Weight Loss Update

Whoa, we're halfway there.. whoa-oa, living on a prayer..

I really can't believe I just quoted Bon Jovi. My sister would understand my disgust.

Anyways, I have reached my halfway-there weight loss goal: 15 out of 30 pounds! I am 5 pounds down past my pre-Carter weight, but I am 5 pounds away from my pre-Sadie weight. However, I am still about 12 pounds to my lowest weight in 2013.

April 4th       vs    August 7th

Same

Today I finally passed the 15 pound mark! I'm now down 15.8 lbs over 4 months!

Once I get all the way there, I will be at my lowest weight since my freshman year of college.

I tell ya, it has sucked trying to lose weight. As a Registered Dietitian, I find it incredibly frustrating doing weight loss counseling with other people, and seriously I hate doing it with myself. It's a long-term game, slow moving, and takes a lot of mental and physical effort and commitment. There are no fast fixes to weight loss.. and if anyone tries to preach the keto diet to me, seriously go away.

This is what I'm doing to be successful:

1) Counting calories with MyFitnessPal. Yep. Weight Loss 101. Tracking your food can help you be more accountable and realistic. Whether or not you're trying to follow a specific way of eating (keto, whole-foods plant-based, Paleo, etc), it all comes down to energy in and energy out. BTW, I'm not citing sources on this one. I'm too lazy to do that, but there are plenty of other people that have done that.

2) Increasing my non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Back at OHSU in 2007/2008, I had the pleasure of hearing a lecture by a renowned British researcher, James Levine, MD, PhD. He had a dry British sense of humor I loved, but his ideas about increasing non-exercise activity have always stuck with me. Currently, I walk during my work breaks, I dance with my kids (the Just Dance app is perfect for this), and I do a mini neighborhood walk after dinner every night. I use my Fitbit to track my steps, which is a huge motivating factor to me to keep moving.

3) Working out 6-7 days a week. Yes, 7 days a week sounds like a bit much, but 1 day is stretching or yoga. What I've started doing is stretching on Sundays as I've found that my muscles are way too tight. I've also started switching up my routine. I was doing 5 days of RIPPED workouts and 1 day of Barre-style workouts, but I wanted more specific muscle toning. Now, I'll be doing 4 days of RIPPED and 2 days of Barre (plus some additional cardio those days to burn more calories). I'll let you know if this change will help with my body composition and muscle toning.

4) Decreasing portion sizes, not making baked goods as much, and trying to increase protein at breakfast. I'm experimenting if increasing the size of my breakfast meal will help me eat less at lunch or dinner. We shall see, but it worked yesterday!

 Anyways, losing weight is hard. I wish it could be easier, but I believe that making small, simple changes can be sustainable over the long-term. I know I'll never be thin, I'll always have "man shoulders" from my dad and a soft stomach from becoming a mom, and my arms will never be small. This isn't negative self-talk, just my acceptance of my limitations. Going through pregnancy changed my body drastically and irreparably, but hey, at least my boobs like tripled in size! (Is that even appropriate to share here? Oh well.) One day, I just hope to be comfortable in my own skin. Oh, and I guess improving my health is a bonus as well.

Old Faithful Recipes

So, as you may know, I'm a Registered Dietitian. I didn't become one to help people. I studied Nutrition because I like food and wanted to know more about it (I also wanted to prove my dad wrong, but he doesn't listen to me anyways).. Yeah, I like food.. and I like cooking. I don't LOVE cooking because I'm kind of a klutz, I spill things all the time, and onions make me cry (wah wah wah I know). I usually cook 3-5 times per week, and cook enough dinner for leftovers for the next night.

Do you know what I love more than food? Recipes and cookbooks.

When I want to relax, I sit down with a good or colorful cookbook. I know that sounds weird (and hilariously enough, Sadie does it now too!), but it really does calm me down. Some people read magazines... I read cookbooks. No biggie. Oh, and I forgot to mention I do follow some food bloggers as well (Mel is my absolute fave)..  Anyways, what happens with me reading cookbooks all the time? I try new recipes all of the time. I don't repeat a lot of recipes, unless I like them... a lot. Part of my schooling as a Dietitian was planning menus for cafeterias, which relied heavily on monthly menu cycles. I know some moms that do monthly meal rotations at home.. but not me. I think it might be related to my upbringing where my parents would ask us what we want to eat for dinner, so it was always spaghetti, bean burritos, milk gravy, taquitos, fish sticks, etc. So I ate the same things again and again and again as a kid/teenager. As a grown-up now, I really like trying new recipes, but I do have a few trusty dinners that I bust out from time to time.

Here are our household favorites:

Japanese Curry

Picture from pressure cooker Japanese curry

I know this isn't even a recipe because I just use whatever is in the box. But, I first tasted it during my days as a Hogi Yogi/Teriyaki Stix employee during my college days, and I've loved it ever since. I usually add onions, potatoes, carrots, and some sort of protein (chicken or tofu). The kids love it most of the time.

Cooks Illustrated Skillet Macaroni & Cheese

Photo from What We're Cooking blog

Easy-peasy less than 30-minute recipe that only gets one pan dirty. Need I say more? I grew up eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and I will literally never allow it in my house because of this recipe (and the fact that I think the blue box stuff is gross).

Mel's Kitchen Cafe Perfect Spaghetti Sauce

Photo from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Let me preface this by saying that I ate spaghetti so much growing up that I did not make it again until I found this recipe 4 years ago. I make the huge batch and freeze it in smaller batches for dinner portions. It is amazing and will change your life. No jarred spaghetti sauce for us.

Martha Stewart Tostadas

Picture from Martha Stewart Living

This is an old one from 2008. I just make this dish vegetarian with the bell peppers, onions, salsa and corn. I also add homemade refried beans to it as well.

Cooks Illustrated Classic Beef Stew 

Picture from Serious Eats

I grew up eating Dinty Moore canned beef stew, and I never once had stew freshly made. I made a half batch of this recipe when Graham and I were first married, and it was like my beloved childhood beef stew, but 100 times better. I don't make it that often because I try to limit red meat, but man.. it is delicious!

Cooks Illustrated Pasta e Fagioli

Photo from Eat it and Weep

This soup is so full of flavor it's hard to understand. It starts out with simple ingredients but is elevated with anchovy paste. Carter ate a TON of this soup when he was little.

King Arthur Flour Pizza Dough

Photo from King Arthur Flour

It took me a long time to find a pizza dough that I love. I've tried recipes from Alton Brown, America's Test Kitchen, Pioneer Woman, etc with success but were not easy to stretch out to proper pizza size. This dough is the easiest to work with, thereby making it my top pizza dough recipe. Some other honorable mentions are: Cooks Illustrated Deep Dish Chicago Pizza and Foodie with Family No-Knead Pizza.

Our Best Bites Sweet Pulled Pork Salad

Picture from Dinner for Everyone

If you have ever been to Cafe Rio or Costa Vida, then you know this salad. This homemade version is just as good as the restaurant.. and in the slow cooker, almost as easy! And do not skip the dressing, especially if you like cilantro. It is phenomenal.

Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Shepherd's Pie

Picture from Brownie Bites

This is another oldie but goodie. I've been making this for years. It's quick, but you will dirty about 4 pans in the process. I have yet to find a vegetarian version of shepherd's pie, so I'll keep making this one a couple times per year.

I have lots of repeat recipes for breakfasts, desserts, and side dishes, but not a ton for dinner. What are your family's favorites? Where do you get your recipes?

The good, the bad, and the ugly..

One thing Graham and I always ask each other on our conversations.. what do you want to hear first: the good news or the bad news?

We almost always ask for the bad news first, so I'm going to do the opposite to mix it up. I do apologize for the lack of blogging. I just started my new job early last month, so I've been all over the Puget Sound area training in various clinics. I'm getting used to a slightly longer commute, working out in the morning, and preparing my breakfasts and lunches. Also, with my change in job, I'm talking more and more throughout the day (I'm not really a big talker), and walking way less, so I come home kind of emotionally exhausted but physically bound up with energy. Anyways, on to the home update..

The Good:
--Our foundation footings were inspected and poured the third week of September. It was a huge relief to finally get something solid in the ground.







--The foundation was inspected and poured the last week of September. No issues with the county.

--We finally got temporary power at our property (the foundation guys had to use a generator for their tools).









--We picked out our finishes and everything the first week of September without major arguments surprisingly.

This is our interior color: Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray


These are our exterior colors by Sherwin Williams:

Main Siding:  Waterloo


Accent Siding in the Gables/Shakes: Tavern Taupe


Trim: Gossamer Veil


Kitchen Cabinets:
Procraft shaker-style in espresso (sorry to disappoint all of you white cabinet kitchen fans!). In case you're wondering, we did pick out a white/gray quartz for the counter tops..


Kitchen backsplash:
Subway tile in Dorian Matte

This subway tile design in kitchen



Laminate flooring in hallways, kitchen & entryway:
evoke "rebecca" in wide plank

Shaw carpet in bedrooms: Color 501


3-panel shaker doors



Outdoor Lanterns:

Front door (we're not painting it--we're going to stain it a natural wood color kind of like in the picture). The glass on the door will not be separate, but it will be privacy glass.


Not pictured: quartz kitchen counter tops, vinyl flooring in laundry, tile flooring in bathrooms, tile shower in master, subway tile backsplash in bathrooms, sinks, exterior Hardie plank siding with shakes, exterior stone veneer (seriously--how could I not take a picture??), etc..

The Bad:
--After the foundation was poured, our excavator met with Graham to prepare for backfilling and they both thought, HMMM, this doesn't look right. The vents for the crawlspace are too low, so where are we going to put all of this dirt? So, we made a call to our builder, and they said, no, that's the code for vents and foundation. Graham insisted that something was wrong. So, we brought up the plan that we were supposed to have a 4' foundation with 2' pony walls in the front. Our construction manager said, no, we don't do 4' walls. So, we showed him the foundation plan that he himself had made, and the $13K (!!!) charge for the 4' foundation walls. Apparently, the builder made the plan but the subcontractor didn't follow it, which would've given us 2' foundation, 4' pony walls on top.. which would've looked freaking stupid. SOOOOO, they admitted their mistake, and had to send our plan to engineering. The 2 options were as follows: bulldoze the entire foundation to pour it all in one layer, or have engineering figure it out to avoid bulldozing the foundation but still have 2 layers of foundation that are stable.


--The builder put it through engineering, who figured out they had to jackhammer out the old vents, drill holes in the original foundation, and put rebar through the holes. This has all put us back another MONTH. We are waiting for the foundation re-inspection today (YAY--I just got the notification that we passed!), with the plan for the foundation guys to place the forms and pour the remaining concrete later this week.

--Our temp power pole failed its first inspection, so then it took L&I another full week to get out there again. Lesson learned: pass the first inspection always.

The Ugly:
--Well, the guys working at our Lexar office were unhappy with their situation (I don't blame them--having to tell 15+ customer they now owed $24K+ would suck), so the construction and salesman left their jobs within the past month.. but luckily, not really leaving us in a bind (other than the foundation situation).
--Here's where the "ugly" comes in:

• The finishing options at Lexar were a little disappointing to say the least. Luckily, the cabinets weren't a let down, as they had the exact finsh and style we liked.. but they told us at the time that having a different color cabinet in the bathrooms (I want white in the bathrooms) was an upgrade, even though they would be the same style. 
• The quartz choices were just ok--we already paid more for that upgrade, but they had even more upgraded styles for more $$$ (which of course were better, but we weren't going to pay even more!).
• They literally ONLY had subway tile for the kitchen and bathroom backsplashes. They didn't even have upgraded backsplash options. 
• Their vinyl selection was acceptable (we are getting it in the laundry room only), but still, we didn't like any of it. I foresee us putting in tile in our laundry room one weekend in the future..
• The floor tile selection was not good. you could only get it in the 18" square option in vague beige/gray colors, which honestly is a bit outdated. I like the rectangle options, including the ones that look like wood and/or linen. So, we paid for the tile and installation already, so if we just substitute the floor we really want, that'll help us get our dream bathroom. Having them install blah floors, and then taking them out in 5 years would be a waste of time and money. What would you do? These are the finishes we're thinking of for bathroom tile floors:

This is my favorite tile that looks like linen. Not as trendy as the wood-looking tiles, but just as beautiful.

I also love the wood-grain look, but I may go for the linen-looking tile in the bathrooms just because they were my first love.

All in all, I think our home will now be finished in April/May.. Please Lord no longer than that. I can't take this crappy townhouse any longer!!

Update: Curious about our progress? Click on this link to see all of our home building updates, or check out my Instagram account.

Sometimes it's the BIG things..

Graham and I often make big life changes all at once, like when I graduated from grad school, got a job, and moved up to the Puget Sound area from Portland all in one month. We also bought a house, moved to a new area, Graham started his career, and he had to move to Virginia all in another month's time.

Now, I've been thinking about building a home for almost a year now, when I saw land for sale in our area.. so this wasn't really a rash decision by any means. But now, we are building our home, we closed on our construction loan, and I got a new job! Woohoo!

To my followers that don't know my life story, I started on the path to becoming a Registered Dietitian (RD) 15 years ago in college. A lady from my hometown who was an RD tried to convince me not to be an RD: low pay, no respect, people and doctors don't listen to you, blah blah. I said, I don't care.. and away I went. And then I started working as an RD, and I thought to myself, I should've listened.. Really, being a Dietitian isn't a horrible job. But after a while, money can be a motivating factor to get a better paying job/career.

So, I started working to getting certifications to improve my skills and up my pay. In October 2012, I took a test to become a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC), which covered my continuing education credits for 5 years and got me a 75 cent/hr raise. It is nice having the extra letters behind my name, but they mean nothing to anybody other than Dietitians (although other medical professionals can get their CNSC credentials too). Then in August of 2015, I decided to bite the bullet and take a test to become a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE). I thought it'd be better to study for the exam when I planned to get pregnant compared to after having 2 kids. I'm so glad I took (and passed) the exam when I did because it would've been insane to study with a baby. I got a $1.50/hr raise with my CDE, which was partially my motivation to taking the exam.

Another motive for taking the exam was increasing my skills and improving my ability to get hired somewhere else. As a clinical dietitian in a hospital, I have to work weekends and holidays, which BLOWS. I've worked at least 3 Christmas days in the hospital. Also, outpatient dietitians and CDE's make more money. When I was in college and bright-eyed, money didn't mean a thing, but now.. it does.

When we initially looked at how much house we could afford, I did several analyses on building a house in 1, 2, or 4 years. We initially decided on waiting 2 years, but then we had to jump the gun to save $30K on the base home price. So, we didn't have as much money to put down as we would've liked. Also, we had to reduce our sale price of our home by $11K for the roof and need for outdoor painting. Lastly, we did not plan on having to pay PMI on our construction loan. So, we kind of overextended ourselves on our monthly loan amount.. and things were going to be TIGHT in the upcoming home building months.

And then, I heard there was a CDE job opening in a bigger city closer to our house, which would pay more. I know several people who work there, so I had some insider details. I went through 2 interviews that went well, and they offered the job to me a few days after. And guess what.. the increase in pay will be enough to cover the increased expenses for the construction loan. We really have been so blessed, and I'm excited at the new prospects and experiences my job will bring.

We look forward to more big changes in our lives: new house, new job, and air conditioning (it has been HOT and awful here in Seattle this week).

Whelp...

I just realized it's almost been four months since I've last blogged. I have plenty of excuses. I also know that not many actually keep on reading this blog.. but I pretend people do. Anyways, let me elaborate what we've been up to lately and why I've been too busy to blog.

--I alluded to this a couple of times, but Graham started a new job/career in January that required six months of training in Virginia. We knew this from the get-go (they mentioned it in the initial interview), so we were prepared.. but we weren't prepared for him to leave almost immediately. We moved into our house at the end of January and he left at the end of February. We've been apart many times during our marriage, but never for six months straight. Anyways, I had to be somewhat discreet about it because he works for the Department of Defense and they're particular about security. That's all I will say about it. He got back five days late on August 23rd, thank goodness. There's a good chance he will have to travel more for his job, but it will depend on which department he ends up working in. We hope he gets sent to Hawaii or San Diego next summer! We did visit Graham for two weeks in Virginia, where we made a trip to Philadelphia and Washington DC. We also went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We don't have any future plans to return to those areas, except for NC. Those beaches were amazing--and Graham went like every weekend when we weren't there. He came home with kind of an amazing tan. But yeah, we did not like Southern Virginia, especially the area where Graham lived. Not a fan of the humidity or the culture.

--We have done some work on the house. We painted most of the rooms in our house, which took wayyyy longer and more money than we thought. (Turned out that Graham was buying premium paint at Home Depot.) We picked a green color we weren't totally sold on, and still, we're not in love with it. But, we didn't hate it enough to paint over it. I asked Graham to do another stenciled wall for our downstairs hallway and photo gallery wall. We bought a big couch like grown-ups. Graham did some landscaping in the backyard to get rid of a trash pile the previous owners left. Pictures of our projects are on my Instagram account.

--We had our housewarming party in September, a few weeks after Graham got back. We had to get all of our painting around the house done and get our house clean. We kind of felt like we were scrambling to get everything done. It was nice to see some friends and make good food. However, Graham cooked ALL of the hot dogs at the beginning, without regard to how many people were there. Needless to say, we were eating hot dogs for a week straight, meeting my hot dog quota for the next few years. Gross.

--We celebrated Carter's fifth birthday (can you even believe it??) in Disneyland with my parents, brother Mike, and my sister practically on Carter's birthday. We were there for Mickey's Halloween party, which wasn't really that cool for kids, honestly. However, the decorations and treats were super cute and delicious. It was so much fun to see Carter's reaction and his face to everything. He went on all of the "big kid" rides that he was tall enough for, like Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Tower of Terror. He did really well on the rides, but he didn't ask for repeat rides.. Haha. I think his favorite ride was the new Cars ride (Radiator Springs Racers), but he went on the carousels a couple of time. He's intent on returning to California Adventure to ride the "big kid" roller coaster when he's older.

--I'm taking an exam next month to become a Certified Diabetes Educator. I already have a certification as a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician, but that certification requires me to take an exam every five years. With the CDE credential, you can renew your certification every five years by just keeping up in Continuing Education credits. Score! Plus, the CDE credential makes $1.50 more an hour, so if I'm doing the work already, might as well get paid more to do the same work. I'm taking the exam the week of Christmas, which is one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I'm feeling pretty ready for this test, so hopefully it doesn't blow me out of the water. Ask me any question about diabetes medications. I'll know it. I've been studying pretty hard for the past three months, which has been taking a lot of my time and energy.

--Oh, and I'm lazy. Oh yeah, and pregnant.

Intermittent Fasting and Me

So, as many of you long-time followers know, I have been on a weight loss and fitness journey for almost three and a half years. I had lost 25 pounds overall, but last summer, I noticed that I had put some weight back on. Finally, I weighed myself a few weeks ago and I had definitely put 10 pounds back on.. Still 12 pounds lower than at my highest, but 15 pounds higher than my lowest. I've remained totally active during this time. I work out hard 6 days a week. I eat reasonably enough (I mean, I'm a freaking Dietitian so I know what I'm doing). But, the pounds just creeped back on.

Obviously, since I've continued to work out, my problem was what I was eating. So, I decided I wanted to do something with my diet to help me lose the weight I'd previously lost. Graham has been gone since February, and he comes back in less than 3 weeks. I wanted to look better before he got back so I was considering a diet program. I was considering Nutrisystem or something else ridiculous, but I didn't want to pay for it. Plus, not being able to eat my own food would really piss me off. I was stuck in a rut and wasn't sure how I could change without going crazy. There's no way that I can follow a calorie-restricted diet long-term (or even short-term) without feeling totally restricted and starved.

In grad school during my Dietetic Internship, I had to answer questions posed to the Oregon Dairy Council as one of my projects. One person asked the question if a person must eat throughout the day to lose weight. I did a lot of research on this subject and the results were inconclusive. Many studies showed that the opposite was true--that intermittent fasting has been shown to be beneficial to lipid levels and weight status. This absolutely blew my mind at the time. Anyways, I completed that project in 2006, answered that question with a vague answer, and never really thought about it again. I mean, I do hear time and time again from people how eating throughout the day "fuels your metabolism", which is factually true, but is it necessary?

So, I'd been hearing more and more recently about "intermittent fasting" as a way of eating to promote loss of body fat, improve health, and to lose weight. My interest was piqued, but I wasn't really considering it because I've fasted before for religious reasons, and it is pretty difficult to not eat for a day. However, I somehow received a random Shape magazine in the mail, and there was an article about intermittent fasting and the different types. By reading this, I got super excited and decided to try it out because the intermittent  fasting doesn't mean you can't eat or drink for a full day, like we do in the LDS (Mormon) church. You just restrict your calories to 500 calories (600 for men) for a day, and you can have unlimited calorie-free beverages.

Excited about this prospect, I posted about it on Facebook and asked if anyone had experience with this way of eating. Surprisingly, I received a fair amount of negative feedback and encouragement to try other extreme methods of dieting, I had people suggest Whole30, which is so not my thing. I do believe in reducing the amount of processed foods that you eat, but I can't do Whole30. For one, I don't think eating that much animal protein is good for you, I don't believe eating a high animal protein diet is good for the environment, nor do I like eating large chunks of meat. Plus, it means lots of scratch-cooking, which I like, but I don't like cooking while Graham is gone, and I get free food at work. So, NO to Whole30. Then, I had someone suggest a diet plan group with them. Um, no, I can make my own diet plan. Like literally. I have a master's degree in Nutrition. I can plan meals just fine. Then, someone told me I was focusing too much on being thin and to eat reasonably. Yeah, I do eat reasonably, but being fit and not fat is kind of part of my job, whether I like it or not. People just won't listen to a fat Dietitian..

Anyways, a high school friend of mine e-mailed me and invited me to Intermittent Fasting group on Facebook that focuses on the 5:2 plan. This means that I limit my calories to 500 two days of the week, and then eat reasonably (~2000 calories for women, 2200-2400 for men) for the other five days (this equals about 1571 calories per day over a week). This plan is based on a book and documentary produced by Michael Mosley. The research behind it is very fascinating, with benefits seen in animals better than overall calorie restriction. I'm not going to go over all the info. You can look up that stuff yourself!

I jumped on the bandwagon and started the next day. I was prepared with low-glycemic foods to meet my 500 calories, such as roasted almonds, blueberries, mozzarella cheese stick, and chicken sausage with vegetables. The first day wasn't THAT bad. I first ate around 11 AM with some almonds, lunch of blueberries around 1 PM, then a cheese stick around 2 PM. Dinner of chicken sausage and broccoli around 6 PM. I kept a no-calorie beverage at my side all day (aka True Lemon lemonade, Diet Dr Pepper, and lots and lots of water). The absolute worst part: going to bed hungry.. something I don't think I've ever done. It's gotten better with each successive fast (I've "fasted" six days now--currently fasting for my seventh time). I've been able to go without food for longer periods of time, and I've been able to sleep better feeling hungry.

I've actually been able to learn a lot from this experience. I've learned what my actual hunger signals are, or whether I'm just bored and want to eat to fill my time. I feel more in control of what and when I eat. But, I have to watch my hanger a little bit on those days. I have to take a deep breath and remind myself to take a step back from the situation (commuting+fasting=road rage). One thing is that I did feel a little on-edge, even on my days of normal eating. I yelled at Carter for the first time on my non-fasting day, which made me feel horrible! Another positive--I only feel restricted on my 2-3 days of fasting, which is way better than feeling restricted 7 days a week. Plus, I have lost 4-5 pounds in just 3 weeks of fasting.  This way of eating isn't for everyone. It's hard. I'm not lying. It's not for those that are weak-willed or looking for something easy. A co-worker of mine tried it and ended up bingeing when she got home that night. For me, that's not an issue, because if I've made it past 5 PM, there's no way in hell that I'm not going to make it the full day or make that day of fasting null and void.

This is kind of considered to be a "fad diet", but I plan to continue this as long as I can!

Fitness Frustration

Ugh, I've mentioned in previous videos that I've gained some of my weight back over the past 6 months. It all started when I started a new birth control that made me dizzy and very fatigued. I couldn't exercise as hard and I had to lay down a lot. It took me two weeks or so to get back to feeling better after I discontinued the birth control. (P.S. If your doctor tries to convince you that the Mirena is not causing dizziness, but that it's related to allergies that have never caused anything like this before, sometimes you gotta trust your gut and say no.) Also, Graham started working in the evenings, so I don't like cooking as much, so I probably was snacking more. More, I was eating like crap over the summer, eating wayyyyy too many dessert items. Lastly, this new electronic medical record system at work makes me spend much more time at the computer and less time walking around the hospital.

So yes, I am heavier now (probably 5-7 pounds more) than I was in March, and it has ALL returned into my gut. Like seriously, I feel like a stuffed sausage in some of clothes. Being so short, 5 pounds is a LOT on my frame, especially when it is all in one freaking area. My pants that I've bought in the past 2 years since I've lost weight feel tighter and really make me angry and frustrated.

I have not stopped working out. The only workouts I have missed were when we went camping, when I didn't have any videos available, and going for a run would only mean that I was running from wildlife. I have recently started doing some double workouts to help increase my calorie burn and steps during the day. I was doing TurboFire HIIT workouts every other day, but now I'm back to doing RIPPED workouts 2-3 times per week, with an additional 30 minute express Physique 57 workout before each one. I do the full 57 minute Physique 57 workouts 2 times per week, with an additional day of cardio and/or booster workouts from Physique 57 (if you want to be sore and hardly be able to walk for 2 days, try the 30-minute thigh and seat booster.. seriously so sore). I bought the P57 workout videos off eBay as a reward for consistently doing barre-style workouts 3 times per week for 6 months. After the full 57-minute P57 workouts, I do a 20-minute Turbo Jam workout to get my heart rate up and increase my steps for the day (I have a FitBit pedometer for a work health and wellness program). If you've even read this, just know that I have been working HARD (at least, fitness-wise).

Anyways, I have to remind myself that fitness is a journey. Life doesn't just get better all of the time. There are ups and downs, and that also applies to fitness and health. I can't expect to constantly get skinnier or more toned, although I definitely have gotten stronger and better, especially at push ups. Right now, I'm in a fitness valley, and I just need to get my nutrition act together so I can at least get back to where I was. It's just very frustrating because weight loss was easy (nutrition-wise) because all I did was starting exercising and wasn't very restrictive with my diet. I was also maintaining my weight kind of eating what I wanted, of course in moderation. So now, I have to be more careful about what I eat. Graham and I have been discussing a diet for us both before we go to Hawaii in a month. We'll see how this goes.

If you're interested in my Mortifying Myself series where I share or read some of my journal entries, I'll be posting a video within the next week. It's just an intro to my journal entries, but if it works out, I may read and vlog some of my more memorable journal entries (like my first kiss).

Challenges

No, this is not a serious post.. I just wanted to write about my self-imposed nutrition challenges this month. This may be a little boring for some of you, but for women who like dessert and struggle with self-control, you'll know what I mean. This was inspired by some minor weight gain I've had recently. I've probably gained about 3-5 pounds back in the past 3 months. Ugh. That's not very much, but on my 5'2.5" frame, it is! I could feel it in my stomach and lower abdomen the most. I was seriously hating my life, feeling like a stuffed sausage in some of my pants. Not happy. So, after I reflected on my diet, I realized I'd been eating wayyyy too much dessert lately. Normally I never buy ice cream because I lack self-control around it. I can eat two giant bowls of the good stuff (Tillamook ice cream is the bomb--PS has that saying really gone out of style?, because I refuse to say something like "epic"), and not even bat an eye.

Anyways, Graham and I decided to do a "no dessert" week last week, and then end it with a milkshake from a great burger and shake place. I stuck to it pretty hard core, but I still allowed myself a daily candy I get from pharmacists' offices at work. It seemed to be pretty easy for both of us, until I asked Graham how he was doing. His response was, "Huh, I thought you meant only at home!" He was eating 3-7 cookies and/or brownies every night at work. Yikes. Anyways, I resisted eating even homemade zucchini chocolate bread because it was too dessert-like. Drinking that milkshake Saturday night definitely made it all worth it!

Then, as I snacked on a sugary Chex Mix on Sunday, I decided to try no added sugar this week. I won't be avoiding bread, even though it often does have added sugar, but I plan to avoid most other things, including peanut butter and my Kashi cereal. We will see how I do. I am kind of dying right now because I'm bored at home with Carter in the evening. There is no such thing as a sugar free frozen treat (ok, maybe there is, but I think it's cheating), other than like frozen fruit, frozen broccoli, or just plain ice. So, I'm probably overdosing on diet soda to prevent myself from eating anything more.

I realize that this probably isn't going to be life changing, or be equivalent to a self-imposed challenge like running a marathon (which I will never do anyways), but I just thought it'd be a fun experiment for a Dietitian like me.

Oh, and something exciting. I found $12 shorts on clearance at LOFT for my Hawaii trip (it's funny how uncomfortable I feel in shorter shorts now). AND, I signed up to do another Stitch Fix before my trip, with the request of some pieces for the trip. I'm pretty excited! I just hope it's not a bust, because the first time I signed up, I asked for some things to my trip to San Diego last year, and I ended up with this. Yikes. Anyways, I will post about that next month when I get my Stitch Fix package. Have you guys tried it yet? It really is a fun experience! If not, try this referral code.

Oh, and I apologize for the lack of pictures on most of my posts. If you look at the Instagram feed on the right, you can see what we've been up to.

Happy Anniversary!

This post is not meant to be self-congratulatory in any way, but I am celebrating my two-year anniversary of fitness as of March 5th. Woohoo!

When I started out two years ago (a better before and after picture is available on that blog post), my goal was to make it through 12 weeks. I can't believe I've made it through two YEARS of working out steadily, even with all of the craziness in my life. It's been tough at times to continue being active, especially when all I wanted to do was lay around and be sad or lay on the couch and just space out. But, it's been so worth it. For me, fitness isn't just about trying to make myself look or feel good. It's testing my life skills of perseverance, determination, and dedication. It has especially tested my quality of self-discipline, which I really lacked before. I was always super jealous of people who lost weight. I felt like I could never really have the self-control to do it. I just hoped that it would happen naturally after having a child and breastfeeding--yeah right. Now, I feel like I'm a success story!

Here's an updated picture of me last week, with some older ones to show the difference. It is a terrible quality photo, with shadows, but that's ok. And yes, if you must ask, I do have stretch marks. That's what happens when you're 15+ pounds overweight when you get pregnant and you carry a child very low in the abdomen. I'm not proud of them, nor am I ashamed, but I will never wear a bikini again (not like I ever did anyways).

 Remember, this picture below is after I'd already lost 8-10 pounds. Just imagine if I had a picture from when I first started working out.

Here's a picture from today with a comparison from 7/2013 (again, after I'd already lost 10 pounds):

One of the biggest differences, however, is my face. I never thought I was unattractive by any means, but man, my face looks so much better now! I guess I was just used to it.. Like, when I was pregnant, my face got really puffy according to several other people, but I never noticed because it was such a gradual change.

This is definitely before I lost weight. See why I deleted so many pictures of myself? Yikes. Fat face.

This is a particularly unflattering picture of me. This is from Carter's 12-month photo shoot, of which we did not print any family photos, for obvious reasons.

Not so fat face.

I am holding steady at my current weight and measurements, but I'm definitely getting stronger. I'd been trying to up my cardio with more TurboFire during the week, with the goal of losing 5-6 more pounds, but I decided to try something different this time. I am now doing a training combo of RIPPED workouts at the YMCA for 3 times per week, as well as the Bar Method advanced DVD's 3 times per week.

I'm going to test out the Bar Method's claims:
1) sculpted arms,
2) flat abs,
3) lifted seat, and
4) long firm thighs.

I took before pictures, and I plan on doing this for at least 3 months to see if I get the results they promise. I can already feel the difference in my upper back and triceps. The 5-pound weights feel as heavy as bricks by the end of the arm routine. My legs are already super fit (no bragging here--they just are), but I'm hoping they'll lean out a little, with a nice lifted bum (which is what I'm hoping for most of all). My RIPPED workouts leave me feeling exhausted and fatigued, but there is no other burn in this world like the workout Bar Method gives you. The lactic acid builds up so much in your legs and arms, it is unreal. And then when you stretch, it helps to release it and you feel much better. My legs burn so much that they shake like leaves near the end of the leg section. The workout is much different than anything else I do because my mind needs to be in it 100% to get the positions right. I can't even talk through it. So, I hope this change in routine will work out for the best!

Yeah, so I work out 5-6 days per week, and I keep going. It's a lifestyle and a priority. Some of you may wonder how I KEEP going with being active. These are my top fitness tips (I apologize for the mild swearing, but if you've ever done a million push-ups and/or squats, those are usually the only words that come to mind):

1) Find a workout you love, whether it's running, cycling, Zumba, boot camp, pilates, CrossFit, etc, and commit to a certain number of days per week. When I started out, I could only commit for 4 days, then 5, and then 6. I found that I loved TurboFire, and now RIPPED, so working out is way more fun with these workouts than something I hate, like running or cycling.
2) Reward yourself for steps along the way, whether it's how many pounds you've lost, or just the number of weeks you've stayed committed to your workout routine. I didn't reward myself with food--kind of counterproductive.
3) Don't "DIET". Sure, you might see faster results if you limit your calories to 1200 per day, but it's not sustainable, especially if you're making huge changes to diet compared to your daily intake. Moderate your portion sizes, choose healthier options more often, plan your meals, and adjust your calorie intake depending on what you've eaten or what you're planning to eat. Set a measurable, concrete goal (a SMART goal if you've heard of those). I set a goal for myself to eat a salad for lunch at least twice a week. I would probably have better results if I ate better, but again, not sustainable for me.
4) Work HARD. I remember in my college days, going on the elliptical machine at the gym, barely breaking a sweat, and considering myself to have worked out. Dumb. What a waste. Commit your body to your workout and work your hardest. I was able to lose weight by gradually increasing my intensity in my workouts, to where I was jumping higher and squatting lower, and getting great results from this. If you're lazy like me, this was definitely the most difficult concept, because I kept thinking, "but I don't want to work hard...".
5) Set a time for your workouts; whatever time works for you. I cannot do high-intensity cardio in the morning. It's not in my genes. So, I set my workout schedule in my Google Calendar with a reminder to work out every evening at 7 PM.
6) One workout at a time, folks. That's my motto. Don't think about your next workout right after your workout. I don't know about you, but if I think about what I have to do the next night when my legs are jelly, my arms are noodles, and I'm totally exhausted, I'll tell myself that there is no way in hell that I'm doing one more gosh dang push up ever again. So, I have to actively tell myself to not think about my next workout.
7) Give it 5 minutes. If getting up off the couch is the hardest thing for you, something that works for me is telling myself that I'll just half-ass the workout. The first 5 minutes are always the worst, trust me. If it's a workout you love, I promise that 10 minutes into it, you'll be enjoying yourself and pushing yourself hard even though you told yourself you didn't have to.
8) Find accountability with someone else, whether it's your spouse, friend, trainer, or online communities. For a while there, I was logging onto BeachBody's website daily to track my workouts, monitor my progress, and chat with other TurboFire addicts. I also printed out a workout calendar for my wall, where I could cross off the workout I completed every day. It was a good visual reminder of what I've done.

Anyways, these are my tips to help keep me active and fit even though I'm a mom, wife, and work full-time as a Dietitian. I'm still a work in progress, obviously, but I'm now somehow down to the same size that I was when I was 21! I recently posted on Facebook about how I now fit into a skirt I bought 10 years ago. I can't believe I was this big back then.. Unfortunately, I still have body image issues. I remember reading Single Dad Laughing's blog about weight loss once, where he said, "the skinnier and more toned I got, the fatter I felt".. which is how I feel sometimes. It's hard to find a balance with trying to be more fit without obsessing about my body's trouble spots (stomach, upper back, love handles, etc). Sometimes I have to force myself to remember the good things about my body (good skin, straight hair) and not focus on the bad, but that's a whole different blog post in itself..

Let's focus on the positive: I have lost twenty-five pounds (and have kept it off for over a year!), I am fit, and my self-esteem has significantly improved.

Success!

So, I taught a nutrition lesson for an "enrichment" activity for my ward. I couldn't get out of it (hehe), so I went into all gung-ho and planned an all-out lesson on healthy habits.

I planned a lesson to span all kinds of topics: the food pyramid, healthy foods within each food group, healthy portions, physical activity, etc.

I got through about 1/4 of what I'd planned. Looks like I was a little too excited to teach nutrition. Plus, I like sweated gallons while I taught because I was so nervous.

I brought a couple of my "favorite things", or things that I called "dietitian secrets" to inspire the ladies to add more healthy foods into their diet. I brought flaxseed meal, Barilla Plus pasta, King Arthur Flour "white whole wheat" flour as some examples.

The next day, I received 2 emails that that those 2 ladies had each gone out and bought flax. 2 days after, another chick in Relief Society told me she bought flaxseed meal, and had even added it into her cescent rolls she brought to the ward chili cook-off that night. On Sunday, another lady from church came up and told me how great a book was that I'd recommended for people to read.

So, was my nutrition class a success?

Absolutely.. Mission accomplished.

Sherri.. MS, RD

I passed my RD exam yesterday!

My heart stopped when the test stopped after 110 questions... out of 225.

A screen popped up: "This test is finished.. please get your results from the testing office."

I was like.. "Oh s#!t. I failed!"

After clicking through the next questions (a stupid survey about the testing center), I found out I passed. I can't tell you how well I did, because I don't really know. My score is a "scaled score", based on how difficult the test is. So, I don't understand my score at all.

I do know that I'm a super test taker though because the guy said he'd never seen somebody pass this particular test so quickly.

Anyways, Graham and I went out to celebrate as soon as I got home. We went to a delicious bistro-like restaurant in Brem Brem called "The Patio" and enjoyed my freedom from studying. Hallelujah!

I'm a working girl..

I've started my job as a dietitian at a Medical Center in Washington.

And I think I'm going to love it.