We have yet another new addition to our family to report! Austin Richard Elmore was born on October 27th, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz! He officially takes the cake for biggest baby born in this family! Our sister-in-law (Ben's step-brother Rick's wife) was induced and had a relatively long labor, but all went well and everyone is happy and healthy at home. We finally get to meet the little cutie on Sunday, and we're pretty pumped! I can't believe we haven't gotten to see him yet. Ben has been working late most evenings, and our weekends are always rather ridiculous.
In other news, we started the South Beach Diet a little over two weeks ago. The "little over two weeks ago" being significant because it means we're past the toughest part - the first two weeks. It's essentially NO carbs for the first two weeks, which was rough considering the fact that Halloween fell within that span. Ugh. I did have two gummy bears at a Halloween party, I won't lie. And two Michelob Ultra Amber's (which only have 3.2g of carbs each, which is less than some of the things I was allowed to eat, so yeah, I let myself cheat on that too). And then on Halloween, while celebrating with the kids at Ben's sister's house, I also had about 5 bites of this...
Holy smokes, it was good. Pumpkin cake, and the middle layers were made of sugar, cream cheese, whipped cream and pumpkin. Amberly made it. WOW. After trick-or-treating with the kids, staring at giant bowls of candy and watching everyone else eat pizza for dinner (whilst I enjoyed my 45th salad of the week), I had to take a few bites. But, really and truly, that was the extent of my cheating, folks. Meanwhile, my husband was sitting out on the front porch "handing out candy" (read: eating reese's peanut butter cups and drinking beer). Of course he'll still lose weight despite the cheating, because that's what men do. But for now, I'm satisfied, because I've lost just over 8 pounds so far :]
Turns out that, apparently, just working out doesn't work so well. First of all, working out alone isn't great because it requires SO much work to off-set the number of calories you'd normally eat in a day, even if you're "eating healthy" (which was always my compromise... "but I eat healthy!"), much less to burn more calories than you eat (which, less face it, is what you have to do to lose weight!). You really have to calorie-restrict in order to lose weight through exercise, and then you're not "just exercising", now are you? But it has been very encouraging to see that dieting alone is enough - I didn't exercise at all until yesterday. That also gives me hope that once I do start exercising more regularly, I'll be able to keep losing despite the intensity of the diet dropping back down to a manageable level (I'm now allowed to start re-introducing good carbs like fruits and whole grains). We were both SO tired and hypoglycemic in the beginning (low blood sugar = shakes and crazy hunger pangs!) that it wouldn't have been wise to workout much, if at all, and so we decided we'd wait til after the first two weeks. A doctor that I work with is the one who recommended that course of action, so I feel justified ;]
That brings me to the exercise plan. Well, I won't say "plan". I don't like setting out exercise plans for myself, because I've found that setting high expectations only leads me into disappointment when they don't pan out, and then I get de-motivated and fall off the wagon. Instead, this time around I'm focusing on doing things I enjoy. First of all, I like running. Call me crazy, but I like the way it makes me feel and I like the satisfaction of adding distance and cutting time. So I hope to use running on the treadmill at the gym as my main source of cardio. I know that having only one goal in mind will make it much easier to go to the gym - I won't be there as long, and for me thinking about going on a run is much less stressful than thinking about multiple different things I want to accomplish at the gym. I do like lifting weights as a toning exercise, but it's never really given me the results I was looking for and it adds an unpleasant hour at the gym. Instead, I've decided to give yoga a whirl. Ben's cousin Candice has two small children and look A-MAZING, and when asked what she does to stay in shape, she said she runs and does yoga! Her arms are to die for... so, to yoga I go!
I went to my first class yesterday at Charm City Yoga in Towson. I got a deal on Livingsocial.com, which is a lot like Groupon if you've ever used that site. Basically there's a different "deal" around Baltimore every day, and if enough people agree to buy the deal then the vendor agrees to honor it. You're never locked into buying something until the vendor is, but they set a certain level of interest that has to be met before "the deal is on". Anyway, you pay for the deal through this website and then you get a printable voucher to take to the vendor. I got my running shoes that way. The deal was $40 for $80 worth of merchandise from Falls Road Running Store, so I paid $40 online to Groupon, took my voucher to FRR, and used it for $80 towards my running shoes. I've also bought deals for Ben to play golf, one for a restaurant, and this one for yoga. The yoga deal was $20 for an unlimited one-month membership (which is normally a $40 deal for new students, or $109 if you're not a new student!). Classes are $15 a pop, so I got a pretty amazing deal - $20 for as much yoga as I can stand for a month! Anyway, you should all join Groupon and LivingSocial to get deals in your area - totally worth it. They're usually REALLY good deals (like 50% off or more). Those links might take you to the Baltimore pages, so if you're not from around these parts be sure to change it so you get the right e-mails!
Anyway, back to yoga. LOVED IT. It's just what you need, no matter who you are. You need to be still and quiet sometimes, and it feels incredible to JUST BE for a little while. Stress-relieving, relaxing, good for the mind and the soul. Everyone should try it, at least once. I am NOT flexible either (I can't touch my toes, I'll admit it). Just go to a beginner class where no one expects you to bend like a pretzel and you'll be fine. That's what I did :] Anyway, at the beginner level it's not necessarily a sweaty workout (unless you do a hot class, where they heat the room to 85 or 90 degrees for deeper stretching and a more cleansing - read: sweaty - workout). But it does get you stretching your entire body and it works just about every muscle group you can imagine (and some you didn't know you had!). I'm sore today! I think it's going to be a perfect toning workout, and I suspect it's where Candice gets her beautiful lean arms ;] There's a lot of holding of poses, which requires you to engage certain muscle groups for extended periods, and that's where the "workout" comes into play.
It's also a perfect time to be still, meditate, and listen for God's still small voice in your life. You don't have to be Buddhist or Hindu to reap the spiritual benefits of yoga - it is what you make of it. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with taking time to focus on appreciating the world around you (God's creation), find more self-awareness, and get in touch with your inner thoughts, desires and feelings. If you can move beyond focusing on getting the moves right and bring some meditation and prayer into it, then it's all the better. I'm hoping that yoga becomes something that I do for myself, that I wouldn't give up because it's "my time". I need something that's just mine, that's separate from my husband and my work and anything else in my life. I'm hoping that I'll not only reap some physical benefits (those toned arms, for one!), but also some emotional and spiritual benefits as well. I know it can only be good for my state of mind, and I hope that I'll eventually be able to use it as quiet time with my God as well.
And now for something completely different... I'm still working on hobby-fying my photography. Now that I have my CAMERAAAAAAAA and my fun software, I'm finally getting a chance to play around a bit. I just got a camera bag, so now I can finally feel free to take it with me everywhere, too. I have a lot to learn, I'm finding, and still more equipment that I'd like to have, but for now I have plenty to get me started. Hopefully by the time the glory of spring landscapes is upon us, I'll be prepared to capture it ;]
OH, and I'm officially an applicant to the Clinical Nurse Leader program at the University of Maryland School of Nursing :] Submitted yesterday! Too bad I have many credits of coursework to complete and transcripts to submit before they'll review it. But at least it's in. I'm taking a 4-credit statistics workshop at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in January to cover my statistics requirement. I have a $5,000/year tuition credit as part of my benefits as a Hopkins employee, plus it's very relevant to my work with the CF Twin & Sibling Study, so it's paid for (and it meets during work hours, so technically I'll be paid for going!). I'll also be taking an online 100-level psych course through CCBC (Human Growth & Development) in the winter, and two more courses in the spring (Microbiology and Nutrition, both mostly online). Thank GOD for distance learning is all I can say! I'm so glad I won't have to be spending my evenings away from my hubby to do this.
I can't believe I wrote TWO really long posts in one afternoon. Sorry about that. Everyone is at a conference in DC so there are only two of us here at work. We've been leaving the lights off and having ourselves a relaxing time :] I've been finding little odds and ends to work on here and there, but unfortunately I'm still rather dependent on the other lab tech for the bench work (I still don't know where everything is, what needs doing, how certain things are handled... it's a process). So anyway, I've had a little extra time on my hands today. You win (or not)!
Thanks for reading :] I know I'm annoyingly long-winded - you're a champ for sticking with me!
No comments:
Post a Comment