Dieting

Tomorrow I am going to start a diet. I'm actually pretty excited about it. I figure it's about time to get rid of the rest of this baby weight. I think the timing is pretty good. We have finished breastfeeding (or my version of it, i.e. pump and bottle feed), so I don't have to worry about what I'm eating affecting my supply or anything. I haven't had my checkup with the doctor yet, but I'll see her Thursday. Grace is officially 6 weeks old, so I think it's safe to resume exercising, etc.

Last week I planned out all of my meals and snacks for this week and a basic exercise schedule. Today I went and bought all my healthy food. I'm basically going to do the Body For Life (BFL) diet. I did it before we started trying to get pregnant and got into the best shape of my life (although all that hard work is gone now). The diet part should be fairly easy. I know how to do it and back when I did it before and was really motivated, I really stuck to it. The exercise part is the hard part. I have no idea how I will fit going to the gym into my schedule, especially when I go back to work. For now, I'm going to try to exercise at home. Eric bought me some Pilates videos for Christmas that I will do 3 days a week. He also bought me some weights and an exercise ball. I'm going to try to do some arm work with the weights and some other stuff with the ball the other 3 days. We'll see how it goes!

Anyway, here are my basic goals. I still have 10 pounds of baby weight to lose (I gained 2 back after we cut back on breastfeeding). I'd like to lose that by my birthday (March 1). I think if I lose at least 5, most of my clothes will fit again. Right now I can get things buttoned but my belly and love handles overflow. It's really not pretty. I still look about 4 months pregnant. If I lose 15, I could be really satisfied. Twenty pounds would get me into most of the clothes I bought during my first BFL success. Twenty-five would put me back where I was at my peak. Boy do I miss those arms and shoulders too, but I know I won't get those back until I can get serious at the gym. I'm talking an hour a day, six days a week.

Wish me luck! We'll see if I can lose those 25 pounds before it's time to start on baby #2!

Speaking of baby #1, we had another awesome night of sleep last night. Grace slept from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. until we woke her to get ready for church at 8:00 a.m. I think this Babywise thing is starting to work. We'll see if we get an all night sleep in the 7 to 9 week mark like the book says. That's only another 1 to 3 weeks. That would be a great go back to work present.