Five nights in a row now of crummy sleep. I am turning more and more into a zombie. Tons of conflicting thoughts in my head about what to do about it, or whether to do anything about it. Figured I'd just type it all out, however confusing it ends up sounding, to see if that act alone helps me find some clarity or gives me a sense of a plan to follow.
First, LG is taking at least an hour to fall asleep for naptime and for bedtime. He just changed daycares (huge adjustment!), he's still adjusting to having a baby sister and not being the sole center of our universe, and he's still a victim of the molars-that-are-taking-eighteen-months-to-come-in. In addition to the fighting sleep when it's time to sleep, he's been waking up in the middle of the night. Add to all his adjustments the fact that he's almost constantly overtired from not getting enough sleep and we have a toddler who's more often wired or melting down than one that's happy. Best I can figure this one is to just show him as much love as I can (or as I have patience for, which is difficult when I'm not sleeping either), and ride it out.
My sweet BabyG is such a wonderful baby. I can't get enough of her. And sleeping was going okay until a week ago - I would get 5 to 5.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep many nights, with just one feeding during the night. That feeding would last under 40 minutes. True, she wasn't great at napping (usually 30-40 minutes at most at a time), but she was cheerful. She got one shot (the dtap combo) and the rotavirus immunization at her 4-month visit on Monday. That night she didn't sleep great, but I attributed it to her feeling icky from the shot. Then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and now last night. Wednesday was probably the worst (think that was the night for which I posted my status message on facebook?). I can't remember the patterns from each night anymore, so let's just go with last night. Usually BabyG falls asleep fairly well around 8-9, then REALLY well after a dream feeding of sorts around 10-11. At that point, I can put her in her Tucker sling and she goes RIGHT back to sleep. Last night she woke UP around 10 and decided it was playtime. I got her to bed around 12:15. She woke up at 4:10 (I think?) - four hours was pretty good for this week! I got her back down before 5. But then she woke up at 5:50 (just put the binky back in her mouth), 6:30 (binky didn't work so I got her up to feed her), and 8 (binky didn't work again so here we are). The hourly thing is typical for this week, that much I can remember. Why is she waking on an hourly basis? Random thoughts about this, in no particular order:
1. Growth spurt of the century? Do baby growth spurts ever last a week long?
2. One of the past nights she was refluxing quite a bit...could have been something I'd eaten - but not most of these last five nights that hasn't seemed to be a major issue.
3. Is she done using the Tucker sling? But with #2 that doesn't seem right.
4. Would she sleep better if I stopped swaddling her? I can't imagine she would...
5. Is she just wanting attention? Should I sleep train now?
And sleep training leads us to another quandary:
1. When BabyG cries, she does NOT stop unless she's picked up (and recently only if I'm the one that picks her up - even though I've made sure that lots of my coworkers, who are understandably in love with her, watch her whenever they're willing). She will cry and cry and cry - doesn't seem to tire from it. And when this girl cries, she CRIES. We're going to have a drama queen on our hands when she becomes a teenager. I just don't foresee my being able to sleep train her right now.
2. BabyG's crib is in the closet of her room, which shares a wall with the closet of LG's room where his bed is (neither closet has the doors on, in case you think we're that weird of parents). I can't really put either of them in the basement (not a super kid-friendly place), so how do I even attempt to sleep train her when he'll hear every sound she makes?
Or is this just a temporary phase she'll grow out of and I just need to ride it out? Her crazy short naps could be a result of her napping with me at work and never in a crib, but I haven't been able to help that, as I obviously couldn't nap train her at work - it's just a factor of the situation we've had, and BabyG and I have had to make due with our circumstances.
Sigh. If you've made it this long reading, thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts. There's likely no golden solution. I'll just do the best I can, try one or two ideas, use a lot of prayer (for ideas and for getting through this and for not getting sick from lack of sleep). I'm grateful for this gorgeous baby who MOST of the time is a bundle of smiles and joy. Amazingly, she doesn't seem to need as much sleep to be a happy baby. I guess I'd rather a happy baby than a grumpy baby who sleeps. I think. ;) I know I'll get through this and things will get better. That's the advantage of being on #2. I'm better able to just enjoy BabyG despite the challenges, knowing she will be this little for far too short a time. I just can't help hoping this little phase she's in is about over.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Mystery Baby Problem...Help, Please!
I am desperate for help with this issue, so I appreciate any moms or dads who can read through this quickly and let me know if they've experienced anything similar with any of their children and can guide me with what to do.
BabyG has been a spitter-upper from day one, but was not anywhere as bad as her reflux-ed older brother. She's also been notorious for not having the greatest latch during nursing and often sputters/sucks in air while nursing (I'm hoping to talk to my aunt, who's a lactation consultant, at my awesome cousin Amy's bridal shower next Saturday).
However, last Thursday or Friday(so when she turned five weeks old, basically) there was a sudden change in BabyG and I just can't figure out why. Symptoms that all began simultaneously and continue now include the following:
1. She went from pooping regularly (several times a day) to going a day or two in between.
2. She started being extremely gassy. I don't recall her having gas at all before but now she has it all the time, sometimes almost explosively.
3. Her spitting up increased (I would venture to say it doubled or even tripled) in both frequency and quantity. It also can be very explosive and projectile in nature. She now rivals LG in his spitting-up glory days.
4. From number 2 and 3, she seems extremely uncomfortable a lot of the time. Sometimes during nursing, sometimes afterward, sometimes in between feedings.
5. I don't think this one started at the same time as numbers 1-3 but is likely a result of them - she hesitates to nurse and sometimes won't start for a full minute or more. She obviously will WANT to nurse but will resist latching on.
This doesn't seem like reflux to me - I don't see a ton of tongue-thrusting or back-arching (though she has done a bit of each in the past). I've been able to put my finger on dairy, chocolate, and raw tomato bothering her, so I already avoid those. I thought initially that all of this behavior change was due to my having hummus a couple of times (and her reacting badly to trying to digest beans), but I haven't had hummus since Monday.
I think it's chiefly a gassiness issue - she sucks in air all the time. When she spits up, she gags and sucks LOTS of air in.
I think that covers everything. I'd really like to get this solved so she's not miserable so much of the time. I guess it could all come down to that poor latch that I hope to fix, but it's just weird to me that this all came on at once. I will likely take her to the pediatrician next week if I can't figure anything out.
Thanks for any help or wisdom you can provide in advance!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Vegan Days 12-13
Weights:
Day 12 - 137
Day 13 - 136.2
Workouts:
Day 12 - Level 3 of 30-day Shred (20 min)
Day 13 - No More Trouble Zones (a 55-min workout - finally!). Between yesterday and today I finally am starting to see some good definition again in my abs. I can't tell you how motivating that is!
Dinner on Day 11: Vegan Vegetable Dumpling Soup (adapted from Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup from melskitchencafe.com):
Vegetables:
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 large carrots, sliced (12-14 baby carrots)
2 onions, chopped
Put the above in a large frying pan with 1-2 cups water and saute until the vegetables are tender. In the meantime, put 9 cups vegetable broth in a large stock pot and heat to boiling. While that's heating, chop about 8 medium red potatoes into 1" cubes. Add potatoes, vegetables and the following seasonings to the stockpot:
3 t salt
2 t dried thyme (ground is best)
1/2 t ground black pepper
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup cold water and 1/2 cup flour until smooth. Whisking the stockpot mixture vigorously, slowly pour the flour mixture in. Add 1 cup frozen peas to the stockpot and stir gently.
Dumplings: Mix dry ingredients first, then add and mix in the wet until combined. Don't overmix.
1 c white flour (we might trade 1/4 of this for flaxseed meal next time - Will's mom's idea)
1 c whole wheat flour
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t dried thyme or sage
1 c almond milk + (add enough until the consistency is like a very thick pancake batter)
2 T oil (we used canola)
With the stockpot mixture boiling, drop the dumpling dough by teaspoons onto the surface of the stockpot mixture in a single layer - should cover the entire surface. Reduce the heat to simmering, cover, and cook for 15 minutes (don't lift the lid during this!).
This was ever so yum. I am not exaggerating when I say it was tastier than 70% of the non-vegan recipes I've made for dinner. Will's mom pointed out that the broth can be thickened with plain whole wheat flour (not mixed into liquid) - we did that to make some additional broth last night (Day 12), and with the salt, pepper and thyme, it made a DELICIOUS vegan gravy that we'll have to use in the future on mashed potatoes.
Another interesting note about this vegan thing is that I got SUPER full on one bowl of soup (a bit unusual as I've been known to be capable of packing a LOT of food in my tummy in one sitting) - then in a couple of hours, I was getting hungry again. I've been noticing that phenomenon in general, actually - my body wants to eat smaller amounts more frequently. This is something I've been told to do time and time again (but I've ignored the advice in the past, partly because I grew up with two 6-foot-4-and-up brothers and became a competitive eater from trying to keep up with them at mealtime). With the vegan lifestyle, though, it's just naturally occurring that my body WANTS to eat that way. I find that very intriguing!
Last note for today is a hearty thank you to my awesome visiting teachee, Alyssa Woolstenhume, for recommending foodgawker.com to me. LIFE-SAVER! This is my new favorite website. Allrecipes.com, my old comfy go-to for recipes, has a LOUSY vegan selection. Very disappointing. But at foodgawker, I can type in a single main ingredient in the searchbox like broccoli or mango or blackberries, limit the search to vegan recipes only, and see at LEAST a dozen mouth-watering pics of recipes that I can link right to to get the recipe from a blog. I have to sift through a few (no soy, and no "vegan buttery spread" - the latter must be for people who are vegan for moral reasons instead of health reasons, because I've seen the nutrition info on that buttery spread and it is appalling!!), but so many of the recipes are fairly simple, many are RAW (wow!), and there's just an endless resource to turn to for keeping interest and variety in what we're eating. Just knowing this is there makes me think that a vegan lifestyle could be sustainable for me long-term (overall. I still think we'll have some meat/eggs/dairy every now and then, but far less of it and far less often). The one thing I wish is that the blogs had more reviews of the recipes (most comments are, "wow, this looks delicious! I can't wait to try it!"), but in many ways not having the comments as a fallback makes me rely on my own skills and instincts in deciding what to change in a recipe to make it suit our tastes and needs. So maybe it will make me a better cook in the long run. I hope so!
Day 12 - 137
Day 13 - 136.2
Workouts:
Day 12 - Level 3 of 30-day Shred (20 min)
Day 13 - No More Trouble Zones (a 55-min workout - finally!). Between yesterday and today I finally am starting to see some good definition again in my abs. I can't tell you how motivating that is!
Dinner on Day 11: Vegan Vegetable Dumpling Soup (adapted from Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup from melskitchencafe.com):
Vegetables:
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 large carrots, sliced (12-14 baby carrots)
2 onions, chopped
Put the above in a large frying pan with 1-2 cups water and saute until the vegetables are tender. In the meantime, put 9 cups vegetable broth in a large stock pot and heat to boiling. While that's heating, chop about 8 medium red potatoes into 1" cubes. Add potatoes, vegetables and the following seasonings to the stockpot:
3 t salt
2 t dried thyme (ground is best)
1/2 t ground black pepper
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup cold water and 1/2 cup flour until smooth. Whisking the stockpot mixture vigorously, slowly pour the flour mixture in. Add 1 cup frozen peas to the stockpot and stir gently.
Dumplings: Mix dry ingredients first, then add and mix in the wet until combined. Don't overmix.
1 c white flour (we might trade 1/4 of this for flaxseed meal next time - Will's mom's idea)
1 c whole wheat flour
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t dried thyme or sage
1 c almond milk + (add enough until the consistency is like a very thick pancake batter)
2 T oil (we used canola)
With the stockpot mixture boiling, drop the dumpling dough by teaspoons onto the surface of the stockpot mixture in a single layer - should cover the entire surface. Reduce the heat to simmering, cover, and cook for 15 minutes (don't lift the lid during this!).
This was ever so yum. I am not exaggerating when I say it was tastier than 70% of the non-vegan recipes I've made for dinner. Will's mom pointed out that the broth can be thickened with plain whole wheat flour (not mixed into liquid) - we did that to make some additional broth last night (Day 12), and with the salt, pepper and thyme, it made a DELICIOUS vegan gravy that we'll have to use in the future on mashed potatoes.
Another interesting note about this vegan thing is that I got SUPER full on one bowl of soup (a bit unusual as I've been known to be capable of packing a LOT of food in my tummy in one sitting) - then in a couple of hours, I was getting hungry again. I've been noticing that phenomenon in general, actually - my body wants to eat smaller amounts more frequently. This is something I've been told to do time and time again (but I've ignored the advice in the past, partly because I grew up with two 6-foot-4-and-up brothers and became a competitive eater from trying to keep up with them at mealtime). With the vegan lifestyle, though, it's just naturally occurring that my body WANTS to eat that way. I find that very intriguing!
Last note for today is a hearty thank you to my awesome visiting teachee, Alyssa Woolstenhume, for recommending foodgawker.com to me. LIFE-SAVER! This is my new favorite website. Allrecipes.com, my old comfy go-to for recipes, has a LOUSY vegan selection. Very disappointing. But at foodgawker, I can type in a single main ingredient in the searchbox like broccoli or mango or blackberries, limit the search to vegan recipes only, and see at LEAST a dozen mouth-watering pics of recipes that I can link right to to get the recipe from a blog. I have to sift through a few (no soy, and no "vegan buttery spread" - the latter must be for people who are vegan for moral reasons instead of health reasons, because I've seen the nutrition info on that buttery spread and it is appalling!!), but so many of the recipes are fairly simple, many are RAW (wow!), and there's just an endless resource to turn to for keeping interest and variety in what we're eating. Just knowing this is there makes me think that a vegan lifestyle could be sustainable for me long-term (overall. I still think we'll have some meat/eggs/dairy every now and then, but far less of it and far less often). The one thing I wish is that the blogs had more reviews of the recipes (most comments are, "wow, this looks delicious! I can't wait to try it!"), but in many ways not having the comments as a fallback makes me rely on my own skills and instincts in deciding what to change in a recipe to make it suit our tastes and needs. So maybe it will make me a better cook in the long run. I hope so!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Vegan Days 7-11 (Catch Up)
Workouts:
Day 7 - Six Week Sixpack Level 1
Day 8 - 30-day Shred Level 1
Day 9 - 30-day Shred Level 2
Day 10- Sunday
Day 11- Six Week Sixpack Level 2. I know these are all the shorter workouts - I really need to discipline myself to get to bed earlier, because I want to do the hour-long ones but I also don't want to get sick from sleeping less than 7 hours a night all the time. I got sick in mid-June and it TOTALLY threw off a 10-week streak of consistent workouts and decent eating, and it sure seems like a lot of tummy flab came back in a very short amount of time as a result. So although working out six days a week is a very high priority for me right now, so is getting as close to 8 hours of sleep a night as I can. There's this nasty time-vortex when I come home from work each night, though, and I always find myself getting to bed after 11PM. Rats!
Weights:
Day 7 - I forget, but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore, does it?
Day 8 - 136.8
Day 9 - 136.6
Day 10- 136.4
Day 11- 137.4 (yes, I weighed it twice to make sure - and yes, you bet I'm annoyed. I know the .2/day decrease is little, but it was consistent and I was hoping things would keep going in that direction. It's not like I pigged out yesterday!)
Food:
- Continued leftovers
- Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers from Costco. (MorningStar veggie burgers and black bean burgers are not vegan, in case you didn't know, and Boca Burgers are made of soy.) Will grilled these patties and we piled on the condiments - pickles for Will, tomatoes for Gretel, and romaine, non-high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup, mustard, and Daiya shredded cheese on top for both of us (one patty each on a bun). With all the fixins, these were really good. If you didn't have fixins, they'd be nasty. I also made some Sweet Potato Fries (no dip, of course) which were good but not as good as the last time I made them - I think it was the potato quality.
- Last night Will's mom made a YUMMY dinner that I think I will crave at least weekly, and which is entirely guilt free (we've had similar stuff before, I just need to remember how much I love it and make it more often). About a dozen red potatoes, sliced really thin, six carrots also sliced thin, two chopped onions (we could even do more next time), salt and pepper. Dump all in a LARGE frying pan (potatoes on bottom, then carrots and then onions on top) with 1-2 cups water. Cover tightly and cook on medium/high I think until you hear it start to dry out, then uncover and move things around frequently so they don't burn on the bottom (much, anyway - I like them a little burnt!). When the water has mostly cooked off, serve 'em up with some ketchup. The potatoes just melt in your mouth and the flavor is fantastic.
- For lunch today, I had a lettuce/tomato/hummus sandwich, and I absolutely LOVED it. Might not ever need to pay for lunchmeat again...SO good!
DESSERTS:
I have found that I absolutely must have some kind of dessert to look forward to at night. If I don't, I think I honestly will go crazy. Here are two FABULOUS vegan recipes that I challenge non-vegans to try and tell me they're not delicious. I also want to note that I replaced the oil with applesauce in both recipes and they were STILL amazing. Will and I make sure to keep our portions small, but just something little to reward ourselves helps us carry on with this stuff.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pudding Cake (very close to the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake from America's Test Kitchen. I say it rivals the richer cousin, but Will would want to try them side-by-side. I think that was a hint.) I used almond milk instead of soy.
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (I doubled this, used half whole wheat flour and it ended up needing more flour at the end. Possibly because I used agave instead of evaporated cane juice?).
-Currently cooking up (still) some Apple Butter (used agave and brown sugar instead of white sugar, and at Will's mom's suggestion included some lemon juice and apple cider vinegar). We had a huge bag of apples from Costco that we weren't eating and were taking up room in the fridge, so that's why I decided to make this. It's throwing me off, though, because the kitchen/house smells like Autumn! Whoops! :-)
Lastly to report, I got our first Bountiful Baskets order on Saturday morning. Excited to get started on it! Bananas, honeydew, tomatoes, nectarines (I think), kale, romaine, broccoli, cauliflower, blackberries, and mangoes. YUM!
Day 7 - Six Week Sixpack Level 1
Day 8 - 30-day Shred Level 1
Day 9 - 30-day Shred Level 2
Day 10- Sunday
Day 11- Six Week Sixpack Level 2. I know these are all the shorter workouts - I really need to discipline myself to get to bed earlier, because I want to do the hour-long ones but I also don't want to get sick from sleeping less than 7 hours a night all the time. I got sick in mid-June and it TOTALLY threw off a 10-week streak of consistent workouts and decent eating, and it sure seems like a lot of tummy flab came back in a very short amount of time as a result. So although working out six days a week is a very high priority for me right now, so is getting as close to 8 hours of sleep a night as I can. There's this nasty time-vortex when I come home from work each night, though, and I always find myself getting to bed after 11PM. Rats!
Weights:
Day 7 - I forget, but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore, does it?
Day 8 - 136.8
Day 9 - 136.6
Day 10- 136.4
Day 11- 137.4 (yes, I weighed it twice to make sure - and yes, you bet I'm annoyed. I know the .2/day decrease is little, but it was consistent and I was hoping things would keep going in that direction. It's not like I pigged out yesterday!)
Food:
- Continued leftovers
- Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers from Costco. (MorningStar veggie burgers and black bean burgers are not vegan, in case you didn't know, and Boca Burgers are made of soy.) Will grilled these patties and we piled on the condiments - pickles for Will, tomatoes for Gretel, and romaine, non-high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup, mustard, and Daiya shredded cheese on top for both of us (one patty each on a bun). With all the fixins, these were really good. If you didn't have fixins, they'd be nasty. I also made some Sweet Potato Fries (no dip, of course) which were good but not as good as the last time I made them - I think it was the potato quality.
- Last night Will's mom made a YUMMY dinner that I think I will crave at least weekly, and which is entirely guilt free (we've had similar stuff before, I just need to remember how much I love it and make it more often). About a dozen red potatoes, sliced really thin, six carrots also sliced thin, two chopped onions (we could even do more next time), salt and pepper. Dump all in a LARGE frying pan (potatoes on bottom, then carrots and then onions on top) with 1-2 cups water. Cover tightly and cook on medium/high I think until you hear it start to dry out, then uncover and move things around frequently so they don't burn on the bottom (much, anyway - I like them a little burnt!). When the water has mostly cooked off, serve 'em up with some ketchup. The potatoes just melt in your mouth and the flavor is fantastic.
- For lunch today, I had a lettuce/tomato/hummus sandwich, and I absolutely LOVED it. Might not ever need to pay for lunchmeat again...SO good!
DESSERTS:
I have found that I absolutely must have some kind of dessert to look forward to at night. If I don't, I think I honestly will go crazy. Here are two FABULOUS vegan recipes that I challenge non-vegans to try and tell me they're not delicious. I also want to note that I replaced the oil with applesauce in both recipes and they were STILL amazing. Will and I make sure to keep our portions small, but just something little to reward ourselves helps us carry on with this stuff.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pudding Cake (very close to the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake from America's Test Kitchen. I say it rivals the richer cousin, but Will would want to try them side-by-side. I think that was a hint.) I used almond milk instead of soy.
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (I doubled this, used half whole wheat flour and it ended up needing more flour at the end. Possibly because I used agave instead of evaporated cane juice?).
-Currently cooking up (still) some Apple Butter (used agave and brown sugar instead of white sugar, and at Will's mom's suggestion included some lemon juice and apple cider vinegar). We had a huge bag of apples from Costco that we weren't eating and were taking up room in the fridge, so that's why I decided to make this. It's throwing me off, though, because the kitchen/house smells like Autumn! Whoops! :-)
Lastly to report, I got our first Bountiful Baskets order on Saturday morning. Excited to get started on it! Bananas, honeydew, tomatoes, nectarines (I think), kale, romaine, broccoli, cauliflower, blackberries, and mangoes. YUM!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Vegan Day 6
Weight: 137.8
Workout: Level 3 of 30-Day Shred (20 minutes). Amazed at how Jillian can make doing 30 more seconds of something feel like an eternity. Yowzah.
Food throughout the day: Leftovers from the past several days. I think we finished just about all of them up today, so it's time to look at making something else.
Not an overly exciting day - and not much time to post. I'd better figure out what I'm making next.
Workout: Level 3 of 30-Day Shred (20 minutes). Amazed at how Jillian can make doing 30 more seconds of something feel like an eternity. Yowzah.
Food throughout the day: Leftovers from the past several days. I think we finished just about all of them up today, so it's time to look at making something else.
Not an overly exciting day - and not much time to post. I'd better figure out what I'm making next.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Vegan Day 5
Weight: 137.2
Workout: Level two Six-week Sixpack (35 min.). Such a good workout for the short length.
Breakfast: Shake
Second Breakfast (11AM): Whole wheat bagel and hummus (from Sunday), and some banana chips.
Lunch (3PM - been a weird day): 1/2 cup or so of the couscous salad (the end of it). LG asked for and liked a few bites of it this time. Seems like the best way to get him to eat new food is to feed him his normal food while we eat something else. Grass is always greener, haha! Because I'd enjoyed the hummus so much, I had some more on a piece of whole wheat bread. Few more banana chips (those things are addicting!!).
What a day. I came into work to discover that I'd won the Provo mayor's blog drawing for a $500 voucher on Frontier Airlines - NO WAY! Out of 363 comments, mine was the one randomly chosen. I've never won anything that big before - so exciting! Yee-haw! (Thanks, Mayor Curtis!)
Then, we found out the carpet's being installed (in the former "blue room") tomorrow morning. That room has been primed but not painted yet. There's no way in Hades that Will could get it painted with LG following him around today. So I took a last-minute day off work, came home and removed all the staples in the particle board, then took LG shopping for bedding for that room. Due to my indecisiveness and the fact that both our twin beds are extra-long, it took me an hour to decide what to get. Comforter: Normally $80, on sale for $30, with an extra 20% off that AND an extra 20% off with my Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon = $19.19. Sheet set: Normally $20, on sale for $15, with an extra 20% off that = $11.99. Sham: Normally $50 (I find that hard to believe, but that's what the tag says), on sale for $10, plus 50% off of that = $5. Total = $36.18. Add the other coupon I had for $5 off a purchase of $15 or more to all that for a grand total of $31.18 for what would normally supposedly be $150. NOT TOO SHABBY! And it's a good thing, because I then proceeded to spend $400 on blinds/shades for that room and the other upstairs bedrooms. Yikes. Add that to the carpet cost and it's been quite a month financially. But the house is looking more and more like grown-ups actually live here, and that's pretty exciting.
Dinner: Non-quesadilla with refried beans and romaine lettuce. A little bit of ambrosia salad and the typical banana cookies with flaxmilk. Those are getting a bit dry. :)
Workout: Level two Six-week Sixpack (35 min.). Such a good workout for the short length.
Breakfast: Shake
Second Breakfast (11AM): Whole wheat bagel and hummus (from Sunday), and some banana chips.
Lunch (3PM - been a weird day): 1/2 cup or so of the couscous salad (the end of it). LG asked for and liked a few bites of it this time. Seems like the best way to get him to eat new food is to feed him his normal food while we eat something else. Grass is always greener, haha! Because I'd enjoyed the hummus so much, I had some more on a piece of whole wheat bread. Few more banana chips (those things are addicting!!).
What a day. I came into work to discover that I'd won the Provo mayor's blog drawing for a $500 voucher on Frontier Airlines - NO WAY! Out of 363 comments, mine was the one randomly chosen. I've never won anything that big before - so exciting! Yee-haw! (Thanks, Mayor Curtis!)
Then, we found out the carpet's being installed (in the former "blue room") tomorrow morning. That room has been primed but not painted yet. There's no way in Hades that Will could get it painted with LG following him around today. So I took a last-minute day off work, came home and removed all the staples in the particle board, then took LG shopping for bedding for that room. Due to my indecisiveness and the fact that both our twin beds are extra-long, it took me an hour to decide what to get. Comforter: Normally $80, on sale for $30, with an extra 20% off that AND an extra 20% off with my Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon = $19.19. Sheet set: Normally $20, on sale for $15, with an extra 20% off that = $11.99. Sham: Normally $50 (I find that hard to believe, but that's what the tag says), on sale for $10, plus 50% off of that = $5. Total = $36.18. Add the other coupon I had for $5 off a purchase of $15 or more to all that for a grand total of $31.18 for what would normally supposedly be $150. NOT TOO SHABBY! And it's a good thing, because I then proceeded to spend $400 on blinds/shades for that room and the other upstairs bedrooms. Yikes. Add that to the carpet cost and it's been quite a month financially. But the house is looking more and more like grown-ups actually live here, and that's pretty exciting.
Dinner: Non-quesadilla with refried beans and romaine lettuce. A little bit of ambrosia salad and the typical banana cookies with flaxmilk. Those are getting a bit dry. :)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Vegan Day 4
Weight: 138. Am I surprised that this hasn't changed much in a few days? Honestly I am a bit. For the past few weeks prior to starting this vegan thing, I had fallen off the wagon and wasn't eating very well or exercising consistently. But it might be that I'm building muscle with my workouts. But regardless, we're only on Day 4 - daily weight fluctuations are normal (but I'm OCD about checking every day), so it's no big deal. Another potentially influential piece of information is that I finally weaned LG a week ago and switched at that time from the mini-pill to the regular pill. So there may be some hormonal issues at work here as well.
Workout: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism (55 minutes). This really is one of the hardest workouts I have. I have several moments throughout it where I'm not sure I can make it 5-10 more seconds of whatever exercise Jillian is having me do. But she pushes me through it. I pretty much hate this workout until the cooldown, at which point I feel amazing and so proud of myself. It's one of those that I can't let myself think about much prior to starting it. I have to turn off my brain momentarily while I get it out of the case and put it in the player...can't give myself a choice, haha! (That's the same thing I have to do with getting up in the morning sometimes - can't give myself a choice or I'll skip my workout.)
Breakfast: Shake.
11AM Snack: Orange
Lunch: I was really looking forward to my leftover couscous salad from yesterday, especially because I'd felt famished most of the morning. But it wasn't nearly as good as yesterday. Boo! The flavor just wasn't as good. My six strawberries were delightful, at least. Still missing my animal crackers. Knowing this is only a three-week thing is what's carrying me through right now.
By the way, I think I've neglected to update that I have indeed been feeling my knee again after Friday. I don't think it's as bad as it was previously, but Friday was an unusually good day and it hasn't been like that since.
4PM Snack (if you can call it that): Low-sodium V8
530PM Snack (because I was going to be very grouchy otherwise): Mindee, I have to eat my words in the very same day. I came home, heated up the last waffle, and put a little bit of peanut butter on it with my pure maple syrup. I needed something that felt more substantial! Also had a few banana chips.
Dinner: Leftover soup, and three cookies with flaxmilk.
Workout: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism (55 minutes). This really is one of the hardest workouts I have. I have several moments throughout it where I'm not sure I can make it 5-10 more seconds of whatever exercise Jillian is having me do. But she pushes me through it. I pretty much hate this workout until the cooldown, at which point I feel amazing and so proud of myself. It's one of those that I can't let myself think about much prior to starting it. I have to turn off my brain momentarily while I get it out of the case and put it in the player...can't give myself a choice, haha! (That's the same thing I have to do with getting up in the morning sometimes - can't give myself a choice or I'll skip my workout.)
Breakfast: Shake.
11AM Snack: Orange
Lunch: I was really looking forward to my leftover couscous salad from yesterday, especially because I'd felt famished most of the morning. But it wasn't nearly as good as yesterday. Boo! The flavor just wasn't as good. My six strawberries were delightful, at least. Still missing my animal crackers. Knowing this is only a three-week thing is what's carrying me through right now.
By the way, I think I've neglected to update that I have indeed been feeling my knee again after Friday. I don't think it's as bad as it was previously, but Friday was an unusually good day and it hasn't been like that since.
4PM Snack (if you can call it that): Low-sodium V8
530PM Snack (because I was going to be very grouchy otherwise): Mindee, I have to eat my words in the very same day. I came home, heated up the last waffle, and put a little bit of peanut butter on it with my pure maple syrup. I needed something that felt more substantial! Also had a few banana chips.
Dinner: Leftover soup, and three cookies with flaxmilk.
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