I’m still plodding along on my Plan B diet lifestyle makeover, and I’m still doing well. The first month was great. The results (losing around 2 lbs a week) were rather intoxicating, and it was easy to more or less stay on plan. I hit a bit of a slump a couple of weeks ago, and found I was having a lot of cravings, mostly for chips and cookies. My exercise dropped down to once or twice a week, and I was just feeling blah about the whole thing. I either plateaued or was up a bit, depending on the scale, but I managed to stay more or less on track. (I actually thought it might have been a little PMS, but there’s still no sign of the return of that particular nuisance. Thank goodness!)
This past weekend was my first real off-the-wagon splurge. I had pumpkin pie on Saturday, about two dinners worth of turkey and stuffing on Sunday, and then totally blew it with a pogo and fries for lunch on the run yesterday. Yanno what? I don’t really feel bad about it. Heck, ya gotta live. Well, I don’t feel bad about it emotionally. But when you go for eight weeks eating mostly whole, fresh foods and then you eat a pogo and half-serving of (really, really delicious and so worth it) french fries soaked in ketchup and malt vinegar, your stomach is so. not. impressed. Lesson learned: indulgences not only bad for scale, but bad for tummy, too. Funny how quickly your body adapts; that kind of thing would have never upset my stomach just a couple of months ago.
Back in the middle of August I went to see my GP for a handful of small concerns, including extraordinary tiredness and frustration with my inability to lose weight despite exercising three to four times a week. Coupled with my problems in producing quality milk for Lucas, I really thought I had a thyroid problem. My GP was away for the month of September, and so we set a date of early October for her to discuss the results of my blood work. It just so happened that I went to see Dr Bishop for the first time that same week, and started on the whole Plan B thing.
When I went to see her last week, I realized another huge benefit of Plan B: my energy level is back up to normal, if not better. I don’t feel that draggy, lazy, can barely be bothered to do anything feeling that I felt most of the spring and summer. My blood work came back normal for thyroid and blood sugar, but low on iron stores, so I’ll have to remember to keep taking my post-natal vitamins. But it’s good to see everything else in balance. And my GP is very happy with the weight loss.
As of Saturday morning, I’m down almost 14 pounds overall. Yay me! (I might be up one or two after this weekend, but I’m confident I can shave them off again.) I can really see a difference now, and I can feel the difference in how my clothes fit. It’s been great reclaiming clothes from my closet that I haven’t seen for a year and a half!
I still want to talk about the Plan B eating and the links with Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, but I have to clean up the breakfast dishes before Lucas wakes up! Any tips for encouraging baby to turn four or five 30-minute naps a day into one honkin’ big three hour nap?
My husband is a SAHD and has had our daughter on a 1 nap a day routine since around the time she turned 1 (she is 18 months now). They keep busy busy busy all morning, have an early lunch, and then lie down together for a long nap and usually sleep for about 3 hours. He can read or could work on a laptop next to her in bed, but she needs a warm body next to her to stay asleep for that long. Otherwise the nap is maximum 1 hour.
Don’t get him when he wakes the first time..( and subsequent times)…if you need to go in…don’t say a WORD….pat him on the back…tuck him back in and leave the room! Have music on so he doesn’t feel alone, and let him cry himself to sleep. It might feel a little cruel (pull at your heart strings) but he’s not going to suffer with a bit of crying.
(This from a mommy who had the most stubborn baby! Mine wouldn’t ‘sleep’ much during the day until my step mom took him from me and did that – then he switched to gradually lengthening naps cuz he learned real quick that even though mommy or ‘someone’ was there – he wasn’t gonna be rescued until he’d been in there a reasonable length of time….it took almost three weeks….but it was SO worth it!! He’s two and a half now and naps perfectly for two hours every day!!)
Oh and congrats on your weight loss!!!
14 lbs in 8 wks? That’s awesome, Dani – I SO wish I were there. Glad to hear your energy levels are up, too. Sounds like you’re eating well. Do you check in with the diet dr. often? Maybe mention the low iron to him/her and they may have diet suggestions to help.
Sounds like you’re doing awsome! It is amazing how quickly our body changes and gets used to the really good food! In terms of helping the baby sleep – I highly recommend baby yoga. I teach it but of course not in your neck of the woods…………my site has a ton of great info though and some great resources. http://www.kidsloveyoga.ca let me know if you have any questions!