.

Other tips:

Take a stroller

Even if you are a baby wearer, take a stroller.  It’s not for the baby.  It’s for the crazy amount of swag you’re going to get.  Be sure to add a few stroller hooks (I’m cheap, so I use these) so you can just hang those swag bags and move on to the next booth.  Awesomeness.  Aside from the swag it’s nice to have a place to put your baby.  I wore Emily and had her in the stroller 50/50.  In the Expo hall I had her in the stroller, usually covered with a blanket, mainly to keep people at a distance to avoid germs and such.  But it was also nice to just have options.

Take a nursing cover if you need one

I need a nursing cover when I nurse around strangers.  It just makes me feel better.  Not everyone needs one, so if you don’t, feel free to do it your own way- I really was very surprised at how nice everyone was about having a baby at the conference in a general sense, and also how little people cared that I was nursing Em at all- maybe they just didn’t notice.  One of my favorite moments was when Annie of  PhD in Parenting spoke as a BlogHer Voice of the Year.  She shared with us a video she made about breastfeeding in public and telling women what to wear.  It’s an awesome video- you can view it here.  I love it. I was also nursing Emily as it was playing, which was just hilarious to me. I was touched by how much applause it received- it made me feel better about bringing Emily at all, let alone nursing her during sessions, etc.

Manage your expectations

Both of yourself and of the conference.  If you have a relatively young baby like I did, you can’t do it all.  You can’t do it all even if you DON’T have a very young baby.   I didn’t attend a single party, and I don’t feel like I missed out on too much other than seeing some transvestites and petting some cute puppies.  In order to have enough energy for day 2, I had to go home and rest.  I am lucky that I live in the outskirts of San Diego, but even if I was traveling, I would have gone back to my hotel room and passed the heck out.  I’m sure I would have enjoyed the parties, but that will have to wait until next year- in NYC!!!  Boy, I hope I can go (hint-hint, honey… please oh please?).

I hope these were helpful things.  If you went as a nursing mom and have more to add, please do! And if you met me and I didn’t get your card for whatever reason, please leave a comment so I can go see your blog- it was hard to remember to give out cards between feedings, diaper changes and poop explosions.  🙂

Hello 2011, Goodbye 2010

Posted by Nat on Jan 10, 2011 | Comments Off on Hello 2011, Goodbye 2010

Hi everyone,

I’m not even sure who “everyone” is these days- I know I don’t have a huge following on this here blog (yet).  I’ve been thinking the last few days about this blog and what I want it to be.  I have yet to totally arrive at any conclusion to that, too.  I do know that, with as much change as I’m going to see in the coming months, I need to take it easy on myself.  The readers will come, the crafting will get done- eventually.  And perhaps someday I will have thousands of followers and I can refer back to this post and laugh.

What I do know is that right now I must go easy on myself.  Work 4 days/week, expecting #3, and trying to keep my head above water:  that’s all I need to focus on.  I’m still sewing every once in a while, I’m still using good ol’ Mod Podge where I see fit, but my hopes of being a renegade, craft-at-all-hours, multiple-posting blogger WHILE doing all of the things I must to keep myself and my family healthy and sane- those were futile hopes, I fear.

So I guess in a way I’m sort of giving myself public permission to “let my blog go” for now.  I will post infrequently, as I see fit, and I will not feel bad about it.  I will keep my blog floating with minimal supplies, and come summer time when all of my big changes happen, then “Howdy, folks!” I will be back and blogging (I hope).

Until then I hope to bring you fun posts as they come- maybe once a week, maybe once a month… maybe longer.  I thank you in advance if you stick with me through this tough time- because it’s tough for me to work 4 days/week and try to maintain any presence…anywhere, let alone online. 🙂

Hugs,

Nat