Posts by spookrepitus

Sheesh you guys, I am such a slacker about posting here.  Hang in there to everyone who is having trouble...we have ALL been there and know how you feel.  I have been in a motivational slump the last week or two.  Got sick and that made it hard to work out.  It seems like illness and vacations always throw me off track LOL.  I have so much to comment on, but the kids are about to wake up. 

BTW  bran, health insurance plans will sometimes help cover weight loss/preventative health and fitness programs, but tend not to go out of their way to make it known, so you may want to look into it.  It can't hurt to check, anyway.

Depression IS hard; it makes everything else in life difficult.  I've been clinically depressed a few times in my life...even tried to commit suicide when I was young and foolish, fortunately foolish enough not to do it right.  Then I started suffering full-blown panic attacks when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child (apparently having a predisposition to anxiety and depression are closely related).  The good news, runningbellydancer, is that you have recognized you have a problem and are getting professional help.  It sounds like you have had your ups and downs, so you probably know as well as I do that things CAN, and probably will, get better. 

Oh, kids are up.  Time for the rodeo to start.  Hey, does anyone think starting a Yahoo Group for us would be a good idea?

carolyn

Hi, I'm back.  No, I didn't go anywhere, just absent mentally :)

I did stick to the challenge.  I spent 20 minutes on the treadmill (2 mph at 10% incline) three times and did strength training twice.  I am also trying to walk at least 10,000 steps every day on top of all that.  It's starting to pay off - last night I walked to the grocery store (good for the environment *and* me) and it is straight uphill coming home, and this time it didn't feel so bad!  Now when I can push the stroller home without feeling I'm going to die, I know I will have accomplished something (stroller + kids = 60lbs).

This week, I am trying to do everything I did last week.  Then next week I will start to increase the intensity of my workouts. 

Welcome niccimax!

No cool trips planned here - this weekend we are going camping in the mountains, but that is it.  DH is in school until late August, so we're stuck. 

Last week my son almost amputated his right pinky finger in a door.  Freaked me out.  I was at work when it happened - daycare tried to call me and my front desk put them on hold and forgot about them.  Arrrrrgh.  So they tried my husband, who was home but had been up working all night...without any sleep he went down and took him to the ER to get put back together. 

Meanwhile, none of my colleagues did anything to help me get my work done (I was already picking up slack for others) so I could go be with my son...in fact they waltzed off to lunch while I had to work through mine.  Finally at 4:30 I announced that everything was under control and I was going home to take care of my family.  (and thinking go ahead and fire me because there is no way I am taking no for an answer!).

OK...morning coffee kicking in and I have to visit the bathroom

Oh, I will have to check that out, since I do weight watchers.   I stopped logging here because it is just so much work to look up the foods etc.  but it was helpful to see the breakdown on what I am doing nutritionally.  I find the points thing easier to follow, once the system is mastered. 

Bike rides are fun!  Especially in the evening.  I biked down to have lunch with DH today and then took the bus back...you guys can guess which way was uphill!  I've also been hauling rocks around the garden all day, and managed 15 minutes on the treadmill (no, wait!  it was 16!) before the kids woke up. 

Coppertop, I would trade my sun for your rainforest any day.  I lived in New England for 13 years and NEVER thought I would complain about too much sun but let me tell you....it is relentless.  My first summer here I would put a can of soup on the dashboard when I went to work, and it would be steaming hot by lunchtime.  After this solar oven thingy is done, I'm going to work on rigging a solar fan to help ventilate the car!  You can buy these but they are way weak and pathetic, so I got a little panel and DH is going to help me rig the wiring - I am helpless with circuits. 

I can't wait until my kids grow up a little and realize their parents are lunatics :)

The Skinny Cow sandwiches are good.  Even my DH likes them and he usually does not go for low-fat alternatives.  However, I never buy them because I'll eat the whole package if they are in the house.  Grrrr.  If I could get just one at the grocery store then I would totally get it once in a while for a treat. 

We have this fabulous italian ice place in town, all the stuff is made with real ingredients (you know, actual lemon juice in the lemon etc).  The flavor is so intense that a kiddie size hits the spot and is only about 60 calories.  Yay!  Unfortunately there is also a guy that makes small batch gourmet ice cream....the best ice cream in the world.  Good thing DH has to watch his saturated fat intake so we don't have that in the house very often. 

I was going to propose an exercise challenge, but out of consideration to runningbellydancer we can hold off on that one for now. 

How about this:  we each promise to do something by Sunday that we have wanted to do (preferably something enjoyable, like a project, activity, or craft we have wanted to work on, not a chore) for a while but have been putting off because there is no time? 

Here is what I am going to do (now you all are going to find out what a nut I am):  I am going to finish making the solar oven that I started several weeks ago.  This is timely because Freaking Hot Summer is officially here and I can't stand the thought of cooking in the kitchen, which leads to the consumption of unhealthy food.  And one resource we have in abundance here is sunshine.   This is also a job I consider fun and which has been put off because grabby toddlers keep trying to help!

Here we go....

B

So this logging thing is enlightening...I appear to be taking in a lot of saturated fats and sodium...good thing my heart isn't in fragile condition LOL. 

I'm going to make the toilet stop running and then come catch up on this thread...

Ah, yeah...I find that tracking what I eat does tend to make me obsess about food.  This time around I am trying to find some balance that I can live with for the rest of my life.  Unfortunately, for me vague promises to myself like "I'll eat healthy things" and "not too much" don't work well.  Arrrgh.  It looks like I just have to get used to writing down everything I eat. 

Oh, I was supposed to say why.  No plot, bad directing, no plot, completely unsympathetic characters, no plot...

OH I am so out of the loop!  I'm in for the challenge...I will have to get the hang of logging here, I do Weight Watchers as well and am really here for the support, so I am used to tracking that way.  However I do at least have a log of food I have eaten all week. 

I am up for the exercise challenge.  How about 15 min/day of whatever you would like to commit to for one week.  If you would rather do 30 min every other day or whatever variation you like, you can as long as you do 105 minutes (15 x 7) for the whole week.  How does this sound?  Should we start Monday after the current challenge is over?

OOOkay going to work on logging my food...

I have two kids, 16 months and 2 1/2, and we take them out to eat a lot (it is our only vice :)  Most of these things have already been mentioned, but this is what has worked for us:

For the diaper bag:

1.  Toys - lots of them and preferably ones that can be tied/attached to the high chair.  For babies napkins, chopsticks, straw wrappers and the like make good impromptu "toys"

2.  Sippy cup (unless already proficient with a straw and patient enough to wait for drinks to be delivered)

3.  Snacks like crackers or dried fruit

Avoid long waits - we find our kids' patience has run out by the time we get sat and then the meal is miserable

Pay attention to your child's mood and skip table service if cranky or tired. 

If the kids are likely to be very hungry, we will often feed them before going out and then let them munch from our plates if they  still want something at the restaurant 

Bring lots of patience and realize sometimes it goes really well, sometimes not so much.

Be prepared to bail if things really go south - remember other people are spending their hard earned money on a meal out too!

We like noisy places (loud music or high ambient noise from conversation) because if the kids are being (happy) loud no one is bothered

Sometimes we still get a highchair for the 2.5 yo so we can strap him in place ;)

I like being able to take the kids into restaurants, although it is harder with friends along because unless they are being exceptionally self-sufficient and quiet it is hard to make conversation and keep them happy/behaving at the same time.  It also helps us work on table manners as mealtimes at home are a bit chaotic.

Oh yeah, and we always tip the server well for having to put up with us, even more if they were really good with the kids, and we clean up (at least most) of the detritus that lands on the floor around our table before we leave, and consolidate the table trash/dishes since the floor will need to be swept regardless.  Just common courtesy - I used to wait tables in a family restaurant and the toddler set would always make such a mess....

And one more thought (I really have a lot to say about this) for the new parents out there -we found our newborns to be *really* easy to take out to eat, as they slept most of the time right in the car seat carrier and we could have a nice "adult" evening out.  Nursing moms might want to bring a blanket or head to the car for feedings, or pump in advance.  We almost never got through a sit-down meal with our daughter without her needing to eat.  I loved breastfeeding but I do not miss a lot of things about those days LOL...

off to watch a movie (in house... dd sleeping)... with dh.

I can't remember the last time I actually went to the theater to see a movie.  Too expensive, considering we have to pay a sitter as well as the cost of the tickets....so we watch mostly at home.  This time of year, I would rather be outside anyway...at least until it gets too hot.  And when it gets hot here, it *stays* hot until 9 or 10pm. 

I think a challenge is a great idea...was thinking along those lines myself.  Maybe something about taking time for ourselves, or tracking all our food religiously.  Although the workout one is good too, seems like a common theme is finding the time. 

Speaking of which, I rode my bike to work today!  Sort of.  Mind you, I work 15 miles from my house, so it was more like bike (coasting down the big hill) to the bus stop, ride to the city where I work, then bike to the clinic.  In reverse at night, except I took the bus up the big hill!  (When I say "big hill" I mean 500 foot elevation gain in 1 mile!  There are lots of super-fit types around here that bike or jog up the hill, but I am not there....yet!)

off to go sit on the porch and smell the flowers....

Ha, people on bulletin boards always shorten my name to Spook. 

My kids are in a daycare center (happens to be church-based although we are not religious).  Family is all 2000+ miles away, so no help there.  Fortunately we love our daycare or I would probably be a SAHM by now.  For some reason it was really hard to come back to work after my daughter. 

So, one of the ways we "deal" is to let the housework slide.  I am only moderately good at this.  Either I spend all my free time cleaning, or I feel guilty when I do something fun without the kids that I should have been cleaning.  Need to get over that, because if people wish to judge me by the condition of the living room they can go hang.  I don't think "But at Least her House was Clean" would be a very good epitaph.  Mind you, I am not living in squalor, we just tend to be cluttered and we go longer than I would prefer between vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. 

I try squeezing in exercise during my lunch hour (if I get one) and maybe a little bit in the morning.  It's hard, with so many excuses to blow it off!  I am also trying to be more eco-conscious and do as much stuff by hand instead of using machines (ie walking or biking places, using a reel push mower) so there are lots of opportunities to work in exercise without doing a formal "workout."  Also, I *love* to hike, and here in Salt Lake opportunities for that abound, so I have promised myself, for my mental *and* physical health, that I am going to do more of that this summer.

Branblow - I also get up at about 5:45, I don't have to be to work until nine, and somehow I don't get 1/10 that much stuff done....at that time of the morning I am lucky if I manage to get the coffee made without injuring myself...

Sounds like we have a lot in common. 

33, 5'7", CW 217; GW 155.  Married 8 years with two kids (boy 2 1/2 and girl 15 months).  I work in a veterinary clinic 4-5 days a week (9-6 four days a week and 9-1 every other Saturday).  My husband is a physician and often works 80 hour weeks.  I'm new to CC, been doing Weight Watchers for 3 months and lost ten pounds, but already hit a plateau for last four weeks.  I have been struggling with finding time for myself (to relax or work out). 

I definitely feel better than I did 3 months ago....but soooo far to go...

carolyn