health report.

Since I started focusing on trying to drop some of the baby weight, I've found my motivation kind of comes in waves. Anyone else find that to be true for them too?

Even so, I have still seen some success! In the last almost 5 weeks, I've lost a total of 11 lbs ~ 171-160lbs. I've lost 2% body fat, decreased my BMI by 2 and increased my water by almost 2%. I'd still like to get lower in my body fat, and BMI, but that is more of a diet thing I need to work on. I also started tracking my chest, waist, hips, and arm measurements this week, and am excited to see changes there.

Here is what I've learned so far:

I went to the spine & nerve doctor 2 weeks ago, where I was told that I should be exercising, but that it needed to be low impact to prevent further irritation of the ruptured disc (it was largely the high impact, too soon post baby workouts that got me into this mess in the first place).

He recommended biking, swimming, walking and elliptical.

I kind of hate walking, so here is what I found that I do like:

Easy jogging on my mini trampoline.

Yes I own a mini trampoline circa 1993. Or 2012, whatever. But I kind of love it. I can cue up a show, and do my jogging on my mini tramp. You can also do more rigorous exercises on a mini trampoline, such as scissor jumps, jump overs, and step ups, but I'm trying to keep it lite, so yeah, jumping on my trampoline. Two thumbs up.

I got this one from Walmart, because it had a handy little pedometer that counted your jumps and calories and all that, but I broke that part anyways, so I would recommend this cheaper one.

I also have really been digging this little video lately.  

It's only 10 minutes long, so I can do it once, twice or three times depending on my schedule. It also is pretty low impact, so I haven't had any problems doing it. I'll usually follow it up with some isolating exercises for either my legs, arms or core, or a combination. 

I've been reading a few articles about nutrition & diet, & here are some little nuggets I've come across:

1. If you want to get uber, crazy healthy, avoid processed sugars after 3 in the afternoon (I know). I'm still working on that one. 
2. Chewing your food well is almost as important as what you are eating. The more you chew your food, the easier & quicker your body can break it down. 
3. You can get a lot of the protein you need without eating meat at every meal. Meat (especially red meat) should be eaten sparingly
4. Except Salmon. Have as much salmon as you like. 
5. Water. Drink it. Like all. the. time. If you have a drink before meals, it will help satiate you. Drinking one before bed will help you sleep better. Drinking one when you wake up helps get your systems going. When you get the munchies, drink something first. You might just be dehydrated. 

So that is basically it for now. Hopefully you found something useful. If not, let me know what you would like me to try!

Diet and motivation are still the hardest things for me. I'm thinking I might cook up a little health competition. Would anyone be interested in joining in if I worked it out?

Lets talk about...

Weight loss. Boo.

Having this baby and trying to loose the baby weight has been a real kick in the pants, I tell ya.

totally worth it though. little j & I on our first morning after he was born

When I was pregnant with Jasper, I gained about 50 Ibs. Boo again. And mind you, I was pretty healthy throughout my pregnancy. I ate well, and was exercising up until the last week and a half. A week before I went into labor, we were hiking around the Utah gardens in Lehi.

Big as a boat pregnant at 40 weeks (top) and 39 weeks (above)

Everything was smooth sailing until about the last 3 hours of labor. Little J never dropped. We didn't know at the time, but it was because he had was wrapped himself around the shoulder, waist, and hip up in his too-short cord. Consequently, every time I had a contraction the stupid thing was squeezing him half to death. Poor guy came out looking like he had done 12 rounds in a boxing ring.

Our little Quasimodo.

So, I had to have an emergency Cesarean. And even with all the bad wrap cesareans get (and believe me, I was teary eyed going into the OR), I am very, very grateful, because it definitely saved one, or both of our lives.

meeting each other for the first time.
I was really concerned about his little nose.
In my defense, I was a bit out of it. 

I was told that my recovery might be a little longer than a regular delivery, but I felt pretty great after the delivery; I was up and walking the next afternoon. I think I got a little too overconfident, because I decided to start exercising more than the suggested walking before the recommended time.

Because everything is still moving back after having baby, and you are still carrying around a bunch of extra weight that your body isn't use to supporting, they generally suggest you wait at least 6 weeks before exercising. Medically, you are still deemed "pregnant" until 6 weeks postpartum.

I don't know if Cesareans make things more complicated (I wouldn't think so, but honestly I know nothing, obviously), and clearly there is no "formula" that works for everyone, but I ended up putting a lot of extra stress on my back, and getting myself a pretty severely herniated disc. BOOOOO again.

So for the last 7 months, the pain from the disc has been off & on, interfering with my ability to do much of any physical activity.When I felt good, I usually tended to overdo it (Crossfit anyone?) and usually ended up aggravating it again.

It wasn't until last month that I was able to get an epidural to treat it (my foot is still numb, but hey, I can bend over), and start to feel confident that hopefully this thing is gone for good. (The guys that I work with are so sweet, they saw me hobbling around, bent in half for a while, so now whenever they see me, they always ask "How's your back?" *Face Palm*).

I've finally started seeing results though. The other thing that really has made a difference for me has been getting on the right dosage of Metformin. I have PCOS (an infertility, insulin absorption disorder), which makes it very hard to loose & maintain weight, and in the last 2 weeks since my disc has been treated and I've been on the right dosage for PCOS, I've lost 11 Ibs. YAY!

I'd still like to loose an extra 20 to be at my ideal weight though. So here is my question:

What works for everyone else? What routines etc. do you like? I don't mind cutting out unhealthy foods, but I'm not a big dieter. I find that a lifestyle of healthy eating habits is waaay more effective than any diet.

What can I try though? That is what I want to know. And I want to be held accountable for what I'm doing. So I'm going to be doing a "Health Progress Report" post weekly, where I report on my progress, and what I've liked/hated over the previous week.

So here is to babies. And weight loss. And progress. And herniated discs (but not really). Feel free to join in on all the fun if you like to!

"Let's make things happen girl".