Weight

I Am Shrinking And Other Randomness

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

I am officially down 22. 2lbs in just over 4 months.  Working out with my trainer 2 days a week and working hard at eating healthy and watching my calorie intake has also helped.  I hate to post about it, as I have done in the past.  Because I continually have failed in the past at keeping weight off and on reaching my long term goal.  But I am happy and proud and feel like I really am on the right track and will be at my goal weight before my 39th birthday–August 31, 2010.  I have 89.2lbs to go.  I know it is a long road and I am up for the challenge.  It has taken me a while to find a plan/way of eating that works with my super busy schedule.  I work during the day and then I have class at night–this coming semester I will have class on M/T/W nights from 5:30-8:10 and I will have to figure out how to have dinner and have it be a healthy dinner w/out having to eat out on the way–Panera and Whole Food’s hot bar are my eating on the go places of choice.

I am committed to sticking with it.  I know it is what I need to do to not only fell happier w/ myself but also what I need to do to be a healthy example for my children.  As more and more kids in this country are overweight and obese, I want to make sure that I am leading by example for my children.  I am happy that my kids will go to a school where healthy food is the norm and parents are expected to pack healthy lunches for their kids–there isn’t a cafeteria.  Parents are expected to bring in healthy snacks when it is their week for snacks.

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Babies, babies, babies are everywhere.  My cousin just had a baby and she is a doll.  I got to see her and hold her when she was all of about 12 hours old.  It really got my baby desires going.  Oh…the miracle of birth amazes me and I have moments when I am so overwrought with sadness that I have not had the opportunity/ability to gestate and grow a baby in my womb.  The ache doesn’t last long–or maybe it just dulls and I am able to ignore it–but I have moments when I want nothing more than to pregnant and push a baby out of my girlie parts.  But then, my son wakes me up at 3 am just so I can take him back to bed and I wake up a few hours later so tired that it’s to hard to even make oatmeal and I think.  Why did I wait so long to have kids?

I don’t regret the time hubby and I spent enjoying life and our marriage, but now that I am old–in terms of fertility, I wish we had started earlier–much earlier.  Because then I could have more of these…

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But now I am just too tired…

The Stuff In My Head

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

I am really out of practice these days interms of posting here and in terms of what to even write about.  I love my kids, but can only write about them so much.  I have been too busy these days to watch the news or keep up on what is going on in the world.  My life has been completely about my kids and me.  I have been working hard to make the most of our time together before I go back to work–in two weeks–and they start daycare.  It is effecting me much more than I thought it would. 

Don’t get me wrong I am so very excited about going back to work andmaking money so that we can actually afford to send Noah to the fancy private school–still sacrificing most things that we use to think were necessary–we are down to 20 tv channels and I love TV.  I am not excited about leaving my kids with someone else 4 days a week 7 hours a day.  While there is a lot about being at home all day with the kids that is hard for me, I am going to miss them so much.  For example, in the middle of this post Noah started to poop and I kept asking if he wanted to go on the potty and he didn’t, finally I convinced him and he went on the potty (for the 2nd time) and said “That wasn’t so bad.”  I will miss these moments.  There are so many small moments that I am going to miss and that totally sucks. 

But if I don’t get out and go back to work and flex my intellect I am going to go insane and will then miss a lot more moments of cuteness.  I am happy about the decision but that mom guilt is ever present and that totally sucks. I don’t want to feel guilty for going back to work but then I fell guilty that I don’t feel guilty.  What vicious cycle and it sucks that our society has conditioned us on so many levels that leaving our kids in someone else’s care is bad.  I know my kids will thrive and love the interaction of other kids–I have two of the most social kids in the world. 

I am happy to report that I have dropped my first 10lbs since starting back with my trainer and a nutrition program.  I have never felt better and am really happy that I am doing it in a very healthy way.  It’s been 6 weeks and while I would have liked it to be 12lbs for 2lbs a week of loss–but I am happy with that.  At this rate it will take me 60 weeks to lose the 100lbs I want to lose.  So, hopefully I can stick to it. 

We finally got around to planting flowers in honor of Noah and Zoë’s birthmothers.  We picked roses.  There are three rose bushes and a bird bath in the honor landscape–a rose bush for both birthmothers and a rose bush for me.  It’s a beautiful and I feel proud to have such a visible way of honoring them and one that will allow the kids to honor them and think about them.  The small pink roses are for Zoë’s birth mom and the yellowy/pink ones are for Noah’s.  Mine haven’t bloomed yet but will have big lavender blooms.  Now here are some pics of the kids from the past few days. 

Newsletters coming–I’m a total slacker.  Just found out that I earned a 100% on my big huge research proposal for my ed research class and netted a 99% in the class.  I am so happy and relieved.  Its my first 100% in grad school on a paper.  So frickin excited.

I Admit It….Sugar Really Is Evil

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

So, I have started another attempt to shed the extra 100lbs I am carrying around.  I know, I know.  Enough already.  But here it goes.  I have tried many differet programs and have only half-heartedly followed them for a few weeks here and there.  The problem was that none of them forced me to make a lot of real changes.  I need accountablity and I need real accountability.  Weight Watchers doesn’t work for me because the accountability is anonymous and you don’t have to go to a meeting–you can skip it.  Adjusting my own diet–doesn’t really work either because again no real accountability.

Three years ago I dropped just over 50lbs in 6 months on a nutrition and exercise program–I met with a nutrition counselor (he was a self-touted nutritionist–but wasn’t really) and worked out with a trainer–who was totally awesome.  After 6 months I was pretty sure I had it all figured out and as much as  I hate to admit it–I really disliked the nutrition kid.  I can call him that because at the time he was a college kid who had dropped well over 100lbs and was selling his success as something that work for everyone.  I just didn’t feel like the program was really designed for me as an individual client–but rather a one-size fits everyone who wants to lose weight.  I went back to my old habits and ended up gaining most of the weight back.

Fast forward to today and I am still unhappy and unhealthy.  So, I talked to my trainer and found out that he and another trainer were leaving the gym and opening their own private training studio.  I was eager to sign up and get back into shape.  I want to be in the best shape of my life by the time I am 40.  I still have a ways to go and some demons to confront and overcome and some hard truths to face and own up to.  I have been working out with my trainer for 3 weeks now and I have to say that he totally kicks my ass every time and its awesome.  I am working out harder than ever and have a nutrition coach that I like and who is really all about designing a food program for me.  So far, so good.  Lost 3.5lbs the first week and have more energy than ever.

Which leads me to the title of this post.  This week I haven’t had any unnatural sugar–I have had fruit, etc but no refined sugar of any kind.  Today I caved and had two small packages of fruit snacks.  I just have to say that I feel like shit.  My stomach hurts and I am feeling quite lathargic.  I really wanted to write this down because I want to remember how I feel and that 200 calories of nothing but sugar–isn’t good for anyone.

A Tad Bit Under The Weather

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

At least it is gorgeous weather today–just over 60.  It was nice to get outside with the kids and to get some sun on my pale face.  Our days around here have been pretty boring–the kids and I go to the gym in the am, we come home for lunch and naps and hang out.  It was so nice to get out today, even if I don’t feel all that great.  Getting a little bit of a cold.  I’ll survive. 

I weighed myself today at the gym and I am down a total of 7.5 pounds so far this month.  Not so bad considering I didn’t lose any weight in January. It’s amazing what you can do when you are actually honest about what you are eating.  I would have lost a little more, but I refuse to deny myself the occasional treat–hello Ted Drewes.

But I have been attempting to limit my calorie intake to 1460 calories a day.  And I have still been exercising everyday for a minimum of 30 minutes but I usually do 45-60 minutes each day of cardio.  I haven’t been doing any weight training, but will start working out with my personal trainer again in March–probably 2x per week.  That should also help the weight melt off a little faster.  It is nice to have some success–even though I fully agree that 56 days of exercise in a row is a success too. 

Here are a couple of pics of the kiddos together. 

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I Love The Lose It! App

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 4 Comments

for my iphone.  It helped me lose 4.4lbs last week.  I am so happy an amazed.  I spent the entire month of January exercising and didn’t lose a pound.  In 8 days of setting a calorie goal, charting every bite and exercises, I have shed 4.4lbs.  I am loving life. 

While I was happy just to have exercised in January, I am certainly a lot happier having shed some serious pounds. 

Here are the kids–just because they are cute

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