14 weeks and 4 days... Eating...

I got a date for my next ultrasound today: April 26th! I can't wait. That's when I will probably find out if it's a boy or a girl...

What I've been eating: I have been eating a very 'varied' diet lately that includes anything from McDonald's Chicken McNuggets to quinoa salads. I have tried to include more vegetables in my diet, as recommended, but I find that the veggies I usually go to and love I currently do not enjoy (nice way to say that just thinking about them makes me gag...) Things like broccoli for instance, that I used to love... now? ewwwww! :) I basically stick to tomatoes and cucumber for now. I am however, having lots more fruit - kiwis, apples, bananas, grapes, watermelon, strawberries... Fruit is great and easy and makes fabulous snacks!

A thing I realized is protein seems to help with my nausea. So I've pretty much had my favorite quinoa salad for lunch most days of the week at work for the last 4-5 weeks - it's really yummy and I can feel it helps my nausea pretty quickly. And it's got a pretty decent amount of protein in it!
















I've also had lots of hard boiled eggs, and I eat lots of dairy products for calcium and protein also... I drink lots of skim milk, have some cheese (not soft cheeses though, as apparently some of them are 'dangerous'...) lots of low fat yogurt...

I have the occasional granola bar here and there...

I read in a few places that carbs and/or whole grains helped nausea - well not for me! I started trying to calm it down with some whole grains and crackers and felt miserable - I felt full all the time, but I was still hungry, still had nausea, and couldn't eat any more... I literally had to force myself to eat, it was not pretty... I didn't want to eat anymore... never thought I would ever say that! :)

So for weekday lunches and snacks I'm doing ok - it's the evening meals that are more challenging - a combination of the evening being my worst nausea time and the long drive home which means waiting to eat for a long time - it all makes it extra miserable. Having to prep dinner with all the odors and the hunger and the nausea, not good... So I've resorted to eating from the 'drive-thru' more than a few times. The idea that I only need to wait 5 minutes and it's ready to eat and warm - it's just heaven... I try to get the healthier options on the menu, the ones I am used to - like the grilled chicken burger at Harvey's, and some salads at Wendy's and McDonald's... but sometimes I just feel like fries and chicken McNuggets - what can I say! :) I think that so long as it's in the mix along with a lot of other healthier meals, it can't be that bad...

Quantity-wise, I am not limiting my intake anymore, the way I used to when I counted points, but I try and go for the healthier things when I eat more. I'm definitely not doing the 'eating for two' thing. They say you only need about 300 extra calories a day. I have quickly realized that I am used to a certain quantity of food a day - but a quantity that is meant for weight loss - I have been on weight watchers for so long! 300 extra calories are on top of a much higher number of calories than what I am used to... something like 2000-2300 (Angie All the Way explained it well in her post on Feb. 8th - did you know she was pregnant as well?! :) So yeah - I think I am eating within the range, but I have not been counting - I figure if I keep eating as healthy as possible, then everything should be A-Ok...

Thanks for your comments/ideas ladies, that helps a lot!!! :)

next up - exercises!

So I'm pregnant...

It doesn't feel really 'real' yet - well, except for the nausea and the heartburn and the weight gain... I have not 'clicked' yet - realized that this is really happening...

I waited to tell everyone until I was safely past the first trimester, the risk of miscarriage is really low as you get to the 2nd trimester... I was very scared to tell my work people, very anxious, as I am finishing a contract at the end of April, and my upcoming contract would keep me busy from the end of April until the end of February. Knowing that I will only be able to work for 4-5 of the 10 months of this contract, I was putting myself in a position where my employers might want to just hire someone else who would be able to just do the full 10 months... Anyways... There really hasn't been that much talk about 'details' yet, but they have given me enough indication that this contract was mine and I felt confident enough to go ahead and let them know... I just couldn't afford not to work starting in April. Not with a baby on the way - oy...

As for health and baby development - I think things are going ok - normal anyways... I am 14 weeks and 3 days along today, and I feel pretty miserable physically, but have high hopes that things will become easier in the 2nd trimester... I think this pregnancy will have changed the way I see food forever - My Oh My!!! I have been suffering from pretty intense 24hr nausea (I am medicated now and don't feel as bad- but I can still feel nausea a few times during the day...) Things I used to crave are now making me gag... and the only way to help it go away is eating... so I've piled up about 14 lbs so far. Yup I'm at 171lbs already. phew!

I have done very little exercise so far - I really need to improve on this. But I just feel so bad all day... I have good intentions of starting... any time now... any time...now... yeah... :)

I don't really have crazy cravings or anything like that - at least not yet - just things I can not think about or see without gagging... :) I tried to avoid reading some of my favorite food blogs because of that... it was tough! :) What's the worst is that you know that eating will help, so you try to plan what you could eat in you head, but then that makes you nauseous... ugh... a big challenge! I can't remember what it feels like to not have nausea every day anymore, I can't wait until it's all a thing of the past... :)

I'm sporting a little belly, and am already wearing some maternity clothes. Oooo maternity clothes are so comfortable!!!

I can't wait for the next ultrasound (should be in 4-6 weeks) where I get to possibly find out if it's a boy or a girl. I know a lot of people are into finding out at birth, but I just can't wait to find out!

I'll keep you posted... What would you like me to write about - do you have any questions? I'm a bit rusty, I think it'll take me a few posts to get back to my blogging rhythm - getting your feedback will help :)

I shall return...

I let my work people know about what's going on today, so I am free to reveal why I have not blogged for the last 3 months:


see you back here soon...

In the right direction...

translated from my french blog


I lost 0.2 lbs this week! So I am down to 157.0 lbs.

After a stellar week (that week I lost 0.6lbs) I had a pretty poor week where I didn't count anything at all. So I am pretty lucky to see a loss... But I don't worry about it too much - there are weeks where I am 'good' and I make an effort with WW, and there are weeks where I lose track and start eating like there won't ever be any more food in the world...

The important thing is not giving up at the first sign of difficulty, but rather to move on and start making better decisions now. In the end, the important thing is that there are more good weeks than bad weeks...

I decided to subscribe to that web clinic from the running room... It's a bit overwhelming, but I think I'm on to something... They give you a schedule to follow like the amount of km to run on what day of the week and everything... The goal is to gradually build up to being able to run a 10k - to complete a 10k, no matter how long it takes to run it... They have a lot of info online and it's really interesting...

I meant to say that the idea came to me when I read about Laura's experience, she did the 'in person' clinic and she wrote about it on her blog and I found it incredbly inspiring. She writes so well... It's thanks to her that I looked into the clinic in the first place, so Thank you Laura! :)

My sister came over from Montreal this weekend, and it was nice. She came with her friend and we all had lots of fun. It was nice to see my little sister!!! :)

The calm before the storm...

translated from my french blog

I'm at work right now and I know that my afternoon will be slightly unpleasant and busy - so I am fully enjoying the last few minutes of calm before 1pm - that's when my first screening of 2010 will start! I'm having a leisurely lunch while reading some blogs :)

I did well yesterday - points-wise I did good! I replaced my potential evening snack with a slightly bigger portion of the dinner meal, and an extra glass of juice. I didn't even feel hungry later in the evening - wasn't even tempted to eat more! I ended up using 25 points - not too bad!

I have to say that I have a new distraction/addiction at home: Little Big Planet. Man! this game is fun! - S and I play together which is a plus... I find the game so beautiful - so cute! :) OK, it's not exactly the most 'active' activity I could do, but it does help keeping me distracted from snacks...

Today I 'pre-counted' my points for breakfast and lunch, which should help a lot. I know what I will have for dinner already and, while I have not counted it yet, I know it is pretty points friendly and so long as I 'measure' my servings properly, I should be A-OK on the points side today!

I'm thinking of maybe subscribing to a 'web clinic' from the running room, the 10k clinic. I don't know if it's a good idea? I have a feeling that if I pay for it I will feel the pressure and will find the motivation to train 'for real' ;) I'll think about it more seriously and get more info and I'll let you know!

Again And Again...

translated from my french blog

Yup, that's right - 'twas the holiday season and I had a fun and lazy time :) Fell off track so much that I must consider this week as yet another 'new start'. But, let's not waist any time thinking about what was done wrong - let's move forward instead, yes? :)

Weigh In, Monday, January 4th, 2010: 157.8lbs

I 'pre-counted' my points for the day and I'm at 23 (I have a budget of 21 pts a day, so I borrowed 2 from my weekly pts...)

Now, let's face it. With the plans I made for dinner, hunger is definately going to come and haunt me some time in the evening and therefore more pts will potentially be consumed. Here's what I plan to do to minimize the damage:


to do - vacuum around the house
to do - exercise with the Wii or my Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred DVD

to eat - heat up some frozen veggies (0 pts)
to eat - half a 'Smart Pop' pop corn (2 pts)

to avoid - chocolate!


Running


I have thought about it a lot over the holidays and decided that I really like running - even if, except on the soccer pitch, I have not run at all since Oct. 17th for the Zoo Run. So, to motivate myself, I registered to 2 races for 2010:

• The Harry Rosen 8k - April 3rd 2010
• The Ottawa Race Weekend 10k - May 29th 2010

Two races that I am really excited about: S will run the 8k with me - wheeeee! - and the Ottawa race is - well, in Ottawa!!! :) Last time I went to Ottawa was in 1992 or 1993 I think? I can't even remember - so looking forward to it!

Anything interesting to do there? Will any of you be at the race? A good sushi restaurant to recommend? ;)

I think it's really going to be a great experience, and running a 10k is a goal that I am really looking forward to reach. In the meantime now I have some serious training to do! No choice! :)

In June I plan to also do the Pride Run - which will bring me 'full circle' - it was my very first time running a race ever last year, and it really was the most fun! :) And I will finally get to 'correct my route mistake' - ha ha ha - phew! :)

Dropping the ball - and not just in NYC! :)

Hi there!

I just thought I would check in and say hi - boy have I 'dropped the ball' on my blogs recently - and my health as well... I need to find my focus again... I am positive that I will find it...

I have gained a lot of weight recently - funny how it comes back on so quick! as of the last time I weighted myself - I read 157lbs... phew! The positive in all this is I am really observing what I do when I eat my way into gaining weight, and I work towards understanding what's going on and how to adjust... I pay attention to how I eat and how I feel... Most often I have the alarm in my head that goes 'watch out, this is expensive in points, avoid it or have very little...' followed by 'oh I'll have just a little' and then 'this is so good I want mooooore'. And then I usually end up eating the remainder of the box.

I find my over eating often comes in the form of boredom/treat eating, or un-prepared eating... that's my weak spot. I have to PLAN PLAN PLAN! I really struggle with that. As for boredom/treat eating, I need to find something to do instead of eating. Or at least, prepare something healthy to snack on - cut up bell peppers or something... But ideally, something that involves moving around would be best!

For 2010, I want to work on planning my meals and making exercise a better part of my routine.

I also have to think hard about my work as my contract/project ends in about 6 months... I am always debating about continuing to work hard at it and keep working in my field, or just plain changing careers...

I often remember the words of Larry David (co-creator of Seinfeld) when I think of my work, he said that when the show started he had trouble writing it, that writing it felt like an impossible amount of work. When the show got picked up and he was asked to write 22 episodes he thought - there is NO WAY I can write any more of these - it's impossible, it's way too difficult, way too stressful! Yet, he went on to write several seasons.

I often feel that way about my work - like there is no way I can survive working through X amount of episodes. But I always end up somehow finishing it... which is just so unbelievable to me. Anyways, it's very stressful and at the very least, if I continue to work in my industry, I need to find a better way to deal with that stress. Because it is far from being healthy... I can say though that I have done a lot of progress in that realm this year - I started off the year with physical signs of being stress non-stop, and ended up the year far more relaxed about the whole thing, mostly through internal dialog in the lines of 'calm down, do what you can, one thing at a time' I tried to stop the 'panic' before it happened by making sure I 'decided' to keep positive about difficult situations, taking on the many challenges while trying to stay calm.

Biggest thing I realized was - you are the one who decides how you react to things with 'panic' and there is no need for that. It's not the people around you who are making this stressful, it's you. Keep positive. One thing at a time. Easy does it. Breathe in, Breathe out...

I am not saying this quite the way I would like to - but hopefully it makes sense...

ok, I better start some work around the house now!

Have a happy new year guys!!

HAPPY 2010!!!!!!!!!

Week 2 - 155.2 lbs (+0.8)

translated from my french blog

The negative part:
I was 'on plan' for the first 2 days of the week, and then I 'lost track'.
I managed to eat 50 points I didn't have!

The positive part:
I was 'on plan' for 2 days!
I used my e-tool and tracked for 5 days!

My goals this week:
Continue to plan ahead (I think that goal will stick around for a while - it will be on the list until I succeed!:)
Continue to track with e-tool, everyday!


Idea to solve one of my recurring problems:
instead of hunting for a snack in my cupboards whenever I feel like one, I should prep myself some veggies or fruits to snack on - if I don't have any in the house: go out and buy some!!!


Today's plan (Monday)

Breakfast: Corn Bran cereal and skim milk.
Lunch: Mexican Rice WW Smart One (frozen meal). Some asparagus.
PM Snack: Activia Yogurt and a WW Chocolate Chip 1 point cookie.
Dinner: Home made beef Chili, a serving of corn chips to go with it. A Glass of low sodium v8.

should not have had: 4 caramel candy thingys at work and a pastry/dessert when our neighbors came over for a visit this evening.

Plan for Tuesday:

Breakfast: Corn Bran cereal and skim milk.
Lunch: Mexican Rice WW Smart One (frozen meal). Some fresh cut melons.
PM Snack: Activia Yogurt (I forgot to bring a cookie! but I'm not too hungry so far...)
Dinner: Some leftover home made beef Chili, a serving of corn chips to go with it. A Glass of low sodium v8.



Have a nice evening!