Sweat

OK, I’m finally back in. My site was flagged for being a malware spreading site and I was blocked from getting in here to update you all. One more sweep of the files and a request for a review of my site and I’m back. Hopefully that’s the end of this damn virus!

Anyway, weight. Let’s talk about it. Since I’ve been diagnosed with gestational diabetes and I’ve had to alter my diet, my weight has plateaued. I know, what problems, right? Usually this wouldn’t be a problem but I need to gain weight to properly sustain this pregnancy. I’m going to be weighing myself daily and my doctor will be following my weight along with my glucose levels to make sure everything is OK.

Part of my problem is that I’m not hungry. I eat, I’m satisfied and then I don’t snack or I have a small snack. I may need to find more low sugar but high calorie foods to eat. Anyway, I’ll be keeping track of this so I have the healthiest pregnancy possible. For those of you curious, to date I’ve gained about 25 pounds which is right where I’m supposed to be. Overall weight gain is fine. I just need to make sure I continue to gain weight these last seven weeks so my baby is as healthy as possible.

Anyone else notice how celebrities tend to lose all their baby weight in just a few months time? Heidi Klum had a baby last August and by December she was back to her supermodel frame again. (And I think she looks healthy, not stick thin like some others. *cough* Gisele *cough*) I usually give them a pass because it’s part of their job to look good and I’m sure they feel enormous pressure to get back there. And they have the money to spend on trainers and nutritionists that a lot of “regular folk” don’t.

Kourtney Kardashian had a baby recently and she was put on a magazine cover just a couple weeks afterwards looking really good! I didn’t think much of it until I saw the original picture side by side with the altered, cover picture here at Bounce Back. Now that is just plain ridiculous and insulting! First of all Kourtney was not model thin to begin with. She had great womanly curves that she was proud of. That we should all be proud of. And for the magazine to chop all those off, to even photoshop the baby himself(!) is just wrong, so very, very wrong. I’m glad I don’t buy any of those magazines. At least I’m not helping their bottom line.

If you want to see true pictures of mothers: while pregnant, after the birth, after living, then go visit Shape of a Mother and skip all those gossip rags. Maybe if more people did we could embrace what our bodies really look like, stretch marks, and all. It is my goal after the birth of my baby to lose my baby weight in a healthy way and in a reasonable timeframe, to reach my goal weight of 145 (or less), to stay healthy through healthy diet and exercise and to enjoy my life with my husband and children. I will wear a bikini even though my stomach is covered in stretch marks and I will not feel ashamed. This is my body. It has done amazing things and I am proud of it.

Got a new diet. Got a new blood meter. Got some new instructions – 4 finger pokes a day – carb limits at each meal and snack – this ought to be fun.

Not.

I’m already tired of not being able to eat what I want when I want and I’m only 24 hours into this! However, while this is an annoyance, it’s also necessary. Healthy baby. Healthy Mom. Those are my only two goals for this pregnancy.

But…anybody have any protein snacks besides nuts they can share with me? I need some ideas!

Well, this is new. I have been formally diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I didn’t fail the 1 hour test with my first two pregnancies but this one had to be different I guess. I’ll go in tomorrow or Wednesday to meet with a nutritional counselor and find out what I have to do. For sure there will be a new diet to follow. And probably multiple finger pokes a day to check blood sugars. I’ll probably be told to exercise (at least walking). I’ve already got a coworker/friend offering to do laps in our large building during the day with me. I can do that at least until the sidewalks around my house aren’t covered with 4 feet of snow because, well, I don’t want to walk in the street.

After that though I’m not sure. Hopefully I don’t have to do insulin injections. And hopefully this is the only hiccup in my otherwise complication free pregnancy.

Anyone have any diet/exercise tips for this new gestationally diabetic person over here?

I can definitely tell that I’m 33 during this pregnancy rather than 28 like with Annika or 30 with James. My body gets tired and worn out much quicker this time. I take a lot more naps. My back is killing me almost every day. The baby’s kicks and rolls and punches are either more violent this time or I just can’t handle them as well. They hurt! I’m so very happy to be pregnant but at the same time I am feeling old!

We’ve been hacked. We’ve cleaned our computer of it’s virus. We’ve reinstalled Wordpress (again) and we’ve changed passwords. Hopefully this time we can stay up and running! Let me know (nina@ninabina.com) if you have problems finding me here or get any error messages!

I sort of fell off the cliff there, didn’t I? Yeah…

But now that I’m 30 weeks pregnant (today) and spring is around the corner (shut up, it is) I’m starting to think about my body post pregnancy and getting outside again to exercise. Post baby, I want to exercise and be healthy, have a positive body image while also not starving myself (I plan on breastfeeding and need to make sure I have adequate calories each day) or not beat myself up for “not doing enough.”

I’ve registered for the Minneapolis Duathlon as I told you last fall. Earlier this week I received my confirmation post card from them with my registration number: 1204. It’s official. I have my comeback race. Now I need to formulate a plan for what my goals will be when I reach that six week postpartum milestone. What will my calorie goals be? What will my exercise goals be? I plan on having no weight goals at all for the first six months. I’ll eat healthy, exercise and let my body figure the rest out.

Most of all, I want to maintain a healthy attitude.

Can someone please return my motivation? I seem to have lost it. I’m feeling much better, still pretty tired in the evenings, but otherwise OK. I don’t really have an excuse for being such a lazy bum. And yet I am. A lazy bum. So, I’m going to start kicking myself in the butt and getting down to the basement to get a workout in a few times a week. I’ll report back my progress.

I’ve done it. I’ve got a new goal. Well, several actually.

Goal #1 – Don’t go completely jello-like during this pregnancy. Get back to exercising regularly so cardiovascular health and stamina is kept at tolerable levels.

Goal #2 – Make time for myself after the baby is born to get exercise in. This is of course easier said than done when you have two children wanting your attention plus a third infant child who demands your attention. Luckily with Kris home during the days on my 12 week maternity leave I should be able to carve out 1/2-1 hour 3-4 times a week for myself. It’s when I go back to work after the 12 weeks that it will really be a struggle. Ugh.

Goal #3 – Get into good enough shape to race in the 2010 Minneapolis Duathlon on August 29th, 2010. I officially signed up yesterday. (Use the code Champ2 by 11/6/09 and get $4 off the registration fee plus a free bike jersey!!) Kris has a bike jersey already and they are super cool. They’re pretty and I want one too! So now I have one. Well, I’ll have one after they ship it to me. Plus I ordered a medium which is what I fit into in August when I tried one on at packet pick up for the 2009 Minneapolis Duathlon. Now, I’m not going to kill myself to lose enough baby weight to get back down in my medium jersey by the duathlon next summer. But it will be a goal of mine to eventually lose the baby weight and be back in it for the 2011 duathlon. It’s good to have goals, right?

So, those are my goals. Now go sign up for the race so we can all do this together! (A couple friends have already signed up. Kris will sign up and my brother is excited to come to Minnesota to do it as well. The more the merrier! Come on! Do it! Peer pressure!!!)

I did it! 30 minutes on the elliptical that is! After a 9 week hiatus (ouch!) I finally exercised last night. The last time I did anything? The duathlon on August 30th at 5 weeks. Yesterday I was 14w2d and finally did something. Yes, I could blame that on first trimester woes but honestly? I’ve also been lazy and using the pregnancy as an excuse. Blah, blah tired, nauseous, blah, blah. So, now that I’m back you have to help keep me accountable, OK? I’ve asked Kris to keep Mondays and Wednesdays as Kristina’s work out days and he can have Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays after work. Then we can each do our thing on the weekends as schedules/bodies/motivation allows. I’m sure he’ll keep me on my Mon/Wed routine because otherwise he’ll be annoyed that he couldn’t work out that day and then neither did I.

So, about that workout? I took it fairly slow. I wasn’t wearing the heart rate monitor so I’m not sure where that was at. I’ll wear that from now on. I made sure to not get out of breath (on orders of my midwife) but I could feel my pulse rise and I was sweaty afterward (although not as sweaty as when I’m going all-out running). Having the heart rate monitor will help me next time I think. I’m probably being to cautious but whatever.

Oh, and I hate the elliptical. I would so rather be running outside! I probably could have done that yesterday but pretty soon it will be too cold or icy for me to be doing that. Wuss out I will! So the trainer and the elliptical will have to do for a while. It may be time to update the Netflix queue with movies/shows I can watch while on the elliptical.

It feels good to be back though. I gained another 2 pounds and promptly freaked out. The baby is the size of a lemon, why have I gained 8 pounds already?!? *Breathe* *Breathe* *It will come back off, calm down!*