Other Priorfatgirls

The Pregnancy and the Pendulum

by Liz, a priorfatgirl on May 20, 2013

Often I think of my eating as a pendulum, because since I began this journey I always feel like I am on one side or the other on the whole eating spectrum.  Either I am mindfully eating what it takes for me to lose weight, or I am eating everything in sight with little regard for my future health.  When I was in active weight loss mode I would stay on the “weight loss” side of the pendulum for a long time, with brief but intense swings into the “Eat ALL the things” side.  As I started to struggle it would fluctuate more commonly daily or even hourly as I struggled between what I wanted to eat and what I thought I should eat.

Part of it, you see, is that I have never been in maintenance mode.  I know either weight loss eating, or pigging out in rebellion of weight loss eating (Or even more just because I really like food and can eat vast quantities of it).  There was no happy middle of responsible eating interspersed with the occasional treat.  I have been an “all or nothing” type of girl.Pendulum

Recognizing this about myself I know I need to find a way to dwell in the middle.  The place where the veggies are the norm and the cake is the exception.  A place I am calling healthy moderation.  The problem has been that when I got pregnant the “Weight loss Liz” side of the pendulum was taken off the table.  And as is my habit, I swung quickly over to the “Eat all the things!!” side.  Instead of eating similar to how I do when losing weight but with a few more points or calories I have gone securely into eating whatever sounds good, at any time, and in whatever quantity I want.

Not Good.

I know it isn’t good for my pregnancy, which already feels fraught with perils thanks to last time (more on this in another post).  I know it isn’t good for me or my desire to pick up where I left off before getting pregnant.  I am ashamed, watching the work of 16 months disappear so quickly, and while I know I am “supposed” to gain weight, I know it isn’t at this pace.  Now that I am out of my first trimester I want to pay more attention to this by eating more whole foods, fewer processed ones.  I want to work on giving up sugar (like I have successfully given up caffeine for the pregnancy).

I want to find the middle ground, but I haven’t yet.  Still I am getting better at recognizing what my body truly is craving, when it is hungry and when it is thirsty, when I need a good walk or a good nap.  Pregnancy is so much about listening to your body, and I hope that with this time to practice I will find a natural middle ground.

Until then, I am trying to put down the ice cream.

 

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Always Have a Plan… Or Use Someone Else’s

by Elle, another PriorFatGirl on May 16, 2013

Ask anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight and they’ll tell you that planning ahead is indisputably one of the keys to success. Only, that’s a problem for people like me. I don’t even plan what I’m going to wear to work each day until five minutes after I already should have left. So I generally don’t plan what I’m going to eat for a meal until my stomach has already started growling.

So a few weeks ago, I was hunting around the internet for inspiration and/or solutions as I prepared to get back on the proverbial wagon. Enter healthfulpursuit.com . What has worked for me in the past is simplifying my diet down to the most basic elements – vegetables, fruits, lean proteins. When I narrowed my food intake down to these things, I learned a lot about my body. It doesn’t digest dairy well, for starters. But it does handle raw veggies better than the average bear’s. While others are popping the Bean-o after snacking on broccoli and carrots, I’m moving merrily about my business.

Healthful Pursuit, founded and operated by a gal named Leanne Vogel (who has no idea who I am, by the way) immediately seemed to line up with everything I wanted. And best of all, Leanne has a Meal Plan Program that comes complete with a shopping list each week. And she specifically points out that you don’t need to shop at expensive fancy stores for good produce. (I love you so much Whole Foods, but Albertson’s prices beat you every time).

I looked at some of the sample recipes and since every one of the looked delicious, it wasn’t a hard decision – I signed up for the meal plan and followed the first one religiously. Those pictures in my last post? All from the menu that week. I lost four pounds and used everything I’d bought, which was great. Usually I go to the store, by lots of things that seem like good, healthy choices, and then throw them all out two weeks later because I had no idea what to do with them.

The second week, unfortunately, has been a bumpy road for me. With an overwhelming number of work projects stacked up on my plate, I haven’t had time to go shopping. So I’m back up three pounds.

Am I bummed? Sure. But I’m not throwing in the towel. That puts me at 186 today.

The temptation is always there to get frustrated and thrown in the towel. Or eat a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes and never look back. But frosting-covered guilt isn’t going to make this better. A reality check, on the other hand, isn’t a bad idea. So I’m reminding myself that I have good food in my fridge and a great pair of running shoes in my closet. And even if I am back up three pounds, I’m not where I started.

I will not let one bad week derail me from my mission.

Elle-signature

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The Sad Post

by Dawn on May 8, 2013

I don’t really know what else to call this post. The past couple of weeks have been unbelievably sad and hard on me and my husband. The baby is fine (and I’m fine) but we did lose a very important member of our family last week.

I wrote in March that our sweet Cain had a vestibular attack. He eventually recovered pretty well although he never got back to 100%. He still had a lot of trouble with the stairs in our house, so we blocked all of them off. All things considered – the vestibular attack, his bad hips, and his age of 12 1/2 – he was doing pretty well.

Until the last week of April.

He started deteriorating fast and went from being able to pull himself onto the couch to not being able to walk more than a few feet without his back end collapsing. We had to hook a beach towel under his backside to assist him in going outside to use the bathroom. He was still eating and drinking just fine, but his poor body was just giving out on him. We declined a referral to a neurologist since we weren’t going to consider surgery at his age but the vet said it could be anything from a brain tumor to a stroke to a spinal tumor that just finally caught up with him.

My husband and I made the extremely difficult decision to say goodbye to our sweet boy on May 3rd. The anticipation was so hard on both of us; this was the first time either of us had gone through this and didn’t know what to expect. I have to give so much credit and thanks to our vet office; we were able to make arrangements and prepay over the phone so that we didn’t have to deal with it ‘after’. They allowed us to stay in our car with Cain until our room was ready and then they came out and got him and took us right into the room. They allowed us to spend as much time with him as we wanted or needed. The vet had just lost her own dog a few days prior so she was extremely sympathetic and extra gentle and loving. The whole experience was surreal but much less traumatic than I expected. It was extremely sad yet peaceful and a mix of heartbreak from losing him and relief that he was no longer suffering.

I know we did the right thing for our dog and while I miss him so much, I am so happy that we were blessed to be his owners for almost 12 years. We adopted him from a rescue when he was eight months old and it was love at first sight. He was gentle and loving and sweet and sensitive. He was awesome and there will never be another dog like him. Ever.

Our other dog, Fritz, seems to be doing okay. He’s getting more love and attention and (so far) hasn’t been acting any differently. Sydney asks “Where Cain?” and I just tell her he’s in heaven. She then usually says “I see him?” but I explain we can’t see him anymore. I’m glad she’s still too young to really understand.

I had already made plans to meet up with old friends in Baltimore the day after we said goodbye so spending time laughing with my friends for two days was a great distraction. I encouraged my husband to go to his parents’ house to get away, so he took Syd and Fritz with him for his own little escape. I was really happy to get home on Sunday but thankful for old friends who can make me laugh and get my mind off of everything.

I’m so sorry for such a depressing post and promise the next one won’t be so sad. This is what has been going on lately and I wanted to explain why I’ve been gone. I’ve also been much less active on Twitter since it’s hard to say much when nothing else really seems important.

I hope you’re all doing well. Give your pets an extra hug from Cain and me tonight, okay?

PFG

 

 

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An Annoucement

by Liz, a priorfatgirl on May 7, 2013

As I said in an earlier post there is a stereotype in weight loss blogging – if someone stops blogging they are gaining weight.  Likewise there is a stereotype in mommy blogging as well – if someone stops blogging they are likely pregnant.

So as a mommy weight loss blogger who has stopped blogging regularly….

It is true.  I have been gaining weight, but the other part is too.

I am pregnant.

It feels good to be able to announce this because now I can get to the real thoughts that have been swimming in my head.   I have a host of thoughts about weight gain and pregnancy, my eating pendulum, and a host of other exciting and anxiety producing things.  But there will be time for that.

So for now let’s leave it at this.  I am excited.  I am tired all the time.  I am excited.  I manage to feel ok if I eat constantly, mostly carbs.  I am excited.  I am anxious.  I am tired.  I am excited.

I am 13 weeks along, due in Nov, but I’d just settle for anything considered “full term” thanks to my previous pregnancy experience.  We’ve seen a baby on the ultrasound and all looks good so far.

(There might be something in the water that Jen and Elle want to watch out for…the PFGs are breeding like bunnies)

So that is the news around here.  It is good news, even if it does have a lot of my plans shifting around.

More on everything soon!

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