Bikini Body

I have my bikini body back.  FINALLY.  That said, I didn't exactly have the greatest bikini body before I got pregnant, and that hasn't changed, but I think I can say that I look almost as good in a bikini NOW as I did THEN ("then" being before Ironman gave me a set of six-pack abs...I doubt we will ever see those puppies again).

So, I guess that's really the best I can hope for.

Before Ironman training (in 2009), I weighed about 143 pounds.  That's a size 10 and on the high end of the BMI scale.  My dearm goal was to get down to a size 8...I've NEVER been a size 8.  Not even in high school when I was a skinny minny. 

Alas, Ironman training began and while I got VERY toned, I did not lose a single pound, nor drop a single inch.  I had rock hard abs, could do 100 push ups, and about a million V-ups before collapsing, but I didn't lose a single pound or a single inch.  I was still a size 10.

After Ironman, I started seeing some doctors because that's just not normal.  I was diagnosed with PCOS.  In short, there is a fat girl version and a skinny girl version.  I had the fat girl version and the only reason I didn't weigh 400lbs is because I was training for an Ironman and making healthy food choices.  I began getting treated for insulin resistance with a medication called Metformin which initially made me want to hurl, but once I got regulated on it, I felt amazing and the weight started dropping off.  In the summer of 2010, I was the skinniest I have been since mid-high school - 136 pounds - but still a solid size 10. 

Those effing pants!!  Makes me crazy.  Luckily, my husband likes a girl with some hips.  But really I think he just says that because he doesn't want to buy me all new pants.

Then I got pregnant.  My pre-pregnancy weight was 136 pounds (but I consider my REAL pre-pregnancy weight to be about 143).  By the end of those 40 weeks, I had grown to a solid 177 pounds.  I weighed more than Tommy (but he was training for Ironman and therefore at his optimal race weight, soooo, I tried not to dwell on it).

I was told that breastfeeding would make the weight melt off. 

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA.

Breastfeeding made me want to become a cannibal because then there would ALWAYS be food available to me.  Breastfeeding made me the hungriest person in the world.  I would have beaten some starving Ethiopians for their dinner.  Seriously.  I would wake up 2-3 times a night, RAVENOUS, and eat a few slices of pizza or a few bowls of cereal or whatever (a couple of timese a night).  I kept snacks next to my boppie because while I was feeding Anna I would sometimes get so hungry I would cry.  Not to be rude, but you can't lose weight if you are eating 124 large pizzas a day.  I'm just saying.  And I'm telling you that I was NEVER full.  Ever. 

Then I stopped breastfeeding. And while I had developed some terrible habits (McDonald's Chicken Biscuit anyone??), I was no longer starving and was able to at least ATTEMPT to make good choices.  But bad habits are hard to break and it's been tough going.  I was finally able to control my hunger.  THANK GOODNESS.

Getting into the routine of work, baby, working out, preparing meals made a huge difference for me and I started seeing some results. 

By Christmas, I was down to 146 pounds.I made a new years resolution that in 10 weeks, I would lose 10 pounds. 10 weeks just also happens to be my birthday and the start of summer (here in Texas).  That's 1 pound a week for 10 weeks.  I'm 4 weeks in and have lost 4 pounds, but I know these last 6 pounds are going to be the hardest...since I was never able to lose them before. 

But I'm gonna try!!

And finally, today, when I looked in the mirror, I wasn't repulsed by what I saw.  142 pounds of me wasn't gross.  My boobs were a little saggier (but they are so microscopically small, that it don't really matter), and my belly is flabbier, but overall, I'm about back to where I was before the Ironman.  I wore a bikini then, so I can wear a bikini now.  Can't say that I will rock it, but you probably won't vomit.

At 6:30AM this morning, in 50 degree weather, I put on my bikini just to be sure.  Lo and behold, it wasn't too bad.

6 more pounds to lose.  6 more packs of abs to find.  I can do it.

Nothing New.

I'll be brief. (HAHAHAHAHAHA)

Nothing exciting is happening here.  We spent Christmas with my family and then had 5 glorious days at home with just the three of us.  We relaxed, we played, it was magical.  I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that the holidays are a whole year away.  The pain.  It was a seriously fabulous time - we NEVER have relaxing time at home - and even though we were all sick as dogs ( I spend one full day at the doc-in-a-box and at an actual doctors office), it was still magical.  THAT'S how badly we all needed a vacation.

Nonetheless, a few updates:

We are considering moving.  It's been a long time in the making, but now we are actually thinking about moving.  We need a little more space (currently in 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and no yard)...and we really want a pool.  We are still trying to wrap our brains around moving to the 'burbs, but it's looking more and more likely every day.  We found a house that had the most AMAZING backyard - gorgeous pool, overlooking a little subdivision pond - but we didn't put in an offer fast enough.  Drat!!  And now, having seen THAT backyard, we are all snobby and are like, "well, THAT one isn't on a lake, so phooey".  Yeah.  Now we have this bizarre "it must be on a lake" requirement that we didn't even know could exist before. Nonetheless, we are on the hunt and are getting prepared to put out house on the market at any given moment.  Our biggest issue is that we work on opposite ends of town, so figuring out the commute is going to be a huge mess.  Alas, we will find something wonderful...someday.  And we are secretly hoping that other sale falls through so we can just have that one and have a pool for the summer.  Hahaha.  Fingers crossed!!

Anna has started to really babble.  In a scratchy animal voice.  It's like she permanently has a "smelly cat voice".  All the time.  I'm pretty sure that is going to be her permanent voice. 

3 Bath Days:

• The other day, she grabbed the pepper shaker off the coffee table (because yes, we eat at the coffee table)...and coated herself in it.  She was sneezing and coughing and it was fairly comical.  It ended up being a 3 bath day.
• On the drive home from my parents house for Christmas...we had the car loaded with us, Anna, the 2 80lb dogs, our luggage for a week and some Christmas presents...and Anna had a blowout.  We only had one wipe left from the trip and no clean clothes (well, there were clean clothes, but who knows where they were in the car).  She was naked and fairly well coated in terd for the next 3 hours of car drive.  That's good parenting right there.

And speaking of good parenting:

• We learned that if we play Rock Band, she will be mesmerized for at least an hour (probably longer, but we are kind of out of shape).  Between the lights and music on the TV, Tommy singing and dancing and my banging on the drums, it's like Baby Valium.  Not sure why we didn't think of this before. 
• So, I bought her some shoes...and I put them on her for our trip to the zoo on Saturday.  And I kept wondering why one seemed almost too big, but the other was WAY too tight.  I was starting to get concerned about her freakishly different sized feet.  Well, I was freaked out until Tommy pointed out that I hadn't taken the paper out of the toe of one shoe.  Ooops. 

Clapping because wearing Christmas jammies in January is awesome!

Horrified of this new toy.

Grammy and Anna

Great Grandma, her grandson, and his daughter!

From the wedding we went to in Mexico

I did not approve this photo.

The olympic trials for the marathon were in town this weekend, so we gathered up our running buddies, some champagne and a portable heater and settled in for the duration.  Luckily, at the olympic trials for the marathon, the duration is only about 2.5 hours.  They are pussies.  Real athletes can run at full speed for 5 hours.  Srsly.  I'd like to see them do that.  Ha.  But it was a wonderful morning spent with friends and then an even more enjoyable afternoon at the zoo...I love Houston in January.  We MEANT to wake up to see the marathon (which was the next day) but we slept in instead...wise choice.  I've lived in Houston for 8 years and this was the first time I didn't participate in the race...it felt wierd, yet oddly relaxing. 

My training has been total crap, but my New Years Resolution is to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks (which happens to conveniently coincide with my 31st birthday), so my race training is being put on the backburner and I am focusing on eating right, lifting weights and getting toned and stronger.  I'm still biking and running, but only for like 30-45 minutes at a time to make room for weights.  We will see.  I'm still planning to race a 5k in February, a 10k in March and a sprint tri in April, but it will all depend on how my training goes.  Wish me luck!!