The Weight Loss Post

I'm about to get buttnaked honest with y'all.

A year ago I weighed 194 lbs.

Holy crap!

I knew I'd gain a little weight with pregnancy (ha), but I never imagined I'd be tipping the scales close to 200 lbs. I mean, it became almost laughable. My friends and family were cheering me on to get to 200. Jerks!

My high school weight was 98 lbs. I actually lied up about my weight on my drivers license - I thought 108 sounded way better. My typical daily diet consisted of spicy chicken sandwiches for lunch and a couple western bacon burgers for dinner. I couldn't gain weight if I tried (and I did try!).

I did get to the 110 range by the end of high school/start of college and stayed within 5 lbs of this for a couple years. Once 22 hit, I "ballooned" (HA) up to 130 lbs and thought this was madness so I did Nutrisystem for a month with my hubby. Back down to 120 I went, and was quite pleased with myself.

I started losing a little weight when I got sick, but once chemo started, I GAINED. The whole MO during chemo is if something sounds good to you, god bless you, eat it. With the constant nausea and all that, they want you to have a burger if that's all you feel you can stomach. That was fine and great - I ate lemon bars and creamy pastas and pizza bagels to my heart's content. Only this time, the pounds stuck on. Well after treatment ended, I discovered my body didn't have that same superawesome metabolism it once had. Chemo must have robbed me of that too.

I became unhappy with my weight and stayed unhappy, but didn't do much in the way of changing things. I tried to limit calories but it never worked for long. We ordered nutrisystem and I came to the realization that after one month, the food is downright disgusting. And what are you supposed to do if you ever want to eat out?

Then I became pregnant. It was a joyous time to be had, embracing eating my "cravings" and loving my big ol' growing belly. I'd always envisioned I'd be one of those little bitty pregnant ladies with a basketball under her shirt, but I was more like a tanker. My ankles were like tree trunks. Oh well, I thought, "I'll lose TONS of weight by breastfeeding! I'll continue pumping well after my kid doesn't even need breastmilk, since it's such a calorie burner!" (P.S. has anyone ever done this?!)

My little love was born and I dropped 40 lbs within a couple days. But that's about it. And after breastfeeding came to an end, I still hadn't lost as much weight as I'd envisioned. I hated looking at pictures of myself, and really hated that I'd hesitate to show off a sweet picture of my daughter because I looked like a whale in it. The new year came, and with that, I knew I NEEDED to make a change.

As I mentioned before, I signed up for weight watchers. My weight on January 3 was 159.5 (GULP!)

Today, June 19, 2011, I am 132 lbs. That's a 27.5 lb loss. Wait, a 62 lb loss from June 2010 ;-)

 

Excuse the ipad photo, my memory card FRIED yesterday (at a most critical time, might I add!). What's that? Oh, you want a bathing suit photo? Fine.

(taken in late May)

This diet has been incredible - it's not a diet. It's a guide to help you make better choices about what to eat. All junk food is not the same. A Carls Jr. burger can be 30 points and 2 chili dogs, which one might assume would be just as bad, are 18 points. My friends, believe me when I say that I lost this weight by eating foods I love and would normally eat. The key to my little "success" is that I was so stubborn in getting where I wanted to be. I didn't want to feel ugly anymore.

My real goal is 125 lbs. I wanted to be in the 120s by Gabriella's first birthday, and I came darn close (I've plateaued a little bit in the last couple months). I will get there. I feel better about my body today than I have for YEARS, and it truly is an amazing feeling.

I also want to give a shout out to my hubby. He joined WW a week after I did and became just as determined as I was, since he had gained quite a bit of sympathy weight along with me during pregnancy. He's lost 40 lbs!

So yes, it can be done! I'm so proud of us and cannot say enough wonderful things about the Weight Watcher's program. You'd think I get a kickback from them or something, the way I rave about 'em... And I can't believe I just told the world my real weight. Isn't that against the woman code or something?

Gabriella's First Year

I wanted to share the little 1 year video I made for Gabriella. I shouldn't really say little, because it's nearly 11 minutes long, but I really couldn't help myself! I've watched it at least 168 times during the process of creating it, and it still chokes me up to see it. If you do take the time to watch it, thank you :-)

I haven't been the best blogger because I was so preoccupied with preparations for her birthday party, which was yesterday. It was a total success and we all had such a great time. I'll be sure to post the details soon... I just need to sort through the 592 pictures taken that day!

I can't believe my little bug is going to be one on Tuesday. I keep reminiscing how this time last year I was doing everything I could to just go into labor. We ate the hottest Indian food. We walked and walked. Short of standing on my head, I did it all. And now here she is, my little girl, one year later. Can I still call her my baby? After all, she will always be my little baby to me.

*sigh* Why didn't anyone warn me babies grow up?

Blogged!

I know, I know... I've been the very worst blogger lately. I've been in hyper planning mode for Gabriella's birthday party, which is this Saturday! I can't believe it's coming up on me so fast. I can't wait to share everything with y'all when it's all done too. I hope it comes together nicely, because I've put a lot of thought and effort into everything.

The photographer who did our pictures out in Arizona just posted these on her blog! I really wanted to share them with you, so here ya go :-)

I can't wait to get the ones of her in her other little outfit - they're my very favorite! Anyhow, here's a link to her blog in case you're ever in the greater Phoenix area and are in the mood for some awesome vintage-y photos! http://sierrastudiosphotography.com

She's walking!!!

Aaaaahhhhh! I'm so excited everyone! She just started walking! Up until today it was a step here and there, and two steps once or twice. Here's my baby girl walking to her grandpa! (excuse my hysterics and whatnot! ;-))

If the iPhone didn't just pay for itself I don't know what's what!

How can you not?

Recently I found out about a little girl that needs bone marrow. She is 9 months old. Thinking about the heartache of what her parents are going through shatters my heart, and I just could not stop thinking about it. When I found out about this, the National Marrow Donor Program was also brought to my attention. Here's how it works:

You sign up online. They send you a cheek swab. You swab your cheek and send it back to them. If someone out there in dire need - somebody's baby... somebody's husband... somebody's WORLD - is a match, you can volunteer to donate your marrow. You're still not obligated at this point. But how can you not??

There are two ways that marrow can be collected, and yes, one does involve anesthesia and can be a little painful. More often now, though, it can be collected through the arm, just like having blood drawn. Easy. And even if option 1 is presented, what's a little pain to you if it means saving the life of a baby that a mother would only give her life for if she just could? How does your heart not scream for this poor mother? This sweet baby girl??

I underwent chemotherapy for 18 weeks. I then did radiation for 6 weeks. From that, I have been in remission, but not cured (not considered cured until 5 years have passed). Had those not worked for me... my next step would have been a bone marrow transplant. I might have needed you.

Please, seriously consider this. It just takes a couple minutes online... and a heart. http://www.marrow.org

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to Arizona to spend some quality time with the in laws over Memorial Day weekend. It was so nice to get away and it really felt like a little vacation. While we were there Gabriella took 2 naps a day and they were about 2-2.5 hours each! So when she rested, we did too! It must be the 100 degree weather that tires her out. ::ponders the idea of moving::

I was a little worried about how she would do with the 6+ hour car ride but she did really well with it - on the way there we left right after her dinner so she could sleep the whole way, and on the way back she made it through with minimal fussing. We did have to pull over a couple times because she was getting antsy and needed to stretch, and we hit some traffic, so we weren't able to make it back in time to go to a friend's birthday party, which we were a little bummed about.

While we were there G took 2 steps! She took her very first step on her daddy's birthday, May 24. Each day now she'll take a step here and there, so who knows when she'll kick it into high gear?!

Here are some of our trip highlights (not sure why the heck blogger is messing with the layout of them, I hereby request for them to make photo layout more user friendly!). Oh and most pics were taken on just my phone, or our little point and shoot because we didn't bring the big camera with us. Must remember to charge batteries asap. Anyway, I digressed again! On to the pics:

Munching on lemon!

First taste of ice cream = not so much a fan. She does not take after her daddy in that arena! (and of course we HAD to stop at sonic and pig out while we were out there. Sonic, PLEASE come to LA already!)

 We stopped by the outlets and she sat at a little table in the Carters store and actually played with the legos! She looks like such a big girl here.

 I love how proud of herself she is here :-)

 Playing with some balloons. Check out her static-y hair!

 Whoops!

 Um, these cupcakes were the cutest decorated cupcakes ever! The pic is just from my cell phone, so you can't really tell, but they were sparkly!!

At the water park in FIL's community. Seriously, look how fun! (And yep, here I am in all my glory. Avert your eyes if you don't want to see me in a bathing suit. In my defense, the diet had been thrown out the window for a few days before this, so really, I'm about 21 lbs thinner :-P)

 She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow ruffly bikini ;-)

This was right around when she peed on me. Yeah, those swim diapers don't keep ANY liquid in. ;-)

 Perfect spot to practice her walking!

 Love these little piggies.

We made a little pit stop in the middle of nowhere off the highway on the way home for a diaper change and stretch, and it made for some cute iPhone pictures!

 
 The countdown to her birthday is now on! Only a little over 2 weeks! Aaaahh!!!

11 Months!?!?!?!?!?

The !?!?!?!?!?!? is completely necessary, because this one totally snuck up on me. I was truckin' right along, when all of a sudden, BAM! My kid's nearly 1. Here are her accomplishments to date:

• Proud owner of 6 teeth total now. This month was a toothy one, and she got 4 teeth (all on top) in a matter of a couple weeks! Whew! I'm hoping the teething can subside for a little bit now, but I think the other bottom 2 are going to be coming in soon too. Poor girl needs a teething break already!
• She's still happy as a clam crawling and cruising everywhere. Her favorite is going up the stairs (and being "chased" by us in particular!). She stands independently for extended periods of time, but hasn't made that first step alone quite yet. She's very cautious with her movements, which gives me a huge sense of relief - if she were a daredevil I'd be petrified alllll the time. Now I'm just terrified like 79% of the time.
• Words she says - Mama, Dada, Up, and either "at" or "dat (that?)" The other day I asked her if she wanted tilapia for dinner and she responded back saying something garbled that sounded a bit like "laptop". Similar letters, so it sounds like she's really able to start repeating things to us. We need to start watching what we say!
• She's developed some hysterical preferences. She has the laugh and learn home (which I totally recommend, btw) and must always have the mailbox open. Don't even try to sneak it shut when she's not looking, because when she happens to catch a glance at the closed mailbox later on, she pops it right back open. Silly girl! Her new favorite thing is to throw all her toys out of her pen/pack n play/crib. One by one she drops them... the other day she went to throw out her pacifier, thought better of it, and popped it into her mouth. What foresight the kid has!
• She also loves being tickled now - she developed tickleishness all of a sudden it seems.
• Eating in front of her now is officially a problem. She wants what we have. And has developed a resoundingly high-pitched scream aimed specifically for getting this point across. So now she gets some table scraps to tide her over from time to time. I'm also still trying to get her to like a sippy cup and she hates them all. Can she just drink from a bottle until she's 12?
• She learned to shake her head "no" which cracks us up to no end. "Gigi did you clean your room?" ::head shake:: "Gigi are you ready for bed time?" ::head shake:: It's great.
• She wears 6-12 and 12-18 month clothes (the 12-18 in particular for leggings) and recently got fitted for her first walking shoes at Stride Rite! These shoes came highly recommended, and with walking surely right around the corner, I thought we ought to get her some shoes with good support. Her little chunkers are wide so we had to get special wider shoes! I love love love her lil chunky foots. 
• She flaps her arms like a seal when she gets super excited. Also, I think I ought to note that I'm the person she finds funniest. This is important because DH maintains that he is way funnier than I am and this is clearly untrue.

We won't have a weigh-in this month because our pedi said the next time he needs to see her is after her 1st birthday! Hooray for no shots/schlep across the valley for mama!

My little onesie stickers have dwindled down to just 1 more after this. As I lamented what ever would I do with myself on the 21st of each month after this June, I found these on etsy! She's getting harder and harder to photograph sitting still, but a huge part of me still wants to continue our little tradition into her second year.

Problem is that now there are like 8525827025 different choices in onesie stickers. When I was 9 months pregnant with G there was only 1 seller that I knew of that did these! I think I like the simplicity of those I pictured above, though. Easier to read. You know, since I'll have all these blurry pictures because my toddler will be running around. OMG toddler?! (Isn't it so irritating amusing how I constantly freak out over marvel at time passing by?)