Two Steps Forward ...

.2 steps back. Yep, I gained .2 pounds this week. I think it was the Chinese food on Thursday night that did me in. Good thing I took off my socks for the weigh in or it might have been more :) I did make a better choice with the Chinese food. Normally we order a ton and then have leftovers for the next day (or more) but this time we were conservative and only had enough leftovers for one lunch the next day. Miguel took it and I had a healthy lunch.

The other thing is that the gym was sort of sporadic, I went on Sunday and Monday and then not again until yesterday (Friday (post-meeting)). I'm going later today so will meet my goal of four times a week. I also got in a nice (though leisurely) mile walk one day during lunch. Oh, work, that's right!

So I went back to work last week (Mon-Wed for now). Everything went about as well as I think it could. Marek had a fine time in daycare, always greeting me with a huge smile when I pick him up. I called throughout the day to check on him and everything was always good. I only shed a few tears the first and second day. I missed my baby but it was also good to get back to it.

Work is really good for my eating. It keeps me set to breakfast - snack - lunch - snack - dinner - desert. Oh! Except for the new thing that has been implemented while I was gone which my colleagues were so excited to tell me about. Cupcake Wednesday. Cupcake Wednesday?! Oh no! That can't be good. Turns out a woman in the neighborhood has a cupcake business and caters to events, weddings, etc. Once a week she opens up her shop and sells to the public for $1 a cupcake (that's a picture from her website). Uh-oh. The good news is they were on the smaller side and I only ate 1.75 cupcakes. The other good news is they didn't knock my socks off. Whew! I think a future weekly crisis might have been averted.

I even managed to get to the gym on Tuesday evening. Going to the gym on a weekday is a tricky maneuver but we've agreed that each of us (Miguel & I) can go once after work during the Mon-Thur week while the other tends to the home. So I'm envisioning some sort of Sun, Tue, Thur (during the day), Fri (or Sat) routine. This past Thursday I had a headache (probably from the blasted Chinese food now that I think about it) and couldn't go. Sometimes I go with a headache and either work through it or it goes away but this time I just wasn't in the mood.

So despite my .2 pound gain I'm still feeling very optimistic about my overall health and fitness. Yesterday I was able to jog 10 minutes straight at 5.0mph. I had to use a little mantra mojo (I think it went something like "Use the mind and the body will follow" with each syllable to a step) to get me through the last minute-and-a-half but I did it. And it was legs & shoulders day to boot so my legs got a real workout. I also did the plank for the third time (2 sets - 1st @ 1 minute, 2nd @ 30 seconds), which felt good. It wasn't a fluke. After weigh-in I gently reminded myself that if I keep doing what I know works the weight issue will solve itself. It's not about the number on the scale, it's not about losing at a certain pace, I don't exercise to lose weight - I exercise to feel good, to make fitness gains, to fuel my weekend activities, to insure I live a long, healthy life.

I don't exercise to lose weight. Really? Did I just say that? I did, and the most profound part is not that I wrote it, but that I believe it. Wow, what a shift. I don't exercise to lose weight. Wow. Can you tell I'm a little flabbergasted by that? I think this means I'm really in a good place psychologically with all this. Let's hope I figure out how to stay here.

Baby pic time!!

First day of daycare. My hair is still wet, Marek is still in his jammies and I haven't started to cry (yet). I love my baby :) The look on his face says to me, "I see we're smiling but are we sure about this mommy?" Awww, my little love.

My current fave. This was taken at Yogun Fruz. Did I not mention that I went for frozen yogurt after the WW meeting on Friday? oops :) Isn't he getting big??

It's All Good

If you're looking for some good news, you came to the right place. When it comes to my workouts, things are continuing to go well. I've had a few accomplishments this week that I want to share. And, because I apparently like to number things in lists...here you are:

#1: I took a real, live outdoor run on Wednesday evening. I did a 5 minute warm-up walk and then jogged, get this, a 2 mile loop! I'm pretty sure I was jogging slower than the 5.0 mph I do on the 'mill, which is why I was able to go so much longer, but I surprised myself in my ability to do it. And this little stint included some mild inclines even. It felt really good to be outdoors and jogging. Puts that boring old treadmill to shame.

#2: I went to the gym four times last week, hitting my goal. On top of that, I got in the above mentioned jog on a gym-free day. And, I've already started this week off on the right foot by going to the gym this morning. I think it's becoming a habit again, not so much internal wrangling to get myself there. Let's hope it sticks in the coming weeks.

#3: You're not going to believe this one. So I've been building up my ab strength, which has been tricky given I had a c-section. Things have been feeling pretty good lately so I decided to give the plank another go. I held the plank for 1 whole minute!! And then after a short break, I held it again for 30 seconds. And this was all after doing crunches earlier during weight training. Can you believe that? I was shocked. So, the plank is officially back in rotation.

#4: I lost 2.4 pounds at weigh-in on Friday!! Yup, ice cream and all. I hope it's a sign that my muscle is sufficiently built up as to be beginning to help with calorie burning. And then there's the breastfeeding, and the 1500+ calories I burned doing cardio throughout the week, not to mention weight training. I was quite pleased, as you can imagine.

#5: I registered for the triathlon on August 15th! So, it's real, I'm doing it. And I'm not doing it alone, which will make it so much more fun. I'm already anticipating the post-tri breakfast and how much fun we'll have chatting about our go of it.

How's that for accomplishments? I'm not afraid to say I'm feeling pretty darned pleased with myself these days. Also, eating has been pretty good. Still not tracking so I can't say this quantitatively but I know I haven't been eating any of my go-to bad foods. (I put bad in italics because I firmly believe no foods are intrinsically bad but some are bad for me in that they tend to trigger over-eating.)

The big day has come though. I go back to work tomorrow. I know this will hold a mix of good and bad things (related to my fitness journey) for me and I'm trying my darndest to focus on the good. The bad? I'm worried about getting in gym time. (And, of course, I know I'll miss my son more than I can imagine.) The good? The time I spend alone with the refrigerator and pantry is going to go way down. And I'll be busier during the day so in addition to less access to food I'll have less time for snacking. Traditionally I do really well during the work day so I'll have three of those to help keep my food intake in check. I'm starting back Mon-Wed for now. Wish me luck.

I'll close with a couple of pics featuring our little man. I have a feeling my picture taking might be curtailed by my returning to work. I'll just have to take that many more on the weekends!

Marek and I at the park on a playdate. He woke from his nap in a good mood and smiley so I got a few pics before de-swaddling him.


And a closer up one, because, well, this little guy just melts my heart!


Marek trying to bust out of daddy's arms while daddy is distracted.

As you can see, it was a good week. All in all I'm not too disappointed in my post-birth, maternity leave recovery. I could have used the time better to lose more weight but who knows if I would have been happy. I tried not to stress about it and things have evolved as they have, which is just fine. I have had the best time with my little boy and I know that even though I'm going back to work, the future still holds endless fun for us all. As long as I keep on my fitness journey and stay active and have fun it's all good.