The Joys of Parenthood

I'm having deja vu; I feel like the mother of a newborn. Sleep deprived, distracted, trying to adjust to the new routines.

The puppies wake up and cry for us about every two hours. We've been taking turns getting up and letting them out to relieve themselves, but we're torn about it. It's nice having a clean floor in the morning, but we're not getting a decent night's sleep. They're small and don't have a lot of bladder control yet but do their best. I'd like to get them taught that night time is down time, but they are really just babies and sleep off and on throughout the day.

But if we don't go downstairs to let them out, wow are they loud! Even with the doors all shut it still takes earplugs to shut them out. So even if we don't get up and let them out, we're still going to be awoken by the noise. As I told Hubby this morning, "Welcome to the joys of parenthood."

On top of the interrupted sleep, I'm also getting up 10-15 minutes earlier now to give myself extra time to let them out and go potty before I go to the gym. I'm continuing with 30 minutes each of treadmill and stationary bike. The toning has slumped, and I need to find the time for that. However, lifting and lugging around those puppies (Pearl is 11.8 pounds and Bruno is 10.6 pounds) is giving me some upper body work.

I will give Mabel and Hubby credit and say they are pitching in with the puppy chores. But let's face it; I'm the one who is doing the majority of the clean-up work (mopping, sweeping, vacuuming, picking up poop), and most of their help is taking them outside and entertaining them. And in the afternoons I'm there alone with them. We're bonding, which is nice, but it is an additional responsibility I didn't have before.

I was afraid the stress and chaos of new "babies" would send me to overeating. Yesterday was not the case; during the afternoon I was either too distracted or tired to eat. By supper time I was pretty hungry, but I stayed mindful and in the evening I was again too tired to even think about eating a snack. And I'm definitely outside walking around more getting the puppies to run around and burn off some energy. Once they're a little older we'll start working on using the leash, and one day I hope they'll be my walking companions.

Over the weekend I told my friend SS about this blog. He then told our other friend JH, who emailed me to give me hell because I hadn't told her about it! I guess I have been a little secretive about this blog with my friends. But I don't want to be one of those "one track mind" friends who obsesses about one certain thing (their kids, their job, a cause they support, or in my case, my weight loss). Just because it's on my mind every day doesn't mean everyone wants to hear about it ad nauseum.

I think it also comes down to that "fraud" feeling that so many of us weight loss bloggers talk about it. Yes, I've had some major accomplishments, but because I'm nowhere near an "ideal" goal weight (BMI, height-weight charts, etc.), I don't feel like I'm a real success.

For example, while I'm really enjoying the book "Thin For Life", I find myself focusing on what the masters weigh instead of concentrating on how they do it. Almost all of the women mentioned in the book are maintaining weights between 110-140, and even most of the men are maintaining between 135-200 pounds. A lot of them had all-time highest weights that were less than my goal weight! Then I tell myself there's no point in comparing myself to the "masters." I have to set my own goals and not worry about how much bigger I'll be than other people.

I better get on with my day. My goal is to fit a nap in somewhere. Wish me luck!

I Am The Master

I blew past another Sunday without posting. But our trip to Pittsburgh really wore me out and I was pretty zombified all day. Now today I'm worrying that I may have a return of the strep throat -- my throat's definitely not feeling right and I don't feel well overall.

This is so NOT what I need this week. It's an exceptionally busy week with lots of afternoon appointments, I need to get the house clean for my friend SS who is coming in to town from DC and spending the night on Friday. At work I've got to get my newsletter printed and mailed, on top of Lent/Easter preparations. On top of that, today started my TTOM, and for the cherry on top? Hubby's tracked down some Labradoodle puppies that are available NOW, and the breeder is going to call us back about going to see them either Tuesday or Thursday.

Maybe it's not the strep returning. Maybe it's just a cold. I'm drinking lots of tea and gargling with warm salt water and hoping it will all go away. But tomorrow morning will tell the tale: if my throat's still bad or worse, back to the doctor I go.

The worst part about it it, this morning I finally got back to the treadmill and bike, and did some toning. I'll be really bummed out if I get super sick again and can't exercise!

I'm theorizing I might have reinfected myself because I forgot to throw away and replace my toothbrush. Stupid, I know. Lesson learned. I already have a new one bought.

Here's some of the good things that happened over the weekend: on our Pittsburgh trip we got to a book store (no decent bookstores in Bumf*#k Egypt where I live) and I finally purchased a copy of "Thin For Life." Our local library lost their copy, and since so many AFGers give this book such good recommendations, I've decided to add it to my personal collection. I figure this will be re-read and referred to regularly, so it's worth shelling out the dough.

I am actually glad that I have to travel 90 miles to get to a Panera, because if there was one close by I'd be there pretty much every weekend blowing my salary on their baked goods. My mom wanted to eat there for her birthday, so we sat and had sandwiches and their Crispani pizza-like thing, and everything was so good! I had a panini and it was wonderful. What really wowed me was the baked yummies I saved for the next day, however. I cannot find good scones in our rural backwoods area, so this was a real treat. Again, thank goodness there isn't one in our immediate area.

When I got home I had pleasant things in the mail, too. I got a letter from the organ donation organization that coordinated the tissue I received for my neck surgery. Several months ago I sent a letter through this group to the family of the donor thanking them and letting them know how my life has improved due to their gift. Saturday's letter stated that the family has written a letter, and the organization wants to know if I'd like to see it. I sure would, so I emailed them back this morning giving them the thumbs-up.

Also in the mail was a big envelope from the National Weight Control Registry. Sunday morning I ate my scones and filled out the bulk of the questionnaires -- is that hypocritical or sacrilegious or something? I'm not sure. Anyway, what a lot of info! The food breakdown is the most in depth and labor-intensive part. It really made me think about how often I eat certain foods and how much. I had to remind myself that this was an overall average for the past year and not just my eating habits on my "bad" weekends, so I made sure to make a fair representation on how I eat most of the time. And it's pretty obvious I've become a veggie fanatic -- it's the one section I ate the most often and in the biggest quantities. Which was good to see.

I still have to fill out the weight loss "diary" that pinpoints milestone weights and lists the whens and whys. I have to go back to my journal and archives to make sure I get these right. It's been such a dramatic three years.

Just before I came up here to post this I read the intro to "Thin For Life" and noticed that the author calls those people she interviewed (who have lost at least 20 pounds and kept it off for the long-term) "masters." I realized that I qualify to be called a Master. What a validating notion. I may have to get business cards with "Master" under my name.

Want to write more but I have to go get Mabel from Brownies. I'll tell you the other stuff tomorrow.