Fitness Update

So, I haven't posted the last two weeks of updates.  Mainly because I was discouraged.  June 4 I saw some improvement everywhere except my waist. 

Weight down 1kg
Chest (ribcage) down 1.5 inches
Hips down 3/4 inches
Thigh, no change
Waist up half inch

I had been doing my Turbo Jam and Turbo Sculpt exercises.  I didn't realize that my ab separation would get worse from it.  The Turbo Sculpt is great... lots of squats and lunges and such.  Really works the glutes and brings in a lot more muscle tone.  However, I guess there was too much twisting.  My muscle separation went back to 3-4 finger widths. 

I could cry.

I've stopped doing the exercises that I know would help me with my fat loss because they are no good for my muscle separation.  I hate it.  So, I've been trying to find more things to do to help heal that separation.  I worked at that a bit this week, and tried mostly to walk, as that is supposed to help as well.

June 11 saw this

Weight down 0.4kgs
Chest up 1/2 inch
Hips down 1/2 inch
Thigh no change
Waist down 1 inch

So, somehow, things are still going down.  However my muscle gap hasn't changed.  It is still sitting at 3-4 finger widths.  However, I also figure I'm measuring properly now, and that previously my 'one finger width' wasn't actually that small.  Would explain why it separated again.  It wasn't truly down to 1.  I need to figure out how to bring that muscle back together.  I may even think of getting a proper binding to support and help heal those muscles.

Has anyone else had this before?  I looked into videos of various people talking about their diastasis, however nobody actually showed what it looked like.  I saw pictures showing their bellies and how they look pregnant, but nothing showing what it looks like when you lay down.  What is a shallow and a deep diastasis, and how do they differ?  How do they look in comparison?  How does it look when you are healing? 

Since I haven't really seen progress videos or photos like that, I'm thinking of doing something myself.  Would that help anyone?  Is that something that anyone would even want to see?  Honestly, I cannot even see it for myself (it is my belly after all... and raising my head uses the muscles so they draw together). 

We'll see.  I need to find a time where I can enlist the help of my husband for videoing though, as I'm not sure I can do so myself.

Until next week!  Hopefully my waist will go down further.  I have another inch and a half I want to lose there, and 4kgs to lose to get back to my weight/size prior to pregnancy.

Oh, look forward to a Diastisis Recti post on something I discovered recently, and my musings as to how that affected my pregnancies and deliveries.  ;)

Thursday's Update... on Tuesday

I forgot to update my fitness journey on Thursday.  Oops.

I was very disappointed with the previous week.  I have been doing Turbo jam and walking/jogging daily.  I have also been drinking lots of water and trying to eat healthier snacks.  I went up 1/2 inch on my chest, but lost 1/2 inch on my waist and 1/4 inch on my hips.  My weight is up a pound though.  Sigh.  So three weeks has me only down 1/2 pound.  I could cry.

I am still very exhausted.  I napped twice yesterday, although didn't actually sleep much.  The kids love to bug me when I lay down.

One plus is that when I measured my muscle gap, it was down to 1-2 fingers wide from 2-3 the previous week!  So, that is a plus!

And today I'm hoping to do some actual strength training exercises to, hopefully, help me burn the fat around my midsection.

Fitness Update

Two weeks ago I mentioned wanting to start a vlog or something on fitness.  I haven't done a video, but I have been keeping track of my food, water, vitamins, and exercise, as well as actually measuring and weighing myself each week.

Two weeks ago I started measuring, and I'm happy to say that even without changing my diet too much, just increasing water and exercise, I'm down two inches on my chest (just below the chest, I don't measure the breast itself due to nursing... wouldn't be accurate), and two inches on my waist!  I'm really happy about that.  I'm down 3/4 inch on my hips as well.  Arms and legs have no change, but I wasn't really expecting any there anyway.  My weight is down 1 1/4lb.  Seriously.  That's it.  In two weeks.

Only one problem... I always feel exhausted and half starved.  It doesn't seem to matter what I do.  I could eat all day and nap all day.  Today, for example, I made and ate a big breakfast, but only two hours later it was hard for me to not want to eat my kids snack at the preschool... my stomach was rumbling.  Once I got home I devoured a hardboiled egg, cheese, crackers, peanuts, and even grabbed a bit of cake (no icing).  It is crazy.  And then I had to nap today as well... before I ever exercised.  I tend to be at my best on Mondays and Tuesdays, but by Thursday I'm so spent!  I do not wish to limit my calories (since I have to feed my 3 month old).  However, this exhaustion is annoying... and I SO want to fit back into my regular clothes again.  Tired of maternity pants.

I did go shopping yesterday and bought myself a few dresses as they will work fine with my belly the way it is now, and when it shrinks back (hopefully) to what it used to be.  I still have Diastasis Recti... it is three fingers wide above my belly button to my chest.  It isn't really there much below my belly button, strangely.  Usually, it works the opposite, at least from what I've seen online.  That is one of the reasons I look pregnant (yes... I still get comments).  I would be thrilled if I could lose an inch each week from my waist.  I've gone back down to my usual on the chest, and my hips are only 3/4 inch from what they used to be as well.  My waist needs to lose another 3-4 inches.  As for my weight... ugh.  I still have 10lbs to lose.  Ah well.  I'd love to lose a lb a week. 

Now if only I could get my energy up enough to exercise the extra weight away and fit into my clothes again.

Vlog

Recently, I've been watching a lot of youtube videos, and one youtuber caught my eye.  Her name is Jennifer, and she was a Disney Princess years ago.  She started, back in October, a Fitness Weekly Vlog.  I have been having so much trouble keeping motivated to exercise, and while I'm not sure about a vlog, I do think that I might be more motivated if I was to go more public with my goals.

First, I have the diastasis recti, which means I cannot do certain exercises.  However, I haven't even been doing the light exercises that are supposed to help fix the problem (time is my biggest problem here... I'd rather do so many other things).  Also, I've been so focused on finishing the year end for the farm, the GST, doing our personal bookwork, trying to get other things done that exercise has taken a back seat.  Sad, I know.  Also, since I'm nursing, I just want to eat everything.  Still.  It's really bad.  And I haven't measured myself or weighed myself in a while, but last I checked I was still 15lbs heavier than when I got pregnant.  Usually by the time the baby is three months old, I'm within a pound or two of my pre pregnancy weight.  I have been feeling really down about this (because I haven't really had to work at it before, and I was expecting the weight to drop more than it has).  So, I really want to do something more about this.  Like eating healthier, and exercising.  But with any goal, I need to actually define it a little better so I can actually meet it.

I've been thinking of writing down all the foods I'm eating as it has been difficult for me to remember to eat healthy things, and if I write them down it may help.  Also, water.  I need to up my usual 6 cups back to 8.  As for exercise, I want to walk daily.  I'll start with 10 minutes, but I'd love to go up to 20 as I can find more time.  Also would like to do my workout videos again.  20 minutes a day.  Or my dance game for 20 minutes.  That would bring my total time to 30 minutes.  Since I cannot do certain exercises, I'll have to watch out for that.  My core is still really bad... my upper abdominal area is extremely loose and floppy.  I tried on a pair of my old jeans, and while I can button them up (yay!), there is so much loose stuff on top that I get a horrible muffin top (so I refuse to wear them right now until I can loose that muffin top. 

So, I'm wondering.  Should I attempt to do a vlog?  It would better show my physical progress (as long as I remember to wear similar clothing each time).  And I should really start to track my measurements and food.  Any suggestions?  Perhaps a notebook near the table?  Or does anyone have chart ideas that are easily printable?  I'm not sure how to do this.  I've done a chart before (can't track food easily on that as it is not large enough).  What do you do to keep and track your fitness goals?

Work it, Momma! (A Pregnant Mom's Rant on A Pedometer)

Lately, life has been busy.  Trying to organize life into manageable bites rather than huge chunks has been helping, but it is still a work in progress.  One of the things that has been severely getting me down lately... my weight gain.

Yes, I know, I'm pregnant, so gaining weight is to be expected.  That said, I only ever gained 25 lbs with each of my kids.  I've already gained 24 lbs with this pregnancy, and I have at least 12 weeks to go.  Yikes!  Considering that I'm gaining at a rate of over 1.5 lb per week... well... I'm not happy with the 40+ lbs that I'll likely be putting on over this 9 month period. 

Anyway, weight aside, I do feel pretty good.  I tire much more quickly than before, and I'm finding I do not have the strength or energy to do half the stuff I want to, which is disappointing at best, but I'll live.  I started trying to exercise on a rather regular basis using my Wii Fit Plus game once again.  Started up in June, but not so regularly until September.  I love looking at that graph and seeing all the colorful lines showing how much 'exercise' I've been doing.  Halfway through September I pulled out my step counter from my Personal Trainer Walking DS game.  It didn't take long for me to remember why I had put it away in the first place.

That thing makes me feel LAZY!

I know that I tend to not walk as 'hard' as some people, and it does say that it will not register as well if you are bare foot (which is usually the case as I spend most of my walking in the house) but when you pace the entire duration of a half hour conversation on the phone, and your usual walking pace is about 100 steps per minute, to only have the thing register about 100 steps is a huge disappointment.  Even worse, since almost none of my maternity 'home' pants have any pockets, that means clipping the thing to my waistband... which is not level and contributes to the problem of not reading my steps.  Even my workout steps where I jog for 10+ minutes were not registering correctly.  I have a pedometer on the 3DS as well, which I hold in my hand while I jog, and it was registering twice the steps the clip-on was.  Double.  And when I would count my steps, they were right in line with the 3DS.

So what is the problem with that silly little piece of technology?  Or... is it me?

I read reviews, tried to find troubleshooting recommendations, nothing helped.  Most everyone loved the little device and found it to be accurate to their steps.  My day would end, I'd feel exhausted and as though I walked plenty, only to see that the counter was still flashing red at me... set at 5000 steps.  What?  I hadn't reached 5000 steps?  Checking it on the DS would make me see red in more ways than that little light provided... 3000 steps.  That was it.  I exercised for half an hour (I try to do 30 minutes each weekday on the Wii Fit), 10-15 minutes of that was jogging, walked my daughter to the bus and went to pick her up, paced while on the phone, cleaned and vacuumed in my 2 story house with basement... and still only 3000 steps?!?!

Needless to say, in my pregnant hormonal state I started to cry, and my poor husband could not figure out why a little piece of electronics would bother me so much.  Yeah... I'm a bit of a 'goal' person.  I wanted that thing to turn green every day.  I work for it.  It motivates me... but now it was making me feel like I was lazy. 

After a good night sleep, I realized I needed to make a change.  I'd been using this thing for well over a month now with poor results (unless I was walking outside, then it was fine) and I did not wish to wear shoes in the house.  It was depressing.  So, I changed where I clipped the thing.  Hips?  Nah... my hips apparently don't move up and down enough when I walk.  So... what moves up and down enough? 

Socks.

Yup... my solution was to put the thing on my sock. 

I admit, I was a little worried I'd lose it, but it actually has been staying pretty well!  It's been there for a week now, and I must say, I definitely feel better about the step counts I've been getting!  I matched it pretty well to my 3DS on the workouts, and my mornings (which I feel like a crazy woman running about trying to get breakfast on the table and my daughter out the door for the bus) is registering closer to 1000 steps in under 2 hours vs the 200 it gave me before!  I actually upped my step target to 6000 last night as I finally met the 'quota' the entire week!  And I'm only about 100 steps from that point by noon today (and I have yet to vacuum the house)!  Most of my days this week registered 6000-7000 steps in the day, and that is without me TRYING to get more steps into my day compared to what it was prior to changing where I clipped this thing.

So while I still hate that my weight is on such a steady incline, at least I feel like I'm doing something about it (and maybe, just maybe, some of that weight is increased muscle mass *wink*).

Now with that aside... WHY can't they have a pregnancy option on the Wii Fit Plus?  I KNOW I'm not 'borderline overweight' as I'm expecting a baby, but really!  (and I heard the Wii Fit U doesn't have that option either.  Seriously, Nintendo... Moms want to use this thing, and we have other reasons to 'gain weight' than 'snacking all day'). 

;)

At least I will get the satisfaction of that little balance board freaking out at my two day drop of 10+ lbs at once, hahaha.

Goals... and 400 posts...

So, I just saw that this is my 400th post! Wow... that is crazy!

Anyway, I feel pretty good about how things went last week. I got the majority of my list done... the only exceptions being work on the last 4 items (which, like I said, were just suggestions on my part, ha ha). I did not work on my cross stitch at ALL (I don't even know why I have that on my list, besides it being an unfinished project. It's so hugely massive, and it's my first cross stitch... which I was given as a gift... and I just don't enjoy it much). I did work on the blankets, but all I did was prep the fabric. Now sewing done yet. I'm hoping to do a bit of sewing this week... if I allow myself the time. Otherwise I feel good about what I got done.

This is a new month, and therefore there is a new challenge! I was going to do something different, but in the end I'm finding myself tired so quickly so I decided to pick something a little more 'normal'. So, for the month of March, our challenge will be to clean the windows/mirrors/glassworks in the focus rooms of each week!

This week we will focus on the living room, dining room, and entrance/hallway. A large area, but generally not many windows overall, am I right?

To Do: March 1-6, Focus: Living, Dining, Entrance areas

• sweep
• vacuum
• bathrooms
• laundry
• exercise (Mon, Wed, Fri)
• Farm books
• Personal paperwork
• window, TV, glass doors in Living Room
• windows/mirrors in entrance/dining areas and hall
• dust baseboards and trim (in focus areas)
• extra dusting in entrance/dining room
• extra dusting in living room
• organize entrance closet
• put up frames in entrance
• make 'words' and put them up with the frames (only rough up right now)
• plan and print photos for other frames
• Farm Data collection apptmt: Thurs
• Doctor Apptmt Friday
• bake oatmeal cookies
• scrapbook 2 pages
• work on kids book
• work on payroll
• sew blankets (2 of 3)
• bake cake (and make buttercream icing) for Monday's class

I must admit, I am getting tired a lot quicker lately. That would be one of the reasons I don't have a load of stuff crossed off my list as I'm posting it. I hope to do a number of these things today yet (after I put my daughter down for her nap), but I have to admit to being tired very quickly lately. I don't know how much I will get done on those last two items, but I'm hoping to get rather far with the rest of them.

I have other goals as well that I wish to pop up onto this post while I'm at it.

My exercise goals have changed from month to month, much like the house challenges have. January's goal was to work out on the Wii Fit Monday-Friday for 30minutes or 100 calories. February my goal changed to 3 days a week instead of five, and I started measuring my waist weekly and logging my steps. My goal was to hit 10,000 steps Mon, Wed, and Fri, and 7-8000 steps Tues, Thurs, and Sat. I didn't log any steps Sundays. I managed to do pretty well with that. Yet again, however, I am changing my workout goals.

I will keep trying to exercise 3x a week, but the step counts are... a lot. I noticed that I generally log 5000 steps a day just doing normal work, but even normal work is getting to be more difficult lately. So, I think I'm going to try to average 7500 steps daily over the week (again, not including Sundays). We'll see how it goes. My other goal involves food. I have had very little willpower where sweets are concerned, and that is due to my not caring how much I consume. So, I decided to not allow myself more than 200calories of unhealthy sweets per day. That means one dessert only. No joke. And sometimes only half of one. Ok, mostly only half of one. However, I cannot allow myself to continue consuming so many sugary treats if I'm decreasing my activity level (again, due to need. I cannot physically keep up with myself). That's less than a third of what I have been eating, folks. I'm not joking. I've been a bad girl (funny thing is, I generally don't have a major thing for sweets... that just happened with this pregnancy). So, I'm stocking up on fruit to help satisfy my sweet tooth, and I'm going to start baking healthier sweets once again (ones sweetened more with fruits than sugar or chocolate). Wish me luck!

Another goal I'm attempting to do is one where Lent is concerned. I haven't posted on this yet, but our pastor has been challenging us on a weekly basis to do something different until Easter. Yesterday it was to read a chapter in Proverbs and James each day. The week before it was to give up something, and in place of that spend time in prayer (a TV show, internet time, a specific food, etc). I decided to give up that extra 15-30 minutes I spend just lazing in my bed in the morning before my daughter wakes up (a major struggle for me), and spend more time in God's word than I have been in the mornings. It was successful for the first few days... until my daughter started actually waking up about 20-30 minutes earlier. Sigh. And the fact that I have not been sleeping well hasn't helped my resolve either. I think I need to add 'go to bed earlier' to the list.

So, how are your goals coming along? Have you met your last weeks goals? What was your biggest accomplishment on your list? How do you feel about the challenge for the month of March? I wish you all the best on your lists, goals, and relaxing (if that is what you choose to do this week... I'm thinking of having that as one of my weekly challenges yet, haha). :)

The LIST

First... for all who are wondering, my belly is popping. No joke. I've started measuring my tummy on Wednesdays, and from the 3rd to the 10th I grew 2 inches. TWO INCHES! That is INSANE!

This is from Valentine's day.

Anyway, it is Monday, which means it is time to put up the list of the week! And the challenge of the week is... cleaning the walls/doors/ceilings in the bathrooms and office.

Yup, get out those brooms and that rag and get to work! I've done mine already. Now don't make this too difficult. All I do is take my Norwex broom (a Swiffer works great too) and wipe all the walls in the room down (and ceiling, except where I have stipple). Then I take a wet rag and go over the 'grime zones'. You know... the door frames, by the door knobs, the switches and plugs, and those lovely areas that little hands like to reach. It really only takes a few minutes for me (hopefully it doesn't take long for you). Although I do have to say that bathrooms tend to have more scrubbing areas (we have rust water... it evaporates and leaves a bit of an orange tinge on the high portions of the walls which need to be scrubbed), and last week I spent quite a bit of time on the living room walls (hubby put up wires and speakers on the wall/ceiling before we married... and I have never completely gotten rid of all the finger prints. Some... the ones lower down... but this time I scrubbed most of the walls and got most of the prints. Needless to say, I just wanna paint).

And now, for my particular to-do list.

To Do - Feb 14-20 (focus, office and bathrooms)

• sweep
• vacuum
• bathroom mirrors
• laundry x3
• exercise (Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri)
• farm books
• personal books
• put up new bath curtain rod
• dust baseboards/trim in bathrooms
• clean walls and doors (bathrooms and office)
• scrub the tub (and baby tub)
• scrub the bathroom sinks
• scrub the toilets, inside and out (I like to give the exterior a good wipedown each month)
• extra dusting (bathrooms, office)
• bathroom drawer cleanup
• tidy the office desk and dust it
• clean the mouse and keyboard
• make farm business cards
• finish 2008 historicals
• finish other farm work (09 historical crop analysis, 2010 farm plan, year end)
• reorganize bathroom closet for storage of baby towels
• clean high chair properly
• prep for Saturday presentation

Yup... it's a lot... and yup... it's about half done. I don't know what it is about Mondays... not to mention that I actually made this list February 2nd and got three items done on it between then and this week. I'm keeping them on the list though, ha ha. Means I have more to check off (or in this case, cross out... I love that feeling!).

As for exercising, I have a new goal I started last week. Well, not a goal per say, but more of a task. I chopped my exercising to just 3 days a week instead of five (due to me working a lot in general anyway, and not wanting to have exercising become boring on me). I've been logging in the time I clean and such into the Wii Fit Plus every day... and started logging not only my waist (I like to see how the numbers are growing... it is fascinating) but also how many steps I am taking in a day. I got out my old pedometer and put it on for the first time in years on Wednesday... sometime after lunch. Logged almost 4000 steps. Then, Thursday, no workout at all (lots of time on the computer), I logged almost 5000 steps. Friday was over 6000, Saturday and Sunday I didn't wear the thing (but I figured out that I average about 2000 steps over a half hour to an hour of walking, and we were walking over 5 hours on Saturday, so I just plugged a 10,000 step count into the Wii Fit), and today I've already surpassed 9000 steps. Yeah. It just keeps going up and up. We'll see how many I do before bed yet, but I can hardly believe how much walking I do in a normal day (only about 4000 of those steps would have been from my workout... I do at least 5000+ in an average day just with cleaning, picking up after the munchkin, working in the kitchen, etc).

I'm wondering why I didn't do this before.

I went online to see what is considered healthy for someone to walk in a day. This is what I found at about.com:

Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:
1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"
2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active."
3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."
4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".
5) Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps/day are likely to be classified as "highly active".

Interesting. So I'm "somewhat active" then. I always thought myself to be "low active". I guess that is where I would be if I didn't work out, though. Only problem I have is remembering to put the pedometer on before breakfast. I find that my activity is highest in the morning and begins to wane as the day progresses.

*****

So, what are your goals for the week? Did you meet your last week's goals? I wish you luck as you work toward blessing your home, family, and yourselves through your lists this next week! :)

Projects, and the Wii Fit Plus

I am super excited about... well... stuff! Take a look at the pictures below! I grabbed the last of the TSP I had sitting in my workshop and put it to good use. I plan to repaint (in black) the magazine rack and the planter (this week). The table and chairs took a LOT of work to get clean (and they have some paint on them, which I was unable to remove. I'm thinking of painting them a bunch of lively colors anyway eventually).

As for the cradle... it is an heirloom. I was just going to give it a good cleaning and then use it that way, but after cleaning it I noticed that there were paint spatters on it and holes drilled in the bottom (my mom-in-law used it for a planter for awhile, apparently), so I'm planning on having it stripped, re stained and re varnished. My mom volunteered to strip it for me. Apparently I'm not allowed to do so (which I don't mind. I wasn't going to use paint stripper, I was just going to sand the dickens out of the thing... which isn't as good, apparently). My mom has stripped antiques before, so I totally trust her. And it really needs to be refinished. It doesn't look as nice as I'm sure it did years ago... before it went into storage... but it looks a lot better than it did before I cleaned it!

As for the magazine rack... that probably made the water quite dirty by itself. See, it had large spots of... I'm guessing tar or something like it, on the top. It also needed to be tightened up. The thing would wobble a good six inches from side to side! I only paid $2 for it at a garage sale, so I'm totally fine with tightening a few screws.

And, because I'm weird that way, here are the two buckets of 'water' after the cleaning fiasco. The one on the right is the one with the TSP, and the one on the left is the 'rinse' water (to 'remove' the TSP). Doesn't that look appetising?

Eww... gross.

Exciting thing #2... my Wii Fit Plus workout routine! I've had on my list for a few weeks that I wish to exercise daily (weekdays anyway) on the Wii. Well, I have. And in approximately 30-35 minutes I generally burn the 120 calories I aim for.

Yesterday, I was having some fun.

I just went on for no reason (it wasn't one of my goal days, you see), and Baby M loves watching me play anyway (she will get on the balance board while I'm doing 'non board' exercises and mimic me. She will also go 'up and down' like the 'trainer' on the screen when I'm doing lunges or squats or something. She dances and everything). It didn't take long before I was past my 100 calorie mark. So, I set the goal higher... to a piece of yellow cake... 310 calories. I managed to exceed that one as well (after an hour and 13 minutes total). So, just because I was so close anyway, I decided to go for the '3oz of milk chocolate' calorie burn goal... 455 calories... the highest food goal on the game. I didn't think I'd ever find myself getting to that point again anyway, and really wanted to say I did it just once! We were going to watch a movie that evening, so I set my wii fit to the 30 minutes of 'free' jogging, and got it ready to do once I finished eating (in such a way that we could continue the movie uninterrupted... how can you tell I've owned this thing awhile?). I ended up burning a total of 490 calories that day!

I love how this game tracks calories and time like that! It really makes me feel like I've done something!

Anyway, I'm so psyched! I can hardly believe I did it! It took almost 2 hours of 'exercising' on this thing, but I did it! And to be honest... it will make me think twice before I go scarfing down 500 calories of non-nutritious goodness. Because after working out that long... it just doesn't taste as good.

That said... I still crave sugar. Maybe I'll try to stick to the healthier kinds... like fruit. (mmmm, apples, bananas, and pears, OH MY!)