I Hit A Wall

My son is now 3 months old and I'm trying my best to keep up with the demands of being a housewife, mommy, and a teacher, while getting back in physical shape.  I'm totally committed to pushing myself back to healthy, but my schedule is so unrelenting.  I've been really good about carb counting because I had to do it when I had gestational diabetes.  I'm shedding off pounds with breastfeeding and being in constant motion.

Just last week I had another check-up with my endocrinologist.  When she saw how I gained 30 lbs. then lost it, she praised me for my efforts.  Normally she would get gestational diabetic moms who would gain as much as 50-60 lbs.  She was very happy to see me back at the office with a net loss of 36 lbs.  I'm pretty happy about that too.  So I treated myself to a brand new red iPod nano as a reward. 

But since then I hit a wall.  No matter what I do, I look at the scale and nothing has changed for 2 weeks.  Neither gaining nor losing.  It's frustrating me.  I went back to my endocrinologist and she made a blood draw to check for hypothyroidism.  I read about the symptoms of hypothyroidism.  It can develop during or after pregnancy.  Some of those symptoms matched what I've been feeling perfectly.  I just thought I'm doomed to be a walking zombie because I've aged, I have two small kids, and my schedule is tight with no wiggle room to decompress.  I thought that the high blood pressure that runs in my family is something normal.  I thought the stress and lack of sleep is just a part of life in being a normal parent.  But it's not. 

So at the doctor's office, I had a couple viles of blood taken from my vein...AGAIN.  Hoping it's not hypothyroidism.  I'll find out about the lab results tomorrow.

There's Nothing Wrong With Walking

Walking is the most basic movement of all.  Best of all, it's a low impact exercise. 

When I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my 5th month of pregnancy, I was advised by my endocrinologist and dietician to walk everyday.  That's what I tried to do!  I couldn't walk everyday, but I tried to walk even in shopping malls, grocery store aisles, and inside Target.  Early mornings, my mom and I would push Maddy around in the her stroller and we would go around Veteran's Park, Caroldale Elementary and pass by Stephen White Junior High.  Even the 15 to 20 minutes of brisk walking did a wonderful 25 to 30 point drop to my glucose level.  Walking isn't so much of a weight loss exercise, but it did help me avoid weight gain while I was pregnant with Nick.  Walking also helped me to avoid becoming stuck with diabetes permanently.

I've been reminding myself to walk a brisker pace at work and to park the car further away from the school entrance to force myself to walk a little more.  There's nothing wrong with walking.

Early Morning Wake Up Call

I had the Monday to celebrate Labor Day Weekend, then I started off the school year waking up by 4:30am to work out at my very own living room. Maddy's soft, cushy playmat that I bought from a Korean grocery store became my workout space.  Imagine a thicker yoga mat, only about 10 feet longer and wider!  Just perfect!  I haven't worked out ever since I became pregnant with Nick, so just imagine how dusty my pair of 5 lbs. handweights became while sitting on the bottom shelf of our book case.

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD is what I've been working out to.  I know that all that P90X stuff is really popular right now, but I'm very happy with my 20 minutes of circuit exercising.  Cardio.  Strength.  Abs.  Very intense and disgustingly hard, and this is just Stage 1!  I could not even do a regular push-up.  Instead I modified it to the knees...girl push-up way!  By the middle of the workout, I could not help but grunt and pant for air.  Thank goodness I can grunt and pant in the privacy of my own living room, as opposed to doing this in a gym around everyone else.  I don't care what the neighbors are thinking.  The important thing is that I didn't quit.  You don't just wake up at 4:30am to be a quitter!  It hurts to wake up that early, and so your mind tells you to push very hard to make every movement count. 

Gotta get off the computer!  It's making me fat.

Something New

The hardest thing about writing a noteworthy piece is keeping it real.  I'm inspired to write a diary about my weight loss and disciplining my entire self back to shape.