Getting Fit Before Baby

[BronteForever]

Do they even do fitness tests like that still? I have no clue. But yeah, some of them were always pretty ridiculous.

Becca - 21 Day fix is no where near as tough as P90X. There is 21 Day Fix Extreme which is tougher. But the 21 Day Fix they always have a "modifier" person on it as well, and I'm usually with her on a lot of the exercises. My extra weight just makes it a bit of a challenge in general. But I like the variety and it's an easy workout to get in. I love the idea of only working out for 30 minutes. Anything after that just seems intimidating sometimes.

And yeah, my husband scares me sometimes with his running and swimming. Especially the 50K. He has a heart condition and an artificial heart valve as well, which frightens me sometimes. But there's no way he will be talked out of exercising less or in moderation and his cardiologist is well aware of his training schedule. He has had to make some adjustments in his meds, but he stays on top of it. Ironically, I think supposedly contact sports are worse for heart issues and since his surgery he should be fine. But I still worry. I am glad our kids will grow up with an athletic mindset. Sports were always really important to me growing up.

 

[ireadyermind]

Bronte - You know, I'm not sure they still do! If they stopped, I'd be glad for all those poor kids who'd essentially get told they're failures for something no one ever helped them learn how to do!

Wow, I didn't know your DH had heart problems! It's awesome to hear that he can still do those marathons like he wants to, instead of being told he needs to stick to just plain walking or swimming or something.



AFM - 16 DPO this morning, no sign of AF yet. Feeling a little crampy, but bone dry otherwise. My temp did drop to almost 98.0, though - so I expect she'll be here any minute.

UNLESS my body decides to follow the same rules everyone else's does and remember that the temps are still above the cover line and therefore AF should stay away! lol FXd

 

[BronteForever]

IRYM - good luck. Hope the temp stays up. Sorry for the slight drop though.

And DH likes to tell me since his surgery and his heart valve replacement he's actually more equipped than someone with a "regular" heart to work correctly, since he's part bionic now. It's partially true but still, I think he's eventually going to have to slow down a bit on the long distances. Men...

 

[ireadyermind]

lol I bet he just likes to think of himself as the Bionic Man!


Aannddd I posted too soon. lol. AF arrived just a bit ago. VERY light and none of the major cramps I usually get, but BFN also. So this isn't just spotting that will clear up and magically turn into a BFP. Bummer!


On the other hand... Now I can finally go get my CD7 blood tests done and see where my hormones are for the endocrinologist. If I can get my hormones treated under the label of "PCOS treatment" and NOT infertility, then insurance will cover some of the bills. Huzzah! lol


Edit: So I decided to step on the scale today because I'm too anxious to wait for Monday's weigh-in, and I'm down almost two pounds since last weigh-in! Wow! I hope that's the Metformin working and not some random water weight loss! Haha

 

[BronteForever]

So sorry IRYM - that stinks. But I love your positive outlook on it and hope you manage to get the hormones tested. That will be great if they can bill it under the PCOS to cover it!

 

[ireadyermind]

I always try to find at least one good thing to look forward to every month, or else I would really just spiral down into depression. That's something I struggle with too. And it's so easy to start to think about all the things going wrong in your life..!

So I started finding things to look forward to every month when AF showed up, and now it's become a good habit.

This coming cycle, I'm going to work harder on sticking to my food limitations:
-- Under 100 net grams of carbs every day (currently around 125 - 140 the past few days)
-- Drinking plenty of water
-- Picking low GI snacks over high GI ones

If I can consistently lose 2lbs a week, I will be roughly 32lbs lighter in time for Halloween! If the Met helps me lose closer to 3lbs a week, that's even better.

I can't even imagine what it'd be like to be 50lbs lighter! Is that silly? Feeling like I've always been this heavy and will always be this heavy? I was once only slightly overweight, but the worse my hormones got, the heavier I got!

 

[beccabonny]

IRYM, sorry to hear AF has struck again! It will, however, be great to move forward with testing. NICE on the insurance loopholes, I wish you much luck on that front. I'm also excited about your WL news! I've been super bloated the last three days and am nervous about the weigh-in. We haven't been eating well or exercising due to my extra workday hours this week.

It's not at all silly to feel stuck where you are, but there's every chance you won't be! It sounds like you do a great job staying positive. Depression is difficult, I know from first hand experience.

I really admire your goals for next cycle

Bronte, lol @ bionic man! Men, seriously! Sounds like he's at least aware and educated on what he should be cautious about, though, which is great.

 

[Fern81]

Hi ladies
I've missed a lot

Hi there becca! All the best with your weight loss and ttc journey.

Swimmy- so sorry to hear about the blood sugar and gd issues, you seem to be handling it like a pro though.

Irym- sorry about AF but good news that you will finally get some decent blood tests done. Hope they can figure out the problem.

Urs- good luck with the surgery! Do they expect you to lose a certain amount of weight before surgery to prove you are committed to a lifestyle change? (Sorry if that seems like a dumb question but that's what I've seen on weight loss surgery TV shows.... just want to know if it's always the case "in real life".) If so, what are your plans? Man that is a potentially life-changing decision.

Mrstigger- gl sticking to your awesome plan!

Bronte- what are you eating protein-wise? You ideally need loads of protein... some with every meal, during ivf and after. I can just imagine how hard it is when you don't eat a lot of meat.

I'm doing terribly with my weight and fitness atm! I didn't think it would be this hard but I'm very very hungry all the time (shaky, dizzy, fainting kind of hungry) and I'm currently eating almost twice as much as I did a month ago! It doesn't help that hubby started buying me lots of sweets; no excuse I know! Exercise wise- it's winter and I'm frozen solid most of the time so getting up earlier to exercise is just not happening. Also, first trimester fatigue/laziness is a real thing!

I've already put on a shocking 2,5kg (around 5+ pounds) which is too much for 1st trimester.... way too much for my health and fitness goals. I do NOT want to struggle for the rest of my life to lose baby weight and sit with even more unnecessary flab and cellulite. My age is definitely going to make getting back into shape more difficult in any case.

Soooo I'm hoping I can force myself out of my lethargy and eat better, exercise more, and post about it for accountability it does help a lot!

Atm my goal is to stop eating sweets, eat refined carbs only once a week (if that much) and force myself to eat more veggies every day (finding veg REALLY unappetizing atm but again, that's no excuse!).

 

[BronteForever]

Fern - I'm so glad you popped back on here. I miss you and miss hearing how everything is going for you. So sorry you are struggling with some weight. It doesn't sound like you have put on too much but I know it's so hard not too worry.

I like your goals. I'm struggling with sweets right now myself. My trip sent me on a downward spiral and I haven't quite gotten back to keeping away from the pies and other sweets. Being summer here does make it a bit harder.

Hopefully you can find some time, energy, and warmth to exercise more in there. Gentle ones that are good for baby.

As far as protein, I said I normally don't eat meat but that's really what I have been trying to up in the last few months. 21 day fix has helped because I'm more mindful of getting in protein. I eat eggs and cottage cheese. But I've been adding in much more lean chicken, turkey, and even fish. I'm actually learning how to cook it. I've been a bit bad this week since I still need to go grocery shopping (on the agenda today).

Anyway so glad to hear you are mostly doing good.

Have you had ultrasounds yet?

 

[Fern81]

Sorry bronte! I misunderstood you and was wondering what do you do for protein; beans & lentils or something else? Lol I should read more carefully! Good job on making such an effort .

Yep one scan, 7 weeks, all good. Next one only when I'm 12 weeks.

 

[BronteForever]

My husband eats a ton of beans and lentils since he's vegetarian but I normally don't like the taste. So I have been trying really hard on protein. It's definetly helping me lose weight though because I just wasn't getting enough to help my body function correctly. I do know it's so important during IVF and pregnancy too.

So glad to hear the 7 week ultrasound went well. Yay! I'm still so happy for you.

 

[ireadyermind]

Fern - So good to hear from you! I can relate on being too cold to function properly during winter time. I just do not handle the cold well at all! Glad to hear your ultrasound went well.

Bronte - What about protein shake powders? They're an easy way to add a good 20g of protein to your diet every day, and if you look for "lite" or low sugar options, you'll avoid too many calories or too much sugar... It was helpful to me to add that in to my daily diet back when I was still learning how to plan out all my meals and finding stuff that worked for me.

They're easy to keep on hand, too. When I still worked retail I'd keep a cup of dry powder in my locker at work and whenever I needed it, I'd go mix in the water or milk or whatever I had on hand and drink that shake on one of my short breaks. It really helped!

You could do similar by carrying some with you in your purse, along with a bottle of water - or ask for ice water from a shop or soda vendor while you're out and about so you don't have to drink warm protein shake. lol

If you find one that tastes good to you, like a chocolate, strawberry or other flavor, then it might also curb your cravings for sweets at the same time. Bonus!

I order Muscle Milk online. They have a huuuuge selection of flavors and they're pretty good too! There are light/low cal options available too.

 

[BronteForever]

Oh I do protein shakes every morning for breakfast too. Forgot to mention that. I take Shakeology right now. I like it first thing in the morning to help keep cravings down all day. And it's easy for me to drink on my way to work. It's pretty expensive but my sister-in-law is a Beachbody coach so everytime I order she gets a bit of money. She's younger than me and had breast cancer last year so they have a ton of bills from that still. I don't feel as bad spending the money because I know she's getting some of it.

 

[swimmyj1]

Hope all my USA gals are having a good 4th weekend i have way over done the carbs today and my sugars have been crap. At least with checking my sugars it keeps me very accountable for what I am eating and how much walking i'm doing.

IRYM - i'm sorry AF got you but I'm super happy for your weight loss! I usually gain weight with AF so the fact you lost is amazing! Hopefully your right and you can keep it going, 50lbs by Oct that would be life changing can't wait to see how your labs are

Bronte - what kind of shakes do you like from that? I can never seem to find one that I can stand the taste long enough to stick with it.

Fern - So glad to hear from you! I'm sorry your feeling so poorly, have you tried sugar free hard candy? sometimes just having something to suck on but not actually eating made me feel better. However I was the opposite and was sick a lot and not hungry. Hang in there hun!

AFM - feeling super lazy, I just want to lay in a pool and do nothing. Hoping I can snap myself out of this lazy behavior, because I am putting on pounds faster than I would like. Having another ultrasound in a few weeks to check growth sense my belly is measuring big.

 

[ireadyermind]

Swimmy - Thanks! I was surprised to see the weight drop, too. Usually I bloat up around ovulation and stay bloated clear through AF, and then it comes off for a few weeks. What a nasty cycle! Messing up women's weigh-ins and making them feel defeated all the time!

If you are feeling you want to stay in the pool all day, what if you tread water or swim some easy laps? Two birds with one stone! Haha




I forgot to weigh before I ate breakfast this morning, whoops! I'll make sure to do it tomorrow morning and update my tracker page.

Meanwhile, I've been doing pretty well on food this weekend. DH and I went to a movie and dinner with friends on Saturday night. I ordered a chicken sandwich and then only ate half, and saved the other half for later. Then DH and I had a drive-thru lunch yesterday while we were out running errands, and I ordered a half chicken salad with low calorie vinaigrette dressing, instead of a burger, and had ice water instead of soda. Dinner last night was BBQ'd hotdogs, and I splurged and had hotdog buns with mine, which I never do. But we had fresh fruit as our side dish instead of things like potato or pasta salads, which are our normal 4th of July side dishes.

All in all, I'm getting better at making good choices even when they're hard. I hope to be able to keep it up.

 

[ireadyermind]

Well, back to the daily grind today gals!

How's everyone feeling? Have we all made good food choices so far today?

 

[MissDoc]

Hi ladies. I've decided I need to rejoin you all. I have made some healthy changes in that I'm consistently exercising 4 days per week (using my favorite beachbody brand program/videos). I'm having a colleague come over and do that workouts with me tue, thur, sat, and sundays so it's keeping me accountable. And I've added in lots of great and nutritious foods and am cooking dinner almost every night at home (things like lentil spinach stew, salmon burger, chicken with blackbeans and sweet potatoes, etc.). BUT I am still eating a lot of sugary and snacky junk in addition to that. Though I've adjusted some of habits, it's not helping my weight/physique because I'm still out eating any training or modifications I'm doing. Like today I had a half caff coffee with whole milk and stevia, fresh pineapple (with the core), and a Kind protein bar for breakfast. Then chicken salad with spinach and wheat roll for lunch. And am planning lentil, potato, spinach stew with wheat pita on the side for dinner. And I'll be lifting weights and doing abs this evening. BUT I've eaten 2 big bowls of ice cream. Sigh.

Soooo, now I need to take the next step and cut out or cut back on the junky stuff and stop disrupting my progress.

I haven't weighed in a while because my scale needs batteries, but I think I'm between 148-150, and my happy place is 133-138, so dropping 10-15 lbs would be great. Or if I get preggo sooner than that (which I certainly hope I do), then better eating and health will serve me well anyhow.

Actively TTC still. Currently 2 dpo. Trying pineapple, brazil nuts, and lots of leafy greens during this 2ww.

Are you ladies using any formal tracking/checking in right now, or just checking in as desired here and there? I need to get back in the mix!

 

[beccabonny]

Hi Fern! Thanks for the warm wishes. Sorry to hear about your struggles; try to not stress too hard! Everyone gains differently during pg - 5lbs may seem like a lot now, but that could slow down. Your goals sound good and very realistic Glad to hear everything is good on the scan front!

Bronte, how is it learning to cook fish? I’ve always been super-intimidated by it.

IRYM, sounds like you did great this weekend!

I’m a little bummed that I didn’t lose anything this last week, but it was a holiday weekend and I worked extra hours, so….at least I didn’t gain anything. I can focus on being healthier this week! I did well not overdoing it with beer or sweets, so that’s something.

Welcome back MissDoc! I’m checking in here once a week for now.

 

[BronteForever]

MissDoc - welcome back. Sweets are my weakness as well and I've found I just have to get rid of them all together when I'm trying to lose weight and then try to add them in a bit if I'm maintaining. I can't seem to find a happy medium as far as they are concerned. I'm fine with fruits and natural sweets, but I have to pretty much get rid of all cookies, pies, cakes, ice cream, etc. when trying to lose weight. It sucks. Good luck on your goals.

Swimmy - I like the vanilla Shakeology and I blend it with unsweetened almond milk, half a banana, small spoonful of almond butter or natural peanut butter, and ice. That's my favorite. But the vanilla allows you to mix it much easier to make more combos than any of the other flavors. I actually really like them now. I have to use almond milk though, not a fan of just water.

Becca - well I'm mostly doing shrimp or buying pre-cut and seasoned frozen fish (which probably isn't the healthiest). I don't make fish much at all, since I tend to stick with turkey and chicken. But I've been trying it. I'm not a cook, so I have to do easier stuff or it won't happen at all.

And holidays are always hard to lose stuff.

AFM - I actually maintained this week which I find fascinating, since I feel super bloated from my meds. I will take it!!

 

[drjo718]

Bronte, your egg retrieval is soon! How are things looking?