Mind on My Hiney, Hiney on My Mind

For once in my life, I have more on my mind than the scale. Well, I still think about the scale from time to time, but not nearly as often as I typically do. There's just so much more going on... the release of my novel, chasing after the baby (who at 5 months is already on the cusp of crawling... eep!), working at our expanding small business, and trying to keep up with relationships/housework. As I've been able to increase my activity I've noticed that my mood has improved. I am stressed, I don't think there is any denying that, but I am not as down in the dumps as I have been on and off since the baby was born. This week, I did start stepping on the scale again in the mornings just to see where I'm at. It started on a whim a few days ago, and I was surprised to found that I had lost a couple of pounds. This week, I've been loosing about a half pound a day and as of this morning I'm back down to 190 again. I'm a light lunch and a solid poo away from breaking into a lower weight bracket, and that is pretty damn awesome.

Cardio Dreams

I've been feeling a bit down lately... a combination of stress, not enough sleep, new parenthood and some relationship strife. My moodiness has finally crept into my dreams, so now when I am finally able to sleep, I'm still being hounded by my insecurities.

I've been dreaming a lot of my ex-husband, my in-laws (current and former) and a myriad of other people who I've lost touch with over the years. Last night's dream culminated with someone I know telling me that I've let myself go... it was probably the least happy I've been upon waking in a very long time. Rather than bury my head under the blankets though, I got up and once the baby was fed, got into a 20 minute cardio routine I found on Hulu Plus.

I sweated my cupcakes off and got the day started with enough energy and gusto to attack a couple of chores before heading into work. It isn't always easy to turn those early morning blues around, but I think I did a pretty decent job of it.

It's Aliiiive!

So, last I posted, I had finally made it through the first trimester of pregnancy. I was hopeful that things would get better (they didn't until half way through the 3rd trimester), and was looking forward to being active again.

Well, the baby arrived in May after a very long, excruciating labor. I was on restricted activities for 8 weeks, and finally at the end of July was able to go play paintball for the first time in almost a year! I survived the paintball OK, even though I had been very lethargic for nearly 11 months, and this week found a new Yoga program that I have been able to fit into my mornings three or four times this week.

I am back down to my pre-pregnancy weight already, which is a wonderful feeling. I'm doing my best to not focus on losing weight at this point because any restriction of my food intake seems to severely affect my ability to breastfeed, and we don't want that baby having issues feeding. Being active again after so many months stuck in bed or on the couch feels fantastic, and I am excited to be out in the world!