Back to Tracking

I’m back on Calorie King, tracking my food.  And it is NOT pretty.  Not at all.  On Monday I ate 2800 calories.  Seriously.  Seriously.  According to my nutritionist, I should be “allowed” 2600 calories (which seems insanely high to me), so the fact that I went ABOVE that is inconceivable to me.  Without really having all that much that is out of control…  Unbelievable.

I’ve done fairly well the past few days, but still really surprised at how much I’m eating.  And how different it has been from how I ate before I got pregnant.  It doesn’t FEEL all that much different, though.  It’s not like I feel like I’m allowed to eat all these things that are so yummy, and fatty, and high in calories.  I still have the guilt.  But I still give in to it.  And that’s got to stop — not a diet.  I’m not trying to LOSE weight (of course), but I really can’t keep eating the same way that I have been.

All that said, we leave tomorrow for Maui.  I’m not going to go crazy with calorie counting there, but I’m also going to make sure that I don’t just throw all caution to the wind and inhale everything that I see.  It really is a good thing that I can’t have a Mai Tai!  But, I’m a sucker for ‘mocktails’, and will need to reign that in a bit…

You won’t be surprised…

But I’ve gained more than the 15 pounds that my doctors recommended that I gain with this pregnancy.  Already.  As of this morning, I’m up 19 pounds.  19!  And I’ve still got 17.5 weeks to go.  Including 2-3 vacations/weekends away, the hubby’s birthday, and Thanksgiving.  This is not a good thing, my friends.

Not that it’s all that surprising to me, either.  Seriously?  Gaining only 15 pounds with a pregnancy?  That’s cray-cray.  I’d like to say that I’ve been eating really well.  And I can tell you that I had a salad for lunch yesterday.  But then I might conveniently leave out the part where I didn’t finish it (there was too much dressing), and instead went back for a second biscuit. Ahem, a second cheese biscuit.

Oh, and then there were the bananas that I bought to add into protein pancakes or to top English muffins with peanut butter.  Instead, they sat too long, and I HAD to make some banana chocolate chip bread.  And then I HAD to proceed to eat 2 slices per day this week.  Luckily the hubby’s been eating more than that, and it’s finally gone.

I did not expect this to be this hard, folks.  I’m really not sure why, though.  I mean, I have tried my entire life.  ENTIRE LIFE! to lose weight, and now I’m just piling the pounds on like it’s my job.  19 pounds in 22.5 weeks isn’t ALL that terrible, and honestly, I really only look like I’ve gained some weight in the belly (it’s *thank goodness* not distributed itself to my face or upper arms — yet).  But knowing that I still have 17.5 weeks to go, and this kiddo is just going to grow & grow & grow, is terrifying.

I cried this morning, exclaiming that if I couldn’t control my need for ice cream, how could I possibly be a good mother.  I even said that I wished she was going to be a boy, because then he wouldn’t really worry about his weight like I do.  Friends, I am so scared that I am going to screw this little, innocent, perfect baby up.

Back to basics, my friends.  No, not a diet.  But tracking what I eat.  Doing my cardio.  Making good choices.  Setting myself up for success.

It’s a…

… bundle of Sugar & Spice & Everything nice!  Because that’s what little GIRLS are made of!

We had our Week 19 ultrasound this morning (yes, I was indeed very delayed in spilling the beans) and we have confirmation of a GIRL!  My mom’s already pointed out that she’ll be a daddy’s girl her whole life like me.  (Which kind of bums me out, because I really hate the way that I used to roll my eyes at my mom & say, “Whatever, MOM!”.  That will never happen with MY baby girl, will it?!?)

As of this morning I was 213.6.  I started at 202, so I’m up 11.6 total.  Which is decent (but they really only want me to gain a total of 15 pounds — which I think is insane).  Except I lost weight initially, and I recently had a fairly large jump.  We just had our kitchen redone, so 7 weeks of eating out will kind of kill the meal plan.  Add a 1.5 week road trip in there, and it’s disastrous.  But, back on the wagon.  The kitchen will officially be done this weekend, and we are getting our shipment of Hello Harvest veggies & fruits today (SO excited!), so I can start cooking again.

Thinking of making a turkey on Sunday.  Just because I can!  Ha!

Anyway, the doc isn’t super excited about my recent weight gain, but I assured him that I was getting it in check.  Which I will!  Anything to keep this babe healthy!

It’s been a while…

So let’s have a chat.  Just you and me.

I’ve been keeping something from you.  A secret.  A secret that I’m finally ready to share on the interwebs.

We’re having a baby.  A real, live, baby! 

Yes, it’s true.  And I didn’t mean to keep it from you for this long.  Truly I didn’t.  It’s just gotten away from me to tell you.  But here I am.

And it’s so, so awesome.  And so, so exciting.  And so, so scary.

Yet Another Doctor…

…has told me that I need to watch my weight.  1500 to 1700 calories per day.  Eat every 3 hours; meal –> snack –> meal –> snack –> meal –> snack.  Snacks can’t be carbs; recommended that they be dairy (which is so frustrating, because everyone else tells me to lay off the dairy).  Can’t they just all learn about this stuff from the same book and get on board? Ugh.

I have been in a bit of a carb-induced coma recently.  This morning is no different (I did have a bagel this morning as a final send-off — combined that with a blackberry / greek yogurt / cranberry juice smoothie [which needed a lot of sweetening with some Agave nectar]).

Working on getting myself back on track, back to tracking my food, back to exercising 5 of 7 days.  I really need to start “booking” the exercise on my calendar, including swimming.  As much as I hate the hubby’s new schedule (1 pm to midnight), it would allow me to go to swimming from 7 to 8 PM…

Ugh.  Will I ever just “learn” not to let myself unlearn everything that I’ve done?  Will I ever just figure out how to eat like a “normal” person (or what my normal should look like)?

What I’m Up to…

Haven’t blogged in a while — I just don’t feel like I have all that much going on that would be interesting…  Sorry.

I haven’t been working out this week — been feeling a bit off, and not wanting to push it. Tonight I was supposed to have a facial & a massage, but my chiropractor cancelled the massage. Which is really too bad because I’ve got some crazy muscle thing going on in my right leg. If I’m not working out, how could I hurt it? Did I strain it in my sleep?!? Still excited about the facial though; I NEED my brows waxed!  I’m seriously like a Chubaka over here. 

The rest of the night I’ll be baking cookies and cupcakes for a baby shower that I’m throwing on Saturday afternoon. Should be a lot of fun, but I’d just like to get this ticked off the list. Baking today, frosting tomorrow. Also need to pick up the last part of the gift, buy the groceries, and pull together some of the serving dishes that I’m taking to the friend’s house who was gracious enough to offer her beautiful home! I absolutely love entertaining, and really wanted to do this at our house.  BUT, we’re supposed to be in the middle of a kitchen renovation.  Unfortuantely, that reno hasn’t started (just took measurements and designed the kitchen cabinets on Monday, so I don’t even really know when we’re actually starting…).

Oh! And I got all crafty last night and made some fabric bunting for a shower decoration that I hope they’ll be able to use to decorate the nursery too. Yay for actually doing something that I found on Pinterest!

Other baby shower food will include a fruit salad, a veggie platter (with dips served in hollowed out bell peppers — fancy! — and some hot appetizers courtesy of Trader Joe’s. The cookies will be “baby stuff” shaped, and I’ll package those as favors. The cupcakes are the cake — I’m planning on chocolate with green and blue frosting (the “theme” colors are green, brown & blue). But, we’ll see… May end up with white frosting & sprinkles… We’re also having a champagne/sparkling cider “bar” with pureed mango and strawberries as mix-ins, as well as punch, and mint/lemon/cucumber water.  Again, most of this (except the fruit salad, cupcakes, cookies, and TJ’s apps are ideas courtesy of Pinterest).  Seriously, I’m addicted.

Will take a bunch of decor pictures on Saturday so you can see what it all looks like when it comes together.  I’m a bit nervous for it, actually.  There are 3 of us throwing the shower — and I’m probably the one most into the design element.  However, since it’s at the other lady’s house, we’re using her dishes, etc. (trying to be green & avoid paper plates & plastic forks as much as possible).  The only issue is that they’re all really fancy crystal, etc., and I was really hoping that it would be a bit more modern.  She also has a bunch of decorations that she bought for other baby showers, and wants to use — and they don’t really go with the modern jungle theme that I’d set about using (before she volunteered to help).  I know.  I KNOW!  I need to get over this.  It’s crazy.  She’s 0pening her home, and of course we’d use the crystal punch bowl instead of me bringing mine, or me bringing my plain white clean-lined plates and serving trays.  That’d be insane.  INSANE.  I get it.  But it’s not going to be as cohesive as I’d like.  Of course, the momma-to-be won’t even notice, or care at all, and that’s what really matters, right?!?  🙂

Weight is holding steady at 197/198.  I’m OK with that.  I’m eating well, working out regularly (except for this week), and I’m pretty sure that I look good!  🙂  I ran into my nutritionist at the cafeteria a few days ago, and even she mentioned that I was looking “svelte”.  As long as I can keep my fingers out of the cupcake batter tonight, that should continue!

4 years!

I can’t believe that it’s been 4 years since I woke up a single woman.  4 years since I got my hair done (and cried when I saw it).  4 years since I first saw my bouquet of pink roses & peonies and wished that I could have a bouquet JUST.LIKE.THAT.ONE. every day of my life.  4 years since I walked down the aisle with my veil covering my face, getting stuck on my eyelash extensions.  4 years since I held the hands of my love at the altar and professed that I would love him.  Forever and always.  4 years since we wandered through the vineyards, awkwardly talking about our amazing families and friends, while being followed by an even more awkward photographer.  4 years since we danced to Louis Armstrong’s “A Kiss to Build a Dream On”.  4 years since my buddy drank all the tequila at the wedding and really made it a party.  4 years since we passed under the sparklers held up by our guests, toasting our special day.  Happiest of Anniversaries to my love.

Eatful in Seattle

Eatful.  Is that even a thing?  I don’t think so.  But we were certainly not Eat-less…  So to continue this nonsensical link to some 80s movie, I’m saying eatful IS indeed a thing.

Basically, we spent our weekend in Seattle eating.  (Why, yes.  It has taken me over a week to post this.  Yikes.)

Many of our vacations revolve around food, and where we’re going, and things like breakfast dessert.  Serious.  Most of those happen in Vegas, but apparently Seattle is a favorite foodie location.

Friday

• Lunch – random pho restaurant.  I don’t even know what town we were in.  I was on the lookout for a Starbucks (not hard to find, by the way) but the hubby wanted something else.  Because it was Friday he either needed fish or vegetarian, so he thought it would be easy to find something at this Vietnamese place.  Wow, was it good!  I had a vermicelli bowl with chicken and fried egg rolls, he had a fish stew pho, and we shared a tofu ban mi.  That sandwich was SO good, y’all!  I dreamt of the bread from that sandwich for days.  Serious.
• Dinner – Elliott’s Oyster House.  We’ve been here a few times – it’s one of the hubby’s favorite restaurants.  It’s not one of mine.  Both things I’ve had in the past were not good.  This time, though, it redeemed itself.  We started with calimari – lightly fried, you could still taste the perfectly cooked calimari.  Yum.  Hubby had some fantastic Alder smoked salmon, and I ordered the main dish of crab cakes.  In hindsight, I should have gotten the salmon too.  The crab cakes were good, but a bit weird.  They were like a crab salad in the middle – still creamy with mayo.  I really like it when my crab cakes are only crab.  But they were still good.  We skipped dessert.

Saturday

• Breakfast – Local 360.  (I don’t really know why, but they have a .0rg web address — cool!)  This place is cool.  As much food as possible is sourced from within 360 miles of Seattle.  We started out with breakfast appetizer:

PB & J Bon bons. You're jealous. Just admit it.

I ordered a sensible meal of scrambled eggs with roasted potatoes.  They weren’t anything special, but I wasn’t really expecting much from them — I just really wanted some plain eggs.  (After a breakfast appetizer of fried peanut butter, it’s usually better not to go too crazy).  That said, check out the hubby’s breakfast:

Chicken and Waffles, y'all!

• We skipped lunch, since brunch was so late, but I stopped and picked up a box of granola bars and an iced decaf coffee at a grocery store between the wedding & the reception.
• Dinner – Salty’s on Alki for the wedding reception.  Dinner was good – a large buffet.  The best were the shrimp scampi and the clam chowder.   The piece de resistance was not from the  restaurant, but was a marionberry wedding cake.  Mmmm, good stuff.

YAY for wedding cake

Sunday

• Breakfast – Top Pot Doughnuts.  This is an amazing doughnut shop near our hotel
• Lunch – Pike Place Chowder.  Shared a bread bowl of clam chowder.  I love this place.  So good.
• Mid-afternoon outing – Freemont Brewing Company.  This was so odd…  Very odd.  There was a child’s birthday party going on in the bar.  I couldn’t decide at first if it was awesome or crazy.  I decided after watching the very chill parents, with microbrews in their hands, and the very happy kiddos, eating pizza and birthday cake, that this was GENIUS.  We just need to find a brewery that allows this here.  (Oh, and have a kiddo.  Small things…)  On that vein, since I was DD, they gave me (free!) fancy bottled rootbeer and ginger beer (non-acho!) Woot!
• Dinner – Local 360.  Like I said, this was one of our favorite places.  I had the mussels with a side of fries.  And a side of mac and cheese.  The mussels were huge, and tasty, the fries were a bit over-fried (but the hubby loved them) and the mac and cheese was delish.  I should have just gotten the mac & cheese for myself.  Honestly?  I loved this meal so much that I have NO idea what the hubby got.  Sorry!

Monday

• Breakfast appetizer – Top Pot Doughnuts.  Mmmmm.
• Brunch – Dim Sum at Golden Harbor in Chinatown.  We walked all the way here from our hotel, and worked up quite a sweat (and appetite!).  We got a bunch of standard dim-sum dishes – but the best were the steamed shrimp & cilantro dumplings.  These were awesome.  I really wanted another dish of them, but we’d stuffed ourselves with shrimp balls and pork buns and lotus pods and taro dumplings.  I could not stuff another dumpling in.  So sad.
• Mid-afternoon snack:  Elysian Brewing Company.  I drank some ginger ale, and Matt enjoyed their 2 beer samplers.  We noshed on the hummus, babaganoush, olive, pepper & feta plate.  I think it was called the “Oasis Plate”.  It was an oasis of yumminess.
• Dinner – Serious Pie:  Salad of mixed greens with radishes and a sausage pizza.  Mmmm, pizza.

Tuesday

• Brunch – Portage Bay Cafe.  This one was a spot-on recommendation from one of my readers.  Hi Alyssa!  This was quite possibly the best meal that we had the whole trip.  I got to doctor up my own meal
  

  Challa French toast

with the fantastic toppings bar!  I got the raspberries, blackberries, and cranberries to top 1 slice each, then topped the whole thing with slivered almonds and whipped cream and strawberries on the size.  Holy yum.

The toppings bar was awesome. Awesome, I say!

But really, the best thing I ate all weekend was the hubby’s Migas.  So super good.  He added the chorizo, and it was amazing.  A.maz.ing.  This picture doesn’t look like much, but it is.  Oh, it is.

Seriously, the best thing I ate this weekend.

At the airport on the way home, I wanted to grab the grilled fish tacos, but they were out of the fish, so I ended up with a pizza.  Meh.  Nothing to get too excited about.

But those migas, kids.  Those you should be VERY excited about!

Sleepful in Seattle

We had a great, relaxing trip to Seattle this past weekend.  Friday morning we headed off to the airport, arrived, and promptly realized that my hubby had left the hanging bag with his suit, shirt and tie, and my dress in our closet.  D’oh!  We decided that it would be better to shop in Seattle than head home and try to get on a later flight.  Once we got the rental car (a Crown Victoria, so all weekend we pretended like we were cops, and would throw on the “siren” when we saw something amiss…  maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious.  We also had a lot of doughnuts this week.  Coincidence?  I think not.), we headed off to Men’s Warehouse, which was a complete bust.  I thought it was supposed to be inexpensive?  The sales lady showed us one 3-piece suit that was terrible for $300.  He then tried on a few other suit coats, which were reasonable, but once he tried on the pants, they were ridiculous.  Super long, low crotch, with pleats.  Terrible.  Plus, the woman who was helping us had a terrible attitude.  Ugh, I hate that.

We decided to leave and head up to the Outlet Mall north of Seattle.  While the hubby was dealing with Ms. Crabby McCrabberpants in Men’s Warehouse, I called Banana Republic Outlet to see if they had any suits.  The woman who I spoke with was cheery, told me that they DID have suits, and everything in the store was 40% off.  Sold!  Walked into the store, and quickly found a few different suits for him to try on – we settled on a brown suit with a white, french cuff shirt, and a blue tie.

After realizing that Banana didn’t have anything I liked, I headed straight to Ann Taylor.  The outlet always has size 16 dresses that fit — and lo and behold, there it was!  A little leopard-print number with a matching brown shrug.  Paired with gold shoes from Naturalizer, and it was on.

You be the judge – how do we look?

Pretty GQ, huh?

The wedding was beautiful – very interesting, since the bride is Phillipino.  Her mom had made all the dresses — the bride’s, hers, all 6 of the bridesmaids, the 3 Jr. bridesmaids, and the 5 (or 6?) flower girls.  Seriously – that’s some mad sewing skills!  The reception was at Salty’s on Alki, which was a fantastic venue, although it was a bit cramped in there (maybe 200 guests?).

Me & the beautiful bride

The rest of the weekend, and the beginning of this week, we basically just ate and slept.  Sad, but true.  Sunday we were supposed to meet the bride at her house for a BBQ (with her family).  We got back to the hotel after lunch, and lie down for a little bit, only to wake up an hour and a half later.  Whoops.

On the food front:  I did not stay on plan.  But, it’s hard to go too far off course when most of the food that you’re eating is all local and organic.  That said — macaroni and cheese as a side dish — ehhhh.  Super tasty, but not on the food plan.  Of course, I never said I’d never eat my favorite foods again, did I?

Tomorrow’s post:  Restaurant reviews!

On the exercise front, I did go to the gym 3 of the 4 days that we were there (yay me!).  I only did the elliptical (not much else in the gym), but I definitely walked crazy amounts every day.  Lots of cardio, then followed up with a workout with the trainer yesterday.

For my CK peeps

Hi all! A short post from my phone. My fingers can’t be trusted with a real post, and our hotel doesn’t have free Wi-Fi, so to hear all the goings on, please pop back later (later = Wednesday).
But, I have neglected my duties as the leader of the 50 x July Challenge. I can’t post a new Challenge board for April because my membership expired. And since I get a discounted rate if I buy it through work, I have to wait to renew until I get back. Boo. (I meant to do it on Thursday, but completely forgot!)
So, if you’re reading this, can someone start the April Challenge board? I’ll be sure to update the Google Doc with anyone’s updates when I get back.
Thanks!!