Friday Update: We're switching to Sundays!

Steve now has two jobs, and it looks like Fridays might be prohibitively busy, so I am going to switch the big weekly update to Sundays, which is the day I have to write O4L reports anyway.  (I write these reports--I think O4L stands for Opportunities for Learning?--for Bailey's "school."  Then I post the gist of the reports over at my other blog, So... What Do You DO All Day?  Which reminds me, I need to post last Sunday's report!)

Anyway, no report today.  See you Sunday!

Can't type. Baby too busy!

I've been mostly offline for a few days now.  Ocean is pulling up on furniture now, so Steve and I decided to move the living room around to give him more room to play, and less opportunity to get into things he shouldn't be getting into.

What a job!  But the results are fantastic.  I had no idea our living room could seem so big, and we didn't even have to get rid of any furniture.

As for weight loss, I was gaining weight for a couple days there, and feeling kind of discouraged.  I had been working out everday (doing Turbo Jam and Wii Fit), and I'm still not eating very much, so I couldn't understand where the weight was coming from.  Then finally I lost a couple pounds all at once.  Yay!  Since then it has been a steady decline.

I've been off the exercise wagon for a couple days though.  I hurt my body moving all of our ridiculously heavy furniture.

Anyway, I'm back online now.  That is all.  :P

Friday update: Clothes are fitting better, or... worse. But looser!

I am finally on the mend!  A couple days ago I had a homemade hamburger and some apple pie à la mode.  Then yesterday I had it again (leftovers).  That's two days in a row with no, uh, issues.  Yay!  That bit of celebratory eating made me gain a little bit of weight from my low of 175-ish (that was earlier in the week) but whatever.  I still lost nearly a pound since last Friday.

Steve and I have both noticed that our clothes are looser.  But the best news for me is that I have lost 1.75" on my waist this week!  (Yeah, I know I said I woudn't count quarter inches... screw that!)  And the best news for Steve is that he has lost 3 lbs. this week!  We can see the weight loss in each other, too.

You know what''s really weird?  I'm enjoying exercise.  I am someone who has not been in shape since I was 9 or 10 years old.  I was super skinny til I was 22, but I was a skinny fat person.  But every day now I look forward to getting at least a little bit of a workout.  Some days (because of having a baby who needs me 24/7) I only get 15 minutes in, but other days I get nearly an hour.

Anyway, on to the weekly statistics. . .

STATS for January 29, 2010:

Bevin weighs 176.8 lbs. (down 0.9 lbs. from last week.)

Steve weighs 191.4 lbs. (down 3 lbs. from last week!!!)

My measurements:

Neck: 14" (down 0.5" from last week)

Bust: 42.25" (down 0.75" from last week)

Waist: 39.25" (down (1.75" from last week!)

Hips: 42.25" (no change)

Title, title. Can't think of a title.

Let me start off by introducing yet another new blog. It's my very own Link Dump! I come across so many awesome things on the 'net and I'm worried that all my Facebook and Twitter friends are sick to death of my incessant posting, so this will be another outlet for me.

In other news, I'm still sick! I'm certainly doing a lot better, but I still can't eat very much. I calculated that today I took in a mere 1090 calories. I also worked out for 1/2 an hour today. Yikes! No wonder I'm losing weight so quickly. Oh well, at least I'm able to eat a bit of protein now.

By the way, I found two great websites about weight loss today. The author isn't out to make money, and it's good, basic information. The first is The Lose Weight Diet, and the second is a Calorie Counter. No crazy cabbage diets, no trying to sell weird herbal supplements.

There's a lot I want to write about, but it's too private, even for me. So I'll just leave it here. A nice, impersonal update. Enjoy.

By the way, here's a great picture of Bailey. When she was in Sechelt last week she got to ride a horse!

Still sick (!) and still losing weight

How can I still be sick?  Well, I saw the doctor this week and he told me that food poisoning can linger like this, so that is likely what it is.

As long as I don't eat I am fine.  I can handle toast and applesauce, the occasional banana, and a tiny bit of chicken now and then, but I can't eat very much at a time.  The other day I was out and decided to eat 2 tea biscuits and a cookie.  I won't go into the gory details, but let's just say that the drive home was almost not very pretty... (but I made it home in time thank goodness.  Oh my god, can you imagine?)

ANYWAY... I'm thrilled to report that I'm overweight!  Ha ha, of course by that I mean that my BMI has dropped below the threshold for obesity.

Steve and I have quit taking pictures every day and will now be taking them once a week on Friday, the day I post these updates.  A daily photo was a bit too ambitious for people with an infant, I think.  On the other hand, I have weighed myself on the Wii Fit almost every day this month.  I only missed one day when I was sick.  Today I managed to exercise a bit, too.

STATS for January 22, 2010:

Bevin weighs  177.7 lbs. (down 3 lbs. since last week!)
Steve weighs  194.4 lbs. (down 3 lbs. since last week!)

My measurements:
Neck 14.5" (no change)
Bust  43" (down .5")
Waist 41" (down .5")
Hips 42.25" (no change)

Why I like the Duggars

I was watching an old episode of the Duggar's TV show today (from back when they "only" had 17 kids).  They were visiting the Creation Museum, and looking at exhibits that showed Adam and Eve living at the same time as the dinosaurs.  Really, it makes my head hurt that people actually believe this crap and prevent their kids from learning about evolution.

The Duggars also have very strict rules covering everything from what their children can wear to exactly how they should behave.  And the gender roles in that family are an affront to my bad feminist self.   So why do I--an atheist, feminist, unschooling mama who believes in total freedom--like the Duggars?

They are gentle.  My goodness, the patience of that woman (Michelle)!  She is so kind and loving with her children.  By contrast I am truly a monster mom!  Even if they are spankers (which, given their other beliefs, they probably are) they are at least also gentle and kind most of the rest of the time.

They stick to their principles.  They might come at it from more of a rule-based background than an unschooler would, but they are consistent at living what their family values, and I admire that, and can learn from it.  I am quick to say that my family values living debt-free, but we are not entirely consistent in living up to that one.

They enjoy each other's company.  I love seeing close-knit families.  My family was never as close as I would have liked (though we were much closer than many other families I knew).  Seeing the Duggars interact with each other is so heart-warming for me.  I really feel sad when I hear parents say things like, "oh, thank god school starts tomorrow, I don't think I could take another minute of them being home all the time." And then they look at me like they want me to commiserate.  Well, no!  I enjoy spending time with my children, and it's nice to see that the Duggars enjoy spending time with their children, too.  All 19 of them.  Wow.

Anyway, I'm not being as articulate as I would like to be today.  It's day 9 of not being able to eat much beyond the BRAT diet, and I also haven't been sleeping well.  However, I want to keep my writing muscles working, so there you are.

In closing, a totally irrelevant picture.  I realized that the only pictures of me on this blog so far are totally crappy, and I wanted to post this one from May 2008, when I was at my thinnest in years (though still overweight by about 25 lbs.).  At the time I was growing my hair out for my wedding, too, so that explains that.

Sick or stressed?

Okay, every week I struggle with formatting the postition of these $%#ing pictures so this week here they are, right off the bat!  Also, I'm wearing the same shirt as last Friday, lol!  Now for the text...

We've slacked off on taking a picture every day since we got sick.  However, there are already enough pictures of me in pajamas this year... I don't need to add any pictures of a sick me in PJs to the mix!

Since January 1st I have lost 9 lbs! 7 lbs of this is because I have been sick since Sunday.

...But I wonder. Am I really sick, or have I just lost my appetite due to stress? Our finances are hurting really badly right now. Steve lost an entire day per week off his paycheque (we expected this after xmas, but didn't think it would be quite this soon). Considering we were barely squeaking by before we are very worried.

Steve thinks I should go back to work early, and he is also trying to get a second job to bring his total weekly hours up to 40. I was heartbroken at the possibility of going back to work in April, and was trying to think of any way to avoid that. The possibility of leaving my 7 month-old infant and returning to work now has me paralyzed with grief. And what about my Bailey-girl? How would I ever find a daycare provider for the two of them who would understand our family's principles?  Please send positive thoughts our way.  I really want to avoid having to go to work for pay.  :(  I already have the most important job in the world.

So anyway, I'm having trouble eating. And that's the only symptom I have. It doesn't seem like food poisoning or a stomach bug to me.

STATS for January 15, 2010:
Bevin weighs 180.6 lbs. (down 6 lbs since last week!)
Steve weighs 197 lbs.  (down 5 lbs since last week!)

And my measurements:

Bevin
Neck: 14.5"   no change
Bust: 43.5"    down 1"
Waist: 41.5"  down almost 1"
Hips: 42.5"    down almost 1"