Calcium and pilates

So I gained over 50 pounds when I was pregnant with Beca. And I only lost about 25 pounds of it overall. It just shifted to different areas - yes, mostly in my chest (I would have rather donated some of it had it been easy to do, really). And it wasn't that I was worried about the weight, it's just that I never felt good. I've always tried to keep up with pilates at least once a week to control my scoliosis but I've started changing how I use the sessions. I started better utilizing pillows and rolls to help stretch open my chest and support my neck and shoulders. This nice part about it is that I get the chance to actually focus on my abs without feeling like I am straining my jaw and neck. Pilates is good for anyone with any ability but I would recommend taking at least some classes with an instructor in a class size of 8 or preferably fewer. this way you won't hurt yourself.
OK, so I've lost actually another 15 pounds in about 2 months and over the holidays on top of that. Sounds a little crazy, right. Well, I didn't do anything totally out there. In fact, I made some very minor changes. I spent all of October eating McDonalds and most of November continuing a fast food heavy diet. In December, I stopped some of that (understand that I wasn't really gaining weight from the fast food diet, but I wasn't losing anything either - plus I felt like crap). I tend to take my lunch now. Another change is that I make sure I get a good bit of protein in the morning. Oh yeah - I have a ham biscuit and a large sweet tea from Biscuitville every work morning. The mornings I don't have that, I barely make it to 10:30 and I'm hungry again. The B'ville biscuits are not as greasy as others - I think that's the only reason that works. Change #3 - and this is the big one. I started taking Calcium supplements not only in the morning but also at night - you know the 3-A-Day deal. I don't always have enough milk or cheese and I don't eat yogurt (ummm, growing things in my food?) so my doc recommend the calcium additions. The calcium has Vitamin D in them too but i also take an additional Vitamin D every morning (well above the RDA). And really, that's it. Just thought I'd share. Check it out and see what a simple elemental supplement can do for you.
Steve's lost weight with those braces!! It takes him longer to eat now so he can't eat as much.

start of 2008

It's been a crazy month. Beca started potty training. She misled us in December with wanting to put her poopy in the potty. Now she won't poop in the potty. Only tinkle. And she's just too preoccupied with the world to stop to do it. She also hit a growth spurt in the middle of a 4 day fever virus so about half of her clothes stopped fitting. This week, she got a big girl bed and drawers. I'll try to get a picture up. Zoe-poodle seems to like having another place to sleep. Beca isn't 100% on the whole change of set-up so she stays up really late trying not to go to sleep.
Of course, it was the same week that I had to be at work a lot of extra hours. New machines are cool but when engineers and testers don't finish what they are doing until the last minute, us quality folks get to hurry through our tasks in order to say ok, ship. It's been very tiring. But the machines are doing pretty well at the customers who have them. A few hiccups but they'll get there. I have the 2 main products that we are releasing this year and the product that goes into both of them. Plus a new data project. It's going to be a very busy year.
Steve helped on another TEC retreat and contracted whatever funk everyone contracts on the winter weekend. Then he got braces on this week - lower half only. He wasn't quite ready for that change. We're pretty sure he'll lose weight since he can't just inhale his food any more.
That's the short story of our January. Hopefully I can keep up with it.

entry into the world of blog

Well, I thought I could sit down and do this since Beca "appeared" to have gotten quiet and gone to sleep. Well, not so much. She likes to push bedtime back with new and innovative distractions (so sad that at 2-1/2, the water trick is already old). Hopefully, I can review some of our world another time. For now, good night and Godspeed.