Are We There Yet?

Waiting for an injury to heal is seriously the pits. I can think of few things that drive me crazier than this; there’s something about being held back by only one little twinge that makes me feel like a caged animal. This time, it’s my foot. I put it down awkwardly a few weeks ago and felt a crazy pain on the outside of my left foot, near the bottom of the foot and not the top. First thought? OH NO FRACTURE WHYYYYYY? But there was zero swelling, zero bruising, you could bend the bones, etc. So I stupidly ran on it, and felt no pain while running. In fact, I only felt pain when standing on it after sitting.

But it got worse as I ran on it, so I knew I had to stop for a while. Still no bruising or swelling, could still bend the bones, etc. and it very quickly became clear that I had a strain or a tear somewhere. So for the past few weeks I’ve been doing elliptical and long walks on the treadmill every day, not pushing my resistance or speed. I AM SO BORED.

Yesterday I noticed that my foot felt better. Could it be??? Could I really be in the home stretch??? Today, no pain. I’m going to give it another week of zero/low impact exercise just to be safe and hopefully resume running next week. I need to get back into the game so that I can run during our upcoming vacation(s). It’s just a waiting game now. I can’t wait to run again and be able to add mountain climbers and jumping jacks back into my body strength routines.

Not much else to talk about, really. Trying desperately to get my daughter on a two nap schedule, but she goes from accepting it to fighting it depending on the direction of the breeze -_- So that’s fun! She has 4 teeth now, which is so strange to me. I forgot how big the top teeth are in comparison to the bottom teeth when the baby is so small, so it blew my mind when I saw them break through. She’s on 4 bottles a day but eating more solids so she fights the bottles quite a bit these days.

Teddy is growing and growing which each passing day. He’s now 100% potty trained and will leave his bed to go pee on his own during the night/morning now. He comes downstairs on his own when he’s ready, knows what cereals he prefers for breakfast, and knows how to get Sesame Street playing on the apple tv. He is not alone for mornings, of course, but having him know how to do these things without my assistance is a huge help for me while I wrangle Little Lady Fusspot McGee. He also does chores now! There are seven daily tasks for him on his little magnet board and if he completes 5, he receives fifty cents. If he completes all seven tasks, he gets a Euro to put into his piggy bank. He can use his money to buy whatever toys he wants! He loves it, and the tasks are relatively simple but teach him how to contribute to the household as well as do things on his own.

So that’s the news for now!

I’m Fairly Certain…

…that my son is trying to drive me into a mental institution. Granted, his fourth year has been kinder than his third. His third year made me wonder if perhaps all of my years as a hashtagBadCatholic were catching up to me. At four, he is sweet and smart and precocious but oh so incredibly hyper on weekends. It’s the hyperactivity and the flailing of giant preschooler limbs that drives me nuts. While he’s in school during the week, it’s amazing! German kindergarten keeps him in line and calm; he comes home worn out by play and full on wholesome nutritious snacks and meals. I love it. The weekends? The weekends are the work of the Devil.

Anyhoochie, it’s my day of rest and I’m getting twitchy. I know my body needs the rest, but since I’m not running in order to let my foot heal up (more on that in a moment), I feel like I haven’t really done as much as I normally do. That, of course, is bullshit. It’s just lower impact things that I’ve been doing…but my body doesn’t feel it the same way, I guess. I’ll walk very slowly on my treadmill later just to get SOME movement.

The other sucky thing about rest days is the lower calorie count; I have to eat less! WAH! I also have to watch my sodium intake a bit more, since my rest day is always the day before my weekly weigh in. So basically, I’m struggling to think of low-cal options that don’t have salt. I love salt! I never liked salt in the past, but after my pregnancy with Fiona I’ve become sort of fond of it. Boo hiss. Granted, I do have sea salt so that’s a plus. Right now I’m thinking I’ll have a bowl of pasta, butter, and red pepper for lunch and an egg and cheese sandwich on a multigrain english muffin for dinner. Snacks are sort of up in the air today, but I picked up some of those nifty Keebler cookie thins at the commissary yesterday so I’d like to try them!

We don’t really go to the commissary very often because it’s about 30-40 minutes away in both directions, which is a bit much to drive. Our base is a German base, so we don’t have any commissary or BX here but we do have the stores on the German economy. You can get most ingredients pretty easily! Sometimes you need to make adjustments (chicken broth exists, but it’s jarred and not canned), but for the most part it’s doable. Processed foods are available at Spang when we need them, so the rare cookie thin purchase is sort of fun.

So. My foot. I put my foot down awkwardly a few weeks ago (not while working out, weirdly enough) and it’s been hurting ever since. No bruising, no swelling, I can absolutely walk on it…so I’m gonna guess it’s not a break. I can even run on it! But I’m not running on it anymore, because it wasn’t getting better. It wasn’t getting worse, but it wasn’t improving. Now I’m sticking to the elliptical and walking on the treadmill (slowly) and it’s improving day by day. I’m getting twitchy to run again. The elliptical is ok as an in between thing when I’m able to run, but when it’s my only source of real cardio, it’s tedious.

I’ve been wishing for a stationary bike lately, but to be frank there’s just no room here. I need to wait til we’re stateside and have a designated room for our home gym. As it stands, our treadmill, elliptical, and strength mats (as well as my yoga mats) are in a corner of our living room. Blech. I guess I could go use the “family gym” on base with Fiona, but she’s so small and I can just tell she’ll get pissed if I try it. Who knows. Maybe I’ll give it a whirl. Spin is something I’m pretty interested in!

FitMom v2.0

Here we go again, folks.

I’m really not terribly out of shape, but I took 9 months off from running and lifting, so it’s time to kick some ass! While pregnant with Fiona, I did the elliptical almost every day but with zero resistance to protect my stupid hips. I stayed svelte! It was great. I also did light arm weights, but I have always hated free weights as well as weight machines, so it totally sucked for me. Fast forward to my little baggadonuts being born…PPA. Big time struggle. I couldn’t move, I ate like shit, I drank a lot, I smoked too many cigarettes. Rocketed up to 150 lbs. Got on meds, wahoo! All is good now, but I’m fed up with my body. I’m at about 145 I think.

So here we are! What’s the plan? I’m building my run distance back up, slow and safe. I’m actually taking this week off because I tweaked something in my foot and I’d like to play it safe. I’m doing body weight exercises almost every day using the Streaks Workout app on our Apple TV. I’m going to start a few Blogilates challenges for July to see how the help…I’m thinking arms and inner thighs. I’ll take before and after pics for July, too.

It’s a struggle but I’m ready to get back there. Bonus reasoning: we are spending all of September abroad and I want to eat eat eat to my heart’s content (with some running thrown in there, too!). I’m not really comfortable with posting the details of our trip(s) until after we take them, given all the mess that’s been happening over here…but rest assured, I will have updates after the fact.

Speaking of food…am I dieting? HELL NO. I don’t believe in low carb or low fat or low cal or any of that bullshit. I believe in the science of CICO (calories in calories out) and eating to meet your needs (higher carbs when I need to feed my longer runs! Real sugar and real fats! Protein and fiber and rounded nutrition, oh my!). I hold myself accountable for what I eat, I keep track of it all (tracking is the key for me), and I eat to match my activity levels. I refuse to compromise that and I will NOT be trying your bullshit MLM pills, shakes, wraps, and the like, nor will I be trying a “detox”, “flush”, no carb, paleo, whole food BS diet plan. Is incorporating paleo or whole food recipes into my food repertoire fun? Yup, of course! But following something unsustainable in order to lose weight is not something that I have any interest in. Similarly, if I hear “gluten free” from somebody without Celiac’s disease, I will scream. You either have Celiac’s or you don’t. Phew. Glad to have gotten that out of the way. YAY FOOD! ALL FOOD! FOOD FOOD FOOD!

So that’s that! Staying in shape while overseas with a 4 year old and a 7 month old is going to be a struggle, but I’m confident that I can do it. I’m excited to blog about it, as well. It was fun to keep track via the blog last time, but I was already in shape when I started. So this time, it’ll chronicle a bit of the journey to getting back to where I was. I’m not terribly far off, but I’ve got some real work ahead of me. Cheers to getting back in shape and staying accountable!

Oops! Time for an update.

I have been so bad at updating this the past few weeks…sorry! The truth is that not much has really happened. Ok, that’s a lie…plenty has happened, but nothing that I’m not familiar with now that this is my second child (and fifth pregnancy).

First things first…I am officially in the 2nd trimester! WA HOO! I’m about 18 weeks now, and my anatomy scan is in two days. I’m nervous, as I always am going into a scan; I’m always worried that something will be wrong. Also hoping to find out the sex of this little bambino/bambina! We have our names picked out, and I’m getting antsy about finding out what it is…and seriously, if my doc can’t figure it out on Thursday, I’ll have to wait until the end of July for another shot! JULY! So there’s that.

My belly popped, finally. I am carrying much smaller than with Teddy, but I’m also much smaller in terms of my weight so I guess that’s no big surprise. Another fun thing about moving into the 2nd tri is that I’m no longer sick 24/7, and I’m no longer on progesterone suppositories that make it even worse. What this means is that I’m able to be active again! I’ve been doing the elliptical (slowly) about four or five days a week, doing light yoga and light free weights after as well. It feels GOOD. Of course, it was too late to ward off some weight gain thanks to the first trimester from Hell…but I’ll take what I can get. My hips are awful, but if I adjust them throughout the day it’s not unbearable.

And the biggest news of all: WE HAVE MOVEMENT! It started as flutters, but barely. I honestly think I felt flutters maybe once or twice. Next up was stretches…it felt like my baby was a swimmer, kicking off of the pool wall to start another lap. I do NOT remember that with Teddy! Now it’s stretches and pitter patters and stomach-turning flips. Please stop flipping, little baby, we would like your cord to stay in one place. Baby likes to flip the moment I start moving on the elliptical, which is in turn both cute and absolutely nauseating. I still use my doppler every night because a.) German OBs don’t let you hear the heartbeat until like…third trimester, so this is my only chance to actually hear it and b.) the movement still isn’t frequent enough to completely put me at ease.

So that’s that! In other fun news, we switched to a different “VPN” method and can now watch huluplus and US netflix on our tv sets. GAME CHANGED. Thank goodness, too, because I need my trashy US tv show fix. 😉

NT Scan, nursery plans, and oy vey this fitness journey…oh, and VBAC.

I have been bad and neglected to update after the NT scan! Everything looked perfect. There really is absolutely nada to update you with on that front other than my little one is growing and growing and growing and healthy and active. He or she has a face! And arms and legs and fingers and toes and a beautiful (yes, beautiful) spine. He or she likes to dance when the camera is on. 😉 Ohhh maybe there is one update. Our due date has been changed to Nov 27th! Yes, the day after Thanksgiving. Oh boy.

Speaking of due dates…I’m going to attempt a VBAC. I will not be disappointed if I don’t get it as I had fully planned on a repeat c-section, but in Germany they default you to VBAC. Honestly, the recovery would be much easier since we are OCONUS and have no immediate family here to help with Teddy. I’m pretty scared. I don’t even know what labor feels like. So this will get interesting. Expect many terrified posts in the future featuring me googling every single little thing I’m supposed to do to prepare for this.

Now…the “nursery”. This is baby number 2 and we will be moving again before he or she is 2 years old. There will be no nursery in the “decorated room of baby stuff” sense. We will have a crib and changing station in the guest room and that will be all! A bassinet in our room as well for the first few weeks, as our kid/guest rooms are half a floor up from the master bedroom (German house designs are…interesting). I feel like this makes me weird. Decorating a nursery is quite literally the farthest thing from my mind. I have no desire to! If this were our permanent home, then absolutely I’d want to give my child a room that reflects him or her a bit but considering our situation, I don’t think it matters at all here. Oh well. Random thoughts.

Fit pregnancy is going well! I hate that I get weighed mid-day with all my clothes on at the doc. I know I should start weighing myself at home for better monitoring of it all…but that’s scary. Maybe next week I will finally brave it. I’m eating well and working out daily. Nothing too intense! But I’m getting all of my steps it and getting my heart pumping…I’m also doing light yoga for stretching and light weights! It feels amazing to be active again, I can’t stress that enough. I feel accomplished and I feel more optimistic each time I step off of that elliptical.

Soooo those are the updates right now. I’m hoping to know the sex of the behbeh at my next appointment on June 25…I will be about 18 weeks give or take a day, so it’s definitely possible. You hear lots of “horror stories” about German docs in this area getting it wrong, though. I am just so stoked to know either way!

God bless you, exercise ball.

My exercise ball has been reinflated and is single-handedly saving my hips. Who knew? I just bounce on it when I’m hurting and it helps somehow.

I’ve added light (5 lb) free weights to the routine now, just arm work and shoulder work. My arms have melted since moving here and stopping my Vinyasa practice.

Hallelujah!

Today in the “I will be a healthy pregnant person!” chronicles…

I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, super easy and slow. I felt accomplished! Halfway to my steps goal for the day and it’s only 1pm just about.

Did some grocery shopping at the Edeka earlier, and stocked up on some healthier snacks (which I have actually been craving!). Brie, baguette, and grapes…carrots to dip in Ranch (shut up, it’s better than the other snack items in my pantry!). Veggies for my wraps. I did good!

I finally did the math on what I actually weigh now. about 140-145. This means that I’ve put on about 25 lbs since moving to Germany in June. That’s actually not that bad, considering I stopped watching what I ate for a long while, and started drinking again, had two failed pregnancies, stopped running, and am now pregnant again. That’s actually not bad at all.

So all in all, maintaining my health should be a lot easier than I was thinking, and I should bounce back a lot more easily if I can maintain this for the most part, as well as maintain my physical activity.

I think the key here will be holding myself accountable. Forgive me for my future boring accountability posts, readers.

Thoughts on fit pregnancy

KILL ME. Those are my thoughts right now.

Just did an hour on my elliptical. A very slow hour (2.4-2.8) with zero resistance. “Get the body moving!” I said to myself. I WAS A FOOL.

All kidding aside, I’m glad to have my elliptical here. Sometimes walking around by myself can get dull, and sometimes the wind and pollen here in Germany are a bit much. I watched the Ocean Giants doc on blu ray and enjoyed a nice cool breeze!

I need to make sure to keep a handle on my weight during this pregnancy, for reasons both vain and practical.

Hashtag Homeless

We are officially homeless. The house in Derby is no longer our problem, and we are now hotel-dwellers until we choose a house in Germany! It’s a weird feeling, for sure. I really loathe sharing a room with Teddy; he wakes at every little sound lately and I have to pee a million times a night because I’m old. I can’t wait to get him back into his very own room. Good Lord.

He and Eric leave for NJ tomorrow to see our families and to go to my nephew Jack’s christening in DC. I’m sad that I won’t be seeing everyone, but SO EXCITED to be alone for a week. Do you know the last time I spent a night away from Teddy?? BEFORE I WAS PREGNANT WITH HIM. This will be amazing. I know a lot of mothers are traumatized by this and are probably thinking I’m some sort of monster, but I have been through TWO DEPLOYMENTS ALONE with this child and I am more than ready to get some “me” time. If any of you out there are judging my excitement, you’d better have spent two separate 6 month stretches alone with your kid(s). And no, being within a 2-3 hour radius of immediate family does NOT count. I was 1500 miles from home. I seriously can’t wait to sleep til noon, to stay up in bed past midnight watching tv, to run whenever I want!

On Monday I’ll be moving myself and the cat out of Staybridge and back into TLF on base for the final stretch of time in the USA. Sookie is going with Eric and Teddy back east and will stay with my in laws until we’re in a house in Germany. It’s a long story, and far from what I really wanted to do, but it’s for the best.  I’m looking forward to getting back on base for the running path alone; it’s really convenient and a nice run even with the stroller. The way I go takes me 1.65 miles per “lap”. Two laps and I’ve done a 5k! Easy peasy. Now if only the weather would hold out and stay somewhat mild.

Anyway, I’m sure this is the most boring update ever but I wanted to put SOMETHING here for now. I need to sit down and go through photos and make a post about our activities of late and our plans for Germany. I’ll probably do it while the boys are in Jersey, since I’ll have more time! 🙂

WOOT. Leaving on a jet plane!

WE LEAVE JUNE 21!!! Finally, FINALLY, we have a date and flights…actual booked flights!!! There were some hiccups in planning and I definitely spent a lot of time curled up in a ball crying before it all got worked out, but here we are. We fly out of Wichita at 6am and into ATL, and then depart ATL at 4:40ish, to arrive in Frankfurt at 8am! It’s going to be insane. Sookie is flying into NJ with Eric and Teddy next month for the christening, and his parents will ship her to us when we arrive…there was no other way to work it. I’m still nervous about it. Buster will be flying as carry on with us…no other way to work that, either. We’re flying commercial since the Patriot Express had NO room for ANY pets.

I can’t believe it’s all real now. The TMO contractors called Eric yesterday, so that means we should be fine with everything on this end as well. We were nervous that we’d have to extend our lease instead of moving into TLF at the end of the month. Now all we have to do is sit down and make some lists: things we want on hand in our luggage/carryons for the month in TLF stateside as well as TLF in Germany, things we want in our 500 lbs of unaccompanied stuff, things we want put into storage back here, things we want to get rid of, and then naturally the rest being the things that will get packed up and shipped over.

I’m actually really excited to move out of this house into TLF. Sure, it’ll be cramped, but the time will fly by at that point. We’ll have the WiiU and a blu ray player with us to give us things to do, and I’ll be able to run and use the gym for a bit longer.

Speaking of that, I’ve been doing great with running outside. I do 5k outside. I even did it today in the heat and noon sun! I have slacked off so bad on my distance runs, though. I’m going to try for distance on Tuesday I believe, and see if I can still handle 6-7 miles. If not, I’ll need to seriously work on it again. I also took a week off from yoga to heal up my foot, so I’ll be heading back into that this week as well! Except for Wednesday, because we have a dinner to see off the Major. I get to wear two pretty things this week; once for that dinner and again the next night for ALS graduation! 🙂 I never dress up. Might as well rock the body I’ve worked for, though, right?

Tuesday is Teddy’s last day at MDO. Hard to believe an entire school year has passed! It was an awesome way to wade into the preschool pool, for sure, and I’m glad I did it. ESPECIALLY since I’ll be putting Teddy into kindergarten when we arrive in Germany. I think I’d be totally freaking out if I hadn’t have done MDO and gotten used to dropping him off and spending time away! Teddy’s been interesting lately. He’s teething the last of the molars, so his sleep is strange. Up super early, fighting naps, etc. Luckily, he isn’t fighting bedtime (which he did for the last molar), so it isn’t quite AS bad as it could be. He’s in a great mood, otherwise, and he’s learning so much every day. He repeats just about any word you throw at him now, and he has names for all of his toys. He’s big on dancing now! And drinking out of a normal cup, with no lid! He’s also a new fan of buttery noodles (cold!), which he affectionately calls “doodles”.

That’s really all in terms of updates. I haven’t weighed myself in a little bit because I was freaking out. I’m still scared to weigh in on Monday, but I need to get over it. I need to be accountable for the food and fitness choices I make; instead of being scared of the results, I need to own them and learn from them and move on. I can do it, I know I can, but it’s going to take some time to get there.