What are your health and/or fitness goals? I want to lose at least 20 pounds in the next year, but the number is not as important as getting to a point where I feel good about myself again.
What is your plan to accomplish your goals? Any change from last week? Starting tomorrow I'm following a 30 day workout and food plan from Self (link: www.self.com/program/new-years-challenge). I do well with something very structured to follow and I think this will help me reset some of the bad habits I've acquired over the past few years.
What have you been successful with so far? Just getting prepared for my 30-day challenge by shopping and meal planning!
What part of your plan are you struggling with? Nothing yet!
What can we do to help/support you? Just keep the check-ins going each week!
What are your health and/or fitness goals? Ultimately lose 20lbs, get back to walk/jogging 40 min 5ks, continue cutting sugar. Short term: walking. I think having a specific distance made me less likely to do it, so changing it to some distance 5x per week. I'm doing well with my healthy eating for the most part. I want to keep moving toward less sugar/fat in my snacks. Drink more water!
What is your plan to accomplish your gols? Any change from last week? I use runkeeper to set goals for number of walks in a week. DH goes shopping with me and helps me pick healthy snacks at the store. And I will drink at least one glass (16oz) of water each time Lilah nurses.
What have you been successful with so far? Just eating better so far.
What part if your plan are you struggling with? Going for walks. It's hard to do them with 2 alone and I get so tired I struggle to make myself go in the afternoon. I also often forget to drink until I'm thirsty.
What can we do to help/support you? Doing this every week makes me think about it. Tag me if I don't participate in the first day or two each week.
Day 1 of my 30 day challenge went great! I stuck to my eating plan and just added a Larabar snack. I also did the workout of the day in addition to chasing DS around the indoor playground while wearing D.
Post by ClassyMrsA on Jan 10, 2017 12:13:24 GMT -5
I just walked 1/2 a mile carrying Lilah the whole time and Lillian half. That counts for something, right? Eta: Also I had an egg white and turkey sausage breakfast sandwich (260 calories), 1/2 cup of blueberries, and tea for breakfast. My morning snack was a glass of water and a kind bar.
DS actually napped today and I convinced the little one to do the same, so I got to do my workout! It was only 8 minutes long. I've stuck to my meal plan too, but again had to add an additional small snack. It's hard to stave off the breastfeeding hanger otherwise.
I like these HIIT workouts and will definitely bookmark a few to do on days when I don't have time for anything but an 8 minute workout. This month for me is mostly about relearning good habits as well as how to fit those into my day. Still, I wouldn't mind if some weight came off too, so I'm going to try to do some additional exercise each day, even if it's just walking or yoga.
I'm officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight! I got in three workouts last week. Goal was five but plans were derailed when DS got sick over the weekend.
My goal this week is four workouts. I got my workout in this morning and I plan to shovel some snow tonight when H gets home.
H really wants to give up dairy for general health (kids not included). I said I would try it with him but I'm not going out of my way to be super strict about it. I feel like I need one of those workplace signs that say "x days dairy free." It has helped us eat healthier and cook more at home which is nice.
buckyb I'm eliminatung dairy as a trial to see if it helps improve H's gassyness and mucus. What kind of substitutions are you making? Anything specific/good?
Enjoy life brand makes a good chocolate substitute for when you just need something to hit your sweet tooth. I found unsweetened almond milk to work just fine as a milk substitute. SO Delicious has good coconut milk ice cream and yogurts, I do not recommend their creamer. Cheese I still haven't had any success with. All of the ones I have tried so far I swear taste like plastic. For butter we use a olive oil based margarine.
Are you eliminating just lactose or dairy proteins, too? Whey isn't in too terribly much, but casein can be a bugger and gets sneaked into a lot.
ETA: I'm not buckyb, but thought I'd offer suggestions if you want them since it'll be 8 weeks on Friday that I've been 100% MSP free.
Hi. I need to go here but not sure how yet. Finding time for anything is difficult but I think it's a matter of getting our routine down.
What are your health and/or fitness goals? Ideally lose 10lbs which would put me at my pre-infertility treatment weight, realistically lose 5 which will get me to pre pregnancy weight. More importantly tone up and get running again.
What is your plan to accomplish your gols? Any change from last week? (1) I need to restart my asthma medication so that I don't have trouble when I start running. I stopped it while pg and didn't really have any issues but it's easier for me to prevent than manage a flare up. (2) go for my first run - keep it short, 5-10 minutes (3) reduce how much sugar in eating and (4) increase water intake
What have you been successful with so far? Not a lot yet.
What part if your plan are you struggling with? All of it so far, my body is so physically worn down that I'm not sure how I'm going to run yet. And finding time. What I can change is stocking the house with more quick healthy food
What can we do to help/support you? Keep this thread going
Just want to throw out there that I was vegan for 7 years before I had DS so happy to answer any questions about dairy subs.
danib coconut milk is great because its fat content and creamy taste mimic dairy well (especially in things like yogurt and ice cream). Earth Balance makes a fantastic butter replacer (they have a soy-free version too sophiegrace). There are eleventy billion types of milk alternatives (soy, rice, almond, flax, hemp, cashew, oat, hazelnut...everything) and with those it's kind of trial and error to find your fave. I am partial to almond milk but my favorite is an unsweetened almond-coconut blend. I still use it every day in my coffee.
Cheese is tougher. The commercial brands that are sold in shreds and slices are gross and just not worth it IMO. Frankly I always just went without, except on very special occasions, because you need to shell out some significant dough for the only worthwhile types, which are artisanal vegan cheeses made from cultured nut milks. One brand that comes to mind is Kite Hill. They make a ricotta that is to die for. You can actually sometimes find some of these in the fancy cheese case at Whole Foods, or at a natural food store. But in general they are expensive and hard to find.
dashook. I'm fascinated. What made you decide to become vegan and what made you decide to stop? Was it difficult? Did you miss anything?
So this is complicated lol but I'll try to be concise.
I started cold turkey in 2007 after reading Skinny Bitch. I had been on a health and weight loss kick all year and it felt like a natural transition. I loved animals, cared about the environment, and wanted to be healthy.
It was not difficult at all for me. A lot of my favorite healthy foods were already vegan. I was young and single and lived in the city and made my own schedule. I maintained it for the most part throughout law school (I had a brief stint of being pescatarian in there) and my first few years in the work place until I got pregnant. I even had a successful vegan cooking blog over those years.
I kept it up while pregnant with DS but "cheated" a lot. Mostly this was because so few things appealed to me to eat that if *anything* sounded good (even a cheesesteak) I ate it right away before I had the opportunity to feel sickened by the thought of it.
Right after he was born my health was in the shitter. I lost so much blood and was on the cusp of needing a transfusion. My doctor looked at me very seriously and said "I need you to eat meat." And I did. People brought us food in our first few weeks home, none of which was vegan, and I ate it all because otherwise I wouldn't have eaten. And I got lots of takeout and that wasn't vegan either. That was the end.
I actually really miss it. It is a super healthy way to live (assuming you aren't living on processed food, Oreos, and commercial meat substitutes) and I looked and felt phenomenal. But it takes preparation, planning, and the ability to cook--and all of those things take TIME. I don't have the time. With two tiny kids and H and I being in high paced careers, I can't devote the time to planning, shopping for, and preparing separate meals for just me. It's not that I don't care about animals or the environment anymore, but I can't care about everything and my family comes first.
Post by sophiegrace on Jan 11, 2017 8:44:04 GMT -5
Thank you dashook!!! I miss cheese. I double checked and that's actually the butter replacement H found for me. Has worked well so far. Did you have a hard time going out to eat when you were still vegan? I can't get take out because it all has soy something in it, but I'm struggling with actual restaurants because everything is cooked with or around butter.
Post by sophiegrace on Jan 11, 2017 8:48:18 GMT -5
I'm checking in only to shame myself. Bad bad week in both exercise and food. Not sure what my problem is. I've never not been able to turn the switch on in my head for go time.
Today is a new day. No snacks without drinking a bottle of water first.
Thank you dashook!!! I miss cheese. I double checked and that's actually the butter replacement H found for me. Has worked well so far. Did you have a hard time going out to eat when you were still vegan? I can't get take out because it all has soy something in it, but I'm struggling with actual restaurants because everything is cooked with or around butter.
It depends on the restaurant. Some places you're going to have no luck (like a greasy spoon diner lol) but most restaurants will accommodate you. I never had a problem with something being cooked *near* butter so I can't speak to that from an allergy perspective, but I know I have asked for things "dry" (i.e., the bun on a veggie burger) because otherwise they would toast it with butter. If you ask they can use olive oil instead (especially for something like meat or fish). I would think that where an allergy is concerned they should be very accomodating.
To answer further about my own general experience eating out while vegan, I found that most places had at least one vegetarian option on the menu that could be modified to be vegan, or I could order a pizza with extra sauce (my favorite part anyway), no cheese, and all my favorite veg toppings. If all else failed I would look through the whole menu to see what kinds of veggies and grains (watching out for butter and cheese of course) they would be serving on the side and sort of create my own dish from these. At first I thought it would be awkward but I was quickly surprised by how not on receptive places were to making something for me but often they were excited by the challenge if you want to call it that! [And places that were assholes about it got slammed on my blog ]
I'm checking in only to shame myself. Bad bad week in both exercise and food. Not sure what my problem is. I've never not been able to turn the switch on in my head for go time.
Today is a new day. No snacks without drinking a bottle of water first.
There's no shame in struggling. As you said "today is a new day" . Start fresh. You can do it.
sophiegrace this! No shame here. Every day is a new chance to get on track. You've got this!
Thank you dashook!!! I miss cheese. I double checked and that's actually the butter replacement H found for me. Has worked well so far. Did you have a hard time going out to eat when you were still vegan? I can't get take out because it all has soy something in it, but I'm struggling with actual restaurants because everything is cooked with or around butter.
It depends on the restaurant. Some places you're going to have no luck (like a greasy spoon diner lol) but most restaurants will accommodate you. I never had a problem with something being cooked *near* butter so I can't speak to that from an allergy perspective, but I know I have asked for things "dry" (i.e., the bun on a veggie burger) because otherwise they would toast it with butter. If you ask they can use olive oil instead (especially for something like meat or fish). I would think that where an allergy is concerned they should be very accomodating.
To answer further about my own general experience eating out while vegan, I found that most places had at least one vegetarian option on the menu that could be modified to be vegan, or I could order a pizza with extra sauce (my favorite part anyway), no cheese, and all my favorite veg toppings. If all else failed I would look through the whole menu to see what kinds of veggies and grains (watching out for butter and cheese of course) they would be serving on the side and sort of create my own dish from these. At first I thought it would be awkward but I was quickly surprised by how not on receptive places were to making something for me but often they were excited by the challenge if you want to call it that! [And places that were assholes about it got slammed on my blog ]
I guess I'm just overly worried because if it was just me then I would just deal with consequences of accidentally ingesting something, but because I'm doing this for M the risk just seems scarier. It took weeks for the proteins to clear her system. I thought it would be NBD to eat out, but when we went out for Christmas Eve I couldn't get the waitress to understand what no dairy meant. It was definitely just her and I don't think we would experience that somewhere else, but it was rough. Ugh that poor girl.
Post by sophiegrace on Jan 11, 2017 9:39:17 GMT -5
waitwhat YES butter seems to be the huge sticking point. Do his docs think he'll ever outgrow his food allergies? I have strange food allergies that were always easily avoided, dairy problems for a kid has to be incredibly difficult.
sophiegrace that is really tough and I totally understand being more nervous because it's for M. I'm surprised in this day and age at a server not being educated about food allergies. Hopefully that was a very isolated incident.
goldenlove3 I believe you wanted to be tagged in if you didn't check in? We are at mid-week, how are you doing?
Thanks danib. I don't have any major updates but I'll officially check in when C goes down for his nap. Food has been decent this week so far but still haven't gotten the motivation or time to exercise yet.
Post by goldenlove3 on Jan 11, 2017 15:18:18 GMT -5
What are your health and/or fitness goals? -Lose the rest of the baby weight plus another 10 or more. Ideally I'd love to lose 25 total. -Eat healthier
What is your plan to accomplish your goals? Any change from last week? -Eat more whole foods, less processed food, eat out less, more water. -Do workouts at home eventually. Start walking again when it's nice out.
What have you been successful with so far? Meals have been decent this week. I had salad for dinner twice and having one today for lunch. I think I lost 3 pounds this week! I say think because my scale changes every time I get on it even minutes apart. I should probably change the batteries.
What part if your plan are you struggling with? Exercising. I've at least been up and moving around, up and down the stairs multiple times. But I need to do more.
What can we do to help/support you? Thanks for calling me out
I'm straying from my meal plan tonight because H got some big, awesome news at work so we're celebrating! I'm cooking something healthy--salmon with roasted red potatoes and broccoli--but straying for champagne and a bite of cupcake
danib - sorry for the delayed response. dashook and sophiegrace had some great insight on eating non-dairy. My biggest challenge is finding easy snacks. I used to grab yogurt, string cheese, cottage cheese etc as my main go to items. Fruit, veggies with hummus, graham crackers with pb, and Boom Chicka Popcorn are my new favorite snacks.
For butter substitute, I try coconut oil if I think the flavor won't impact my recipe too much. I personally don't care for fake cheese. If I want something creamy, I'll add avocados.
We are eating a lot of Asian inspired foods or simple protein, grain, veggie meals. I've made a few pots of broth based soups that have been a hit so far.
Post by sophiegrace on Jan 12, 2017 7:44:08 GMT -5
buckyb snacks are my struggle too. Fat free cottage cheese and 0% Greek yogurt were always something I ate daily because it was an easy way to get protein and fill me up.
I'm going to try and make my own hummus. The constant recalls over the last two years have made me shy away from buying in stores.
sophiegrace I have an amazing hummus recipe I can share. It's cost effective too because you cook your own chickpeas (obviously you can use canned too lol). Lmk if you want it. waitwhat the fitness challenge I'm doing has workouts that are 15 minutes and under. That's the only way I'm managing to fit it in around the two kids. Lmk if you want the link!
Then Comes Family, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.