2013 and numbers

Ah, the joy and pressure of the new year - it feels like a new beginning, but that's also a bit stressful that I feel like I *should* know how to get things started.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed about it, given my past years of weight loss and exercise.  I used to aim for the 10,000 steps a day, but I know realistically that is nowhere near going to happen this year with baby (and honestly, I don't even know where my pedometer is!).  I weighed myself this morning and the number was, shall we say, not pleasant.

I think my goals for this year will be best broken into monthly goals.  When I'm done breastfeeding, I do want to go on a strict diet to re-kick my body into weight loss mode.  But for now, for January - let's aim for 2 walks and 1 visit to the gym each week.  8 walks, 4 gym visits.  Let's get started!

Still hard

Almost 7 months ago, I gave birth to my little guy - and still, it's hard to manage "normal" life. I'm still dealing with pregnancy- and labor-related pain issues, which continue to keep me out of the gym. And with the cooler weather lately, I haven't been out for a long walk in at least a month. 

However, these are all just excuses.  There is no good reason that I am not eating healthy. I need to start focusing more on my diet.  I'm weak on this, because I feel exhausted a lot of the time and that leads to really crappy food decisions.

I do want to put some energy into my own health, since I know I can't be the best mom to my little man if I'm not living a healthy life!

This ain't easy

Woah, I had figured it would be hard adjusting to life with baby... but this is HARD!  My eating is awful these days - I barely get a chance to sit down and making healthy decisions is tough.  Especially when it is so easy to hit a drive-through with the baby in his carseat. It's ridiculous.  The lack of sleep really does make everything more difficult too.

I did finally buy a nice stroller and we have gone for a couple of walks. I have to not walk for too long or he falls asleep (which sounds nice but he needs to sleep for at least an hour and inevitably wakes up too soon in the stroller).  Today we walked for about 40 minutes and he stayed awake the whole time. If I can do that at least every other day, that would be great! 

And then we'll work on the healthy eating :)

Healthy mini-meals ideas?

Still struggling to find a healthy balance with the baby in my life - meals are always rushed and often delayed.  The snack bars were a quick fix but I need to find the good balance.  I had been off dairy for the past few months to try to help the baby's colic issues, but now I'm re-entering the dairy world. ;)  Greek yogurt has always been one of my easiest mini-meals, with some fresh fruit - so I'm really looking forward to getting this back into my life!

Any ideas for other healthy mini-meals? :)

Snackbar'd out

Yep, overdid it on the snack bars - now I really don't want something so sweet in those wee hours.

Still struggling to figure out what and when to eat. I feel like I'm always hungry which is deeply frustrating.  I'm gaining weight slowly - unacceptable.  I should be losing a pound a week from the breastfeeding (500 calories a day) but instead the scale is going the wrong way.

Review: PowerBar Triple Threat Caramel Peanut Fusion

Today's entrant is the PowerBar Triple Threat Caramel Peanut Fusion.

Tasty!  Reminded me of a Snickers bar - this has some good flavor and some tasty caramel action.  Oddly though, I was hungry less than an hour later - not sure if it's because this was only 10 grams of protein?  I might buy this one again, though I'm not psyched about the relatively low protein given the 230 calories.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 230
Total Fat 9 g
Saturated Fat 4.5 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 5 mg
Sodium 220 mg
Carb 31 g
Fiber 3 g
Sugars 15 g
Protein 10 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: Double Chocolate Brownie Balance Bar

Today, we've got the Double Chocolate Brownie Balance Bar.

This my favorite of the Balance Bars that I've tried so far.  It's got a good rich chocolate flavor - and I could almost pretend like it's a brownie.  I like the little chocolate chip pieces in there as well.  This is definitely a chocolate punch - and sometimes that isn't exactly what I want at 3am, but other times it really hits the spot.  It's moist and brings the chocolate flavor home.  I like that it doesn't taste like I'm eating 14 grams of protein (though you definitely feels the 17 grams of sugar...).  Two thumbs up here!

Nutrition Facts
Calories 200
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 160 mg
Carb 22 g
Fiber 2 g
Sugars 17g
Protein 14g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: Luna Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter

Today's bar - Luna Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter.

This is a small bar, compared to other bars with similar nutritional value.  But it does pack in a lot of flavor.  The texture is good too - not at all chalky.  It had a good peanut butter flavor, and the chocolate coating was pretty good as well.  Not much of an aftertaste, which is a rarity when it comes to protein bars... ;)  I would buy this one again.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 190
Total Fat 8 g
Saturated Fat 3.5 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 250 mg
Carb 19 g
Fiber 3 g
Sugars 12 g
Protein 12 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: Caramel Nut Blast Balance Bar

Next up on the snack bar train - Caramel Nut Blast Balance Bar.

This is definitely not one of my favorites.  I don't know what exactly it is that I don't like - but clearly the Balance folks have been tweaking it (see the "original recipe - it's back!" notation on the wrapper).  The caramel nut top layer is okay, but I really don't care for the base layer, which is the biggest part of the bar.  Too little caramel to balance out the meh base layer.  These are not in my snack bar rotation any longer.

Nutrition Facts 
Calories 200
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 150 mg
Carb 23 g
Fiber 0 g
Sugars 14 g
Protein 14 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: Power Crunch Protein Energy Bar French Vanilla Creme

Today, the Power Crunch Protein Energy Bar, French Vanilla Creme flavor.

I love love love sugar wafers.  I haven't had them in years but I do love them.  So I was excited to try this one out... and my friends, this is no sugar wafer.  Everything was off on this one.  The coating was waxy.  The filling was extremely chalky.  And there was a weird after taste on the whole thing - almost acidic.  Maybe from the stevia used in it?  Weird.  Definitely will not be buying this one again.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 205
Total Fat 12 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 115 mg
Carb 10 g
Fiber 1 g
Sugars 5 g
Protein 14 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: S'mores Balance Bar

The S'mores Balance Bar is an interesting one.  Good chocolate flavor, and the soft top layer has an odd combination of marshmallow and graham cracker flavoring.  I can't quite put my finger on it to describe it better, but the flavors work overall in this bar.  The marshmallow and graham component makes it not overwhelming with the chocolateness.  I don't know if I feel strongly that this is "s'mores" true flavor, but it's something that I like to eat.  I just don't know if it truly qualifies as "s'mores". ;)  Not sure what I'd call it though, so I guess I'm useless then. :D

Nutrition Facts
Calories 200
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 5 mg
Sodium 220 mg
Carb 23 g
Fiber 3 g
Sugars 14 g
Protein 14 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: Lemon Meringue Crunch Balance Bar

Stepping away from the chocolate bars, I gave these Lemon Meringue Crunch Balance Bars a try.

I'm torn on recommending them - I only tried one of them, and it was okay.  I liked the change of pace from the chocolate varieties, but the crunch layer wasn't particularly awesome.  The lemon meringue top soft layer was nice though.  The lemon flavor came through without being totally overpowering.  But I guess overall, I wouldn't rush out to buy this one again.  That base layer just wasn't very tasty, and I want the whole thing to be good, not just the soft top layer!

Nutrition Facts

Calories 200

Total Fat 7 g

Saturated Fat 4 g

Trans Fat 0

Cholesterol 0

Sodium 210 mg

Carb 23 g

Fiber 2 g

Sugars 14 g

Protein 14 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: thinkThin Chocolate Covered Strawberries Protein Bar

Today's entry is the thinkThin Chocolate Covered Strawberries Protein Bar.

First off, you have a visual in your mind that this is going to be a chocolate covered red strawberries bar - but it's not red inside.  It's a pale color (I ate this at 5-something in the morning and in the dawn's early light, I can't tell if it was white or beige), which kinda throws you off a bit.

But honestly, it's not about the color.  If it's tasty, who cares about the color, right?  Unfortunately, it's not too much of the tasty.  It's chalky and the flavor is just odd overall.  It didn't taste like true strawberry, which was a big let down for me.  I appreciated the 15 grams of protein and ZERO grams of sugar, but I wouldn't run back to this bar.  It definitely left me with an artificial sweetener aftertaste.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 200
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 120 mg
Carb 23 g
Fiber 3 g
Sugars 1 g
Protein 15 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Review: Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch Balance Bar

First up, Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch Balance Bar.

What's not to like?  It's very minty - seems stronger than a Thin Mint cookie but it's been a long time since I've had those so I could be mistaken. ;) But you do need to really be in the mood for mint to have one of these.  I ate them during my pregnancy a few too many times and kinda burnt out on them.  But they did hit a spot when I was in the mood for sweet-and-minty, and overall they're tasty. Just very minty. ;)

Nutrition Facts
Calories 200
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Trans Fat 0
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 190 mg
Carb 23 g
Fiber 2 g
Sugars 16 g
Protein 14 g

(I purchased this bar on my own with no influence from the manufacturer.  Read more about my series of snack bar reviews)

Snack bar reviews

One of my biggest challenges with being a new mom is trying to eat at weird hours - and to do so quickly.  So for my 3am-6am "oh my gosh I am starving" window, I have been going for nutrition bars.  I can unwrap and eat 'em one-handed, and this has been a lifesaver in those wee hours.  So I'm going to start reviewing the various bars here...

The biggest criteria for me in choosing a bar is the overall nutrition.  I tend to go with something no more than 200 calories and no less than 10 grams of protein.  Some fiber is a good bonus.  I'd prefer to have not much fat (especially saturated fat), but the chocolate-coated bars are generally tasty enough for me to feel it's worth it. ;)

All of these bars are items I've bought on my own with no influence from any manufacturer (though I would love to try new flavors, if you're listening, snack bar makers!) ;)

a new goal

My new goal is to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, which is 14 pounds away right now.  My ultimate goal is 85 pounds away, but that's way too much to think about right now.  I'm breastfeeding, so I should in theory drop a pound a week just from feeding my baby - but that hasn't really been happening.  I struggle hard with this, since I fear restricting my calories too much and harming the baby.  I'm hoping to breastfeed him for the first year, and I *really* want to hit that pre-pregnancy weight long before that year is up!  We'll see how it goes...

catching up

So now we start anew.  My weight has been an issue my whole life, and watching the scale go up as I was pregnant was nervewracking.  I had really hoped to not gain too much - and for most of the pregnancy, I was okay - but I put on 20 pounds in that last trimester, for a total of 31.  The first week after giving birth, I dropped a bunch - woo!  But it's stalled since then, and it's been over two months now.  I have no chance to exercise though (some days I don't even get to shower until my husband gets home from work!), so hopefully things will start to settle down a bit.  I used to walk a *lot*, but that went out the window in the last half of the pregnancy due to pelvic separation issues, and I'm still recovering from that now.  I know I need to put a focus on exercising - and also healthy eating - but it is definitely a whole new struggle with a newborn!

I'm also struggling with going dairy-free now - the baby has reflux and the pediatrician told me to cut out the dairy.  Not fun at all, especially since fat-free Greek yogurt and low-fat string cheese were amongst my go-to easy eats.  It's such a difficulty to eat anything when you've got a baby who cries a lot (due to the reflux), and having to eliminate some of the "easy" foods stinks! If you have any dairy-free tips, I'd love to hear them. ;)

Welcome back!

Howdy!  Sorry to keep this blog quiet for so long... but I was pregnant, and now I'm momma to a beautiful 2 month old baby boy.  He's keeping me quite busy these days, but I definitely need to get back on track with the weight loss.  I gained 31 pounds during the pregnancy, and lost 18 of it quickly... and the rest is going to be a challenge.  I hope to get back into the swing of things soon!

Chris Powell

Last weekend, I bumped into Chris Powell. He's the host of ABC's "Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition", a show that I have mixed feelings about but overall like. ;) The one thing that I am certain about with that show is that the trainer guy is ridiculous positive and appears to often get great results.

He was pushing a stroller, so I congratulated him on his new addition - two months old little guy. Adorable. ;) I talked to Chris for a couple minutes, telling him about my own weight loss journey and asking for tips. :D He said his top tip about healthy eating is to "Eat Whole Foods!" - avoid processed foods as much as possible.

It's always refreshing to meet someone who comes across as sincere and friendly on television - and they're exactly like that in person. All the best to Chris and his adorable little boy!

August steps

month	total steps	average steps per day	number of steps ahead/behind of pace
January	295,100	9,519	-14,900
February	209,700	7,489	-85,200
March	228,000	7,355	-167,200
April	183,300	6,110	-283,900
May	421,200	13,587	-176,200
June	339,300	11,310	-136,900
July	322,900	10,416	-124,000
August	512,200	16,523	+78,200

Woo, look at me all caught up on my steps! ;)

However, I've started September with not feeling so great, so my steps this month so far are not so great. (I'm averaging 6,800 so far.) But hey, I'm just aiming for that 10,000 a day, and I could catch up to keep that average for this month. We'll see.

Weight, as usual, is staying the same.