About Me:
I'm Holley and I am 38 weeks 5 days pregnant and about to have my first child! Before pregnancy I was a healthy body weight, and ran around 20-30 miles a week. I was training for a half marathon when I found out I was pregnant and had to stop training. I am 5'3" and started pregnancy at 123 pounds. I would have liked to lost 5-8 pounds from that, but over all I was happy with my weight and body. I gained 5 pounds of water weight in the first month of pregnancy (this is before I even knew I was pregnant, I gained while eating a 1500 net/cal diet and keeping up with my running program). According to my Dr.'s office I started at 127. When adding up how much I have gained during pregnancy I count by their scales! I am now up to 190. Don't fall over, yes that is 63 pounds. I am not proud of my weight gain. In my defence I have had A LOT of swelling.
The last picture of me before pregnancy...
This is at my beautiful sister's homecoming. I miss those jeans! It will be a while before they fit again!!
The week before finding out I was pregnant. I had gained the 5pounds here and could not figure out why!
At the end of my first tri-mester I gained 10 pounds total. This is through my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Every year I gain about 5 pounds at this time of year, so I wasn't surprised (January I always work really hard and lose the weight, but of course this January was different). I continued to gain around 1.5-2 pounds a week in my second trimester until my 25 week appoinment.
The day of my 21 week appoinment. Up 20 pounds.
I hadn't weighed myself since my last appointment at 21 weeks. At this appointment my weight jumped up 15 pounds in one month! I cried. My doctor was very reassuring and encouraged me not to panic. He said the majority of it is swelling. I new some of it was swelling as my rings no longer fit, and most shoes didn't either. SOME of it was my fault. I struggled with Hypoglycemia since I was 11 and have never been able to eat sweets without a full meal, so I had rarely ate sweets at all. Well, pregnancy levelled my sugar level, and I was now able to have unlimited sweets without a headache or a sugar rise and drop. I enjoyed that....
A day or two before my 25 week appoinment. This was the last week I wore my rings. I now have them on a necklace and can't wait to get them on my hand again!
This is me today at 38 weeks 5 days and 190 pounds.
I have one pair of shoes that fit!
After that I continued gaining around 2 pounds a week, sometimes 3 depending on the heat. I cleaned my diet up some, and focused on walking (now my only exercise other than cleaning house), but the damage was done. I am now like a walking water balloon. I know that the majority of my weight gain is water. I am being tested for pre-eclempsia again tomorrow and have dealt with hypertension the last month of pregnancy. Since week 37 my weight has stabalized and even gone down on some of the cooler days we had last week.
Some of that 63 pound gain is me, and some is just how my body responds to pregnancy. At any rate the weight will GO! I WILL get my healthy body back! I CAN do it!! I am blessed to have an amazingly supportive husband! I will also be a stay at home mom, and can make fitness and health a top priority (after caring for my precious boy of course)!
One thing that pregnancy has taught me is the importance of a healthy body. I LOVE to run and pre-pregnancy was training for a half. Before pregnancy I focused more on weight, running times, and running distances. In the last nine months I have learned that over all health and just being happy with my body is more important than a number on a scale or stopwatch. I will get back to training for my half, and I WILL run one before the next baby (which at almost 39weeks pregnant I am saying will be YEARS from now! haha). Next week at the latest I will deliver my little boy and start the road to recovery and weight loss. Now, I love to plan. I believe everyone who wants to lose weight, get fit, or do anything physical needs attainable goals and a plan to get there or you will never succeed.
My Exercise Plan
I realize I won't be able to do a whole lot for the first 6 weeks. I plan on walking as soon as my body will let me. I may just start with walking to the end of the driveway and back, increasing as I go along. As soon as my Dr. gives me the go ahead to work out I plan on starting the couch to 5K program. This is an easy program that will help build me up to running again and get my cardio in. Here is the couch to 5k program. I used this back in 2010 when I started getting serious about running again and losing those college pounds.
My friend Andrea, who has recently lost some weight and is looking amazing, wants me to do a fit camp with her. I think this is a great idea. Having some one guide me those few months back to working out will help me not over do. Plus, having a friend to do it all with will give me the encouragment that I need.
The fit camp is a 6 week camp (I think), and after that the real work will begin. I want to do the Insanity work outs. I have talked to a lot of moms with blogs and online who have used this to lose the baby weight and it has done wonders for them. I will consider Insanity a 'cardio' and probably supplement it for the running for a while. It is a 60 day program.
After that 60 days hopefully alot of the weight will have gone. I am sure I will still have some to go though! This is where my program that I will use until time to train for a race (I won't train for a race over a 5k until my boy is around 9 months). I will run anywhere from 10-15 miles a week (this will be mostly for fun/stress relief), I will also still use some of the Insanity workouts for cardio (as well as a few other DVD's I have, just so I get it in with a baby to care for). I will also begin doing weight training. This is something I have never focused on before, but plan to really focus on now. Caleb (my husband) has a plan that he said should work for women as well, and I have some time between now and then to set up a good weight training program. I will probably do weight training 3-4 days a week and cardio 4-5 days a week, working around a baby schedule.
My Healthy Eating Plan
As soon as Clayton is out of my tummy and in my arms, I will start improving my diet. Carbs will be out unless they are whole grain. Sweets will be gone unless its a VERY special occasion, and even then in small portions. I will have protien with every meal, but no more than a fist size (to bad I can't use my swollen hand size now! Haha!). Veggies and fruits will be unlimited amount and make up the majority of my diet. I plan to focus on my meals and add in 2-3 snacks a day, counting in for those extra calories burned via breastfeeding. I am thinking my normal meal day will look like this:
Breakfast:
Whole Grain Oatmeal with blue berries and peanut butter. A banana or an apple.
or
1 whole egg and egg white spinach and turkey bacon omlett. With a banana, apple, or orange. I may even try to start liking grapfruit.
Snack 1:
Carrots sticks, celery, broccolli (if I can while breast feeding), cauliflower, or any veggie
Lunch:
Fish, chicken, or turkey, with veggies of some sort. A fruit for "desert". Yummy watermelon, cantelope, or peaches!
Snack 2:
Frozen Yogurt treats (pinterest recipes), smoothie with yogurt, celery and peanut butter, almonds,
cashews or other nuts (basically trying to get in protien).
Extra: After a workout I will have 8oz of chocolate milk.
Supper:
I will have whatever beef I cook for Caleb (a healthy verision of course), and a veggie and/or fruit. Portion control is key here. I may also make some whole-wheat pastas and other 'normal' foods with a healthy twist.
Snack 3:
Again focusing on getting a good protien.
If at any time day or night I get a ravenous appetite, I will eat a fruit or veggie. I want to try to do this without counting calories. Hopefully it will work, but if my weight loss stalls I will start counting again (I have counted calories for the last 2 years up until I got pregnant).
Why I am blogging:
I am blogging my pregnancy weight loss journey for accountability and hopefully one day for encouragement for others. As scary as it is for me to post my weight right now, I know how alone I felt when I topped over 40-45 pounds of weight gain during pregnancy. I want other women to know that your not alone if you gain more than the 'reccommended' weight. I also hope, months from now, that I can be an inspiration for others. Plus, if I am blogging my loss, I will think twice before eating that mac & cheese or skipping that workout.
What I will be blogging:
I will blog my progress of course. Tips, and things that helps me. Quotes and motivational things that drive me. As well as healthy recipes and workouts that I do.
My ultimate goal:
To have a healthy body. I want to be at a healthy weight. I would like to be at least back to 125 in 9 months. Overall I just want to be a good example of health and fitness for my son!
If you decide to join me on this journey. Welcome! This won't be an overnight thing, but an ongoing journey. I probably will not post for the next few weeks as I will be a little busy. I am being induced on the 21st of June. I will not weigh myself until two weeks after my boy is born to give my body time to start losing the swelling. My first weight loss blog will probably be around then. I wanted to do this blog while I had the time (I have plenty of time right now as I am on bedrest).
