New venture! So exciting!

Throughout my entries in this blog, I've mentioned my friend Michelle numerous times We've been friends for about eight years... we originally met on a weight loss support message board, then met in person about two years after that. When we first met I was living in Oklahoma and she was living in Michigan. Then I moved to Michigan for a period of time. And now she's in New York, and I'm in Nebraska! We've been through a lot together - our friendship was originally based on weight struggles, but grew into so much more over time.


Anyhow, together, we have launched a new website, called Sangria Sisters. It's foundation is "celebrating family, friends, and health" and we plan to do just that. It'll chronicle the two of us on the path to better wellbeing (for ourselves and our families) while using different tools (Michelle's had gastric bypass surgery and I am using Weight Watchers) with the premise that no tool will fix weight problems without serious work on emotional/mental issues impacting one's relationship with food.

So, without further delay, check out these pages!

http://www.sangriasisters.com/

    -Welcome letter from me and Michelle

And of course there are already many other posts up with our recipes, daily thoughts, and more.
 
On the right sidebar of our new site there is a "subscribe via email" feature. You will need to enter your email address in and confirm it. Even if we post several times in one day, you will only receive one email.
 
I will not be blogging over here any longer as I'll be posting all of my updates over there going forward. 


I really hope you'll join me over there (all 5 of you followers!).  :) :)  Have a great day!

When is it ok?

When is it ok to accept imperfection from yourself on this journey to health and when should you expect more?  I'm struggling with this tonight. 

A little background...I'm doing the WW Walk Challenge.  They give you a training plan to help you prepare for a 5K.  I started with week 2 because week 1 had walking times that were lower than what I was already doing.  So, week 2...you are supposed to do this:
Sun-15 min
Mon-18 min
Tues-Rest
Wed - 18 min
Thurs - 20 min
Fri - Rest
Sat - 20 min

So, I had stayed right on track through today.  Here was my after work schedule today-

Pick up Baby S from daycare, rush home for an appointment at the house.  Immediately after the appt I went into the kitchen to throw together dinner and eat.  Immediately after eating (even dishes got put on hold) we needed to run to Target for some must-haves for Andy and Baby S.  Back home to feed Baby S and play with her for 30 minutes while her food settled on her belly.  Then it was time to put her to bed.  We are in the process of trying to teach her how to fall asleep on her own and if you've ever done such a thing...it is incredibly stressful.  So, by the time we finished that I was an extremely tense ball of nerves and it was already 8:40..and until I have a baby who sleeps through the night I like to aim for a 9:30 bedtime.  So, I had less than an hour before bed and I still had to make bottles and get things together for the next day.  Luckily Andy had already finished dishes and washed bottles or else I would have felt completely overwhelmed.  I had an internal debate for a few minutes about whether or not I wanted to do my 20 minutes for my WW walk.  I convinced myself to do it.  I got in my workout clothes and hopped on the treadmill.  About 4 minutes in I wanted to quit.  I pushed myself and tried all of my tricks to get through it.  I imagined all of the women I've been following in the blogosphere who are doing so amazingly well and who talk about how wonderful it feels to be lighter.  I tried reminding myself how bad I want that.  I tried visualizing myself next summer with Baby S who will then be a toddler.  I tried to visualize running with her and swimming with her at a much healthier weight.  But time seemed to take longer and longer.  I just wanted to quit.  Finally, at 10 minutes...I did.

So, now my heart is torn.  There is a part of me who thinks I should just be proud of myself for even getting on the treadmill after such a tough night.  But there's another, louder part of me who is really disappointed in myself for quitting.  I keep asking myself "how do you expect to succeed at this if you quit?" 

The thing is...I do believe that we have to learn to be forgiving and understanding of ourselves to get through this journey.  But, how do you know when you've gone from being forgiving of yourself to making excuses for yourself?  I really want to be successful at this for the first time in my life.  And I know that finding the balance between these two emotions is going to be imperative.  I'm just not sure where to start on finding that balance. 

Seriously?!?!

I really hate when people say something to you that just makes you feel awful. My beautiful little girl has decided that she no longer wants to be a good sleeper. We've been struggling for several nights now. Last night was one of the worst. She was waking up every 45 minutes. I've blogged about sleep deprivation before...it’s rough. But, I've been trying to deal with it the best I can. When I got unnecessarily snippy at my husband this morning I quickly apologized. Even though all I want to do is hit the snooze button a hundred times I’ve been getting up and taking a shower, doing my hair, doing my makeup, and trying my very best to look like a put-together professional.


So today a co-worker came by my desk and saw a picture of Baby S and commented on how cute she was. Then he asked me if she’s a good sleeper. I told him that she was doing really well, but has gotten out of her habit here recently. And he looked at me and said “yeah, I can tell by how bad you look.”. What??? Was that really necessary? It just makes me feel like “what’s the point in trying?” I could have slept in, skipped the shower, put my hair in a ponytail and come in without makeup. Then he would have seen how bad I can really look.

Of course he could have said something much more supportive like “Sorry to hear that, hope it gets better” but he chose to go with a back-handed insult instead. Grrrrrr! Some people!

Ok – rant over.

I ate WHAT?!?!

So, when KFC introduced the "Double Down" sandwich...my husband was appalled. 

"This one-of-a-kind sandwich features two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe® or Grilled), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce. This product is so meaty, there’s no room for a bun!"

The idea of eating a "sandwich" made of two fried chicken filets (you can choose grilled) with bacon and cheese seemed insane to him.  Then he read the nutritional facts out loud 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1,380 mg of sodium.  "Who would eat that?!?!" he proclaimed.  "So terrible for you!"  Being someone who has studied the heck out of fast food menus I knew that this really wasn't that bad relatively.  I told him "you know...that's not all that bad.  The main target demographic is people who are watching carbs, so they most likely won't be having fries with that.  And for a fast food meal...its really not that bad."  He looked at me like I had lost my mind.  "32 grams of fat and 1,380 mg of sodium is not that bad???"  He didn't believe me....it was obvious from his tone. Ahh...the challenge is on. :) :) :)

"Try looking up a Big Mac," I said.  Big Mac: 540 calories, 29grams of fat and 1,040 mg of sodium.  "See, about the same" I told him.  Being a man of precision (he is a mechanical engineer afterall) he informed me "well, its actually 10% less fat and 25% less sodium."  No problem....I'm still up for this challenge. 

Ok, I said "Take a look at the Whopper".  Whopper: 670 calories, 40 grams of fat, and 1,020 mg of sodium.  Hmmm....he's starting to catch on.  The KFC sandwich isn't all that bad relative to other fast food options.  So, now he was curious.  He pulled up the Triple Whopper just for kicks.  Triple Whopper: 1160 calories, 76 grams of fat, 1170 mg of sodium.  Now he was truly appalled.  "That should be illegal!!!!" he said.  "Do you really think it should be illegal?  Do you want the government telling us what we can and can't eat??"  I asked him.  He said "well...it should at least have a warning label.  Like on cigarettes.  That stuff will kill you.  Who would eat that?!?!?" 

Now I had him just where I wanted him.  Time to go in for the kill.  "Why don't you take a look at that burger you get when we go to Red Robin."  At this I took baby S in her room and to change her diaper and waited for the reaction.  And boy did I get it....I hear from the other end of the house "OH MY GOD!!!!"

Red Robin Whiskey River BBQ Burger: 1,114 calories, 69 grams of fat, and drumroll please....1,805mg of sodium

And he almost always eats this with french fries and a beer.  I cannot imagine the total calorie, fat, and sodium that we take in when we have a meal like that.    The thing is....my husband is surprisingly health concious.  He takes his lunch to work everyday and eats a cup of carrots with his lunch every single day (and takes some ribbing from some of the other guys at work for it).  He buys the reduced fat oreos for his lunch, he uses a very thin layer of peanut butter on his muffin in the morning.  When I bought my digital food scale he was more excited than I was.  He weighs his baked chips every single day and takes exactly one serving.  He does the same with the pretzels or reduced fat cheezits or walnuts he takes for his afternoon snack.  Seriously, the man takes his health seriously.  I cannot imagine how he felt when he saw that his favorite burger was even worse for him than a triple whopper.  I'm surprised he didn't pass out.  He has eaten that meal many times.  I think the fact that we were at a sit down restaurant, paying good money for our food, gave him the false impression that we were getting quality food.  I think if he were to estimate the cals and fat he probably would have said 600 cals and 20 grams of fat.  I mean, he knew it wasn't good for him...he just had no idea how bad it was.  Turns out its twice as many cals and nearly 4x the fat.  I'm pretty sure he'll never order that meal and finish it again.

I don't know if I think foods like that should be illegal.  But I do agree with him that there should at least be a warning label on them.  Knowledge is power...and when I walk into a menu and take a look at a menu I feel completely powerless.  I have to make a best guess at what the nutrional value of the foods is.  I'm sure I overestimate the good options as much as I underestimate the bad.  Turns out the new healthcare bill has a provision that will address this.  I, for one, am 100% on board with this.  Americans deserve to know what they are putting into their bodies.  Because my husband was right..."that stuff will kill you."  Some people will still order those options, but for those of us who would rather not, at least we'll know!

AWESOME Weigh-In!

I lost 4 pounds this week!  4 pounds!!  This is surreal to me.  In the past when I've done WW I've struggled to get 1 pound a week.  This time around it is coming off so much faster.  I credit this success 100% with the fact that I am concentrating on using real foods for the first time in my weight loss attempts.  I'm avoiding pre-processed food as much as possible and using fresh or frozen vegetables as a center piece of almost every lunch and dinner.  On all of my other attempts I tried to find packaged food with "low-fat" or "sugar free" on the package.  Seems that my body is not a big fan of that choice.  It is responding so much better to healthy fats (olive oil, peanut butter) and natural sugars (fruit, carrots, frozen corn).  This change in my way of cooking is paying off  not only for myself, but for my husband too.  He is inadvertently losing weight as well! (He doesn't have that much to lose but every pound counts right?)

So, 23.6 total.  I got my 20 pound star!  And, only 1.4 pounds to 25.  Which means, once again, I am super close to getting another star next week!  25 pound star...I've got my eye on you!

Also, WW announced a walking program today.  The goal is for all members to train for and walk a 5K.  I will definitely be participating.  More to come later as I figure out what kind of 5K I'd like to do.

TOFU? Who woulda thunk it???

Ok, so I've gotta start by saying that I am NOT a tofu person.  I have a lot of isses with textures when I eat something.  Mushrooms and I are fair weather friends...because you just never know how the texture of a mushroom is going to turn out.  When I go to a chinese restaurant or a mongolian bbq type place I always turn my nose up at the tofu.  But, with our recent committment to eating less meat I knew that I had to be willing to start branching out or I'll never be able to keep to the committment long term.

So, when Michelle shared a recipe she created for "mac'n'cheese" made with tofu instead of pasta and her kiddo gave it two thumbs up, I decided to give it a try.

So, my first step was figuring out where to even FIND tofu in the grocery store!  I flagged down a manager and he led me over to the produce section and took me right to it.  The stuff I bought was Melissa's organic and came in an 18oz block.  I thought it would come in a bag for some reason, here's what it looks like:

This 18oz package was $1.99!  Not bad.  I bought the firm...Michelle used extra firm in her recipe, but the didn't have extra firm in stock at our grocery store.

Michelle called this "Mac'n'Cheese" but A and I both felt that wasn't very descriptive.  In our opinion it was nothing like mac'n'cheese.  It did have a pasta-y type consistensy but more like a chicken noodle casserole than mac'n'cheese.

Ok, here is the recipe, as I made it, with nutrition facts:

__________________________________________________________________

Tofu, Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:

18oz extra firm tofu
1 "steam in the bag" bag of broccoli
1 bag (1 and 3/4 cups) shredded cheddar cheese (I used the 2% milk variety, sharp)
1/2 c egg beaters
1/4 c half and half
1 tsp onion powder (optional - I didn't have any so didn't use it)
Salt/pepper (I went light on salt, heavy on pepper)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Microwave the bag of broc for 4 mins (just short of the directed time), drain in a colander to get rid of excess water. Chop. (I chopped mine in the food processor to get liitle bity pieces)
Dice tofu into very small cubes, roughly 1 cm sized.
Spray 13"x9" pan with PAM.

In a bowl, mix together tofu, broc, egg beaters, half and half, onion powder, salt/pepper, and 3/4 of the shredded cheese. Spread into pan.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until slightly browned on top.

Nutrition:
Entire recipe: 1240cals, 8 fiber, 73 fat
6 servings = 5 WW pts each
8 servings = 4 WW pts each

Here is Michelle's picture...she made a smaller version and used a pie pan:

_____________________________________________________________________________

So, how'd it taste?  GOOD!  I was really surprised that I enjoyed it so much.  I think that cutting the tofu into the smaller pieces made it less tofu-like.  We served it with a spinach salad and cut ours into 6 servings.  We each ate 1.5 servings.  It was a good amount of food for 7.5 points.  And I ate another serving on a whole wheat tortilla for lunch today.  It reheated well.  And I think kiddos would enjoy this...the tofu comes off a lot like chicken (in fact, Michelle's kiddo thought there was chicken in it) and its covered in cheese!  :)  And best of all...it's SIMPLE!

One warning....you may not want to eat this recipe if you've got a PTA meeting later in the night.  Not sure if it was the broccoli or the tofu, but A and I both had gas all night!  :)

Sometimes life is just hard

I am stressed and I find myself in such a difficult position because I’m unsure how to deal with it all. I normally would find solace in some sort of food. Something to keep the emotions stuffed down. I never believed that I was an emotional eater until one time awhile back when I was really upset about something, pulled through a drive-thru, ordered a huge meal, started it sobbing, and had completely stopped the tears and numbed myself by the time I finished. Of course, then the pain and remorse of what I had just done set in. But, still….in the moment it was like a drug. It numbed my pain that was really difficult to feel and instead allowed me to feel a different kind of pain. One I was used to and knew how to ignore.

I don’t have my “drug” available to me right now. I REFUSE to use it. I want this healthy lifestyle more than anything in the world right now and if I don’t learn another way of handling stress I will never ever learn to stop using food as a crutch. So instead I am an emotional mess. Crying at my desk, hiding in the bathroom, sitting in my car and sobbing during lunch emotional mess. DAMN…this is so freaking hard. I found myself wishing I could just have a glass of wine over lunch. Now really, replacing a food addiction with an alcoholic one is so not the way to deal with this. So, I’ve been doing the only thing I know how…which is to cry, chew gum, drink water, and sob on the phone to my mom.

Things that are stressing me out –
S is having problems. She won’t eat without a huge fight first. We are trying probiotics and are going to try zantac drops. I never ever in a million years realized how much I would worry about my child. Watching your baby scream when you offer her food is one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. She does eventually eat, so she’s not starving or getting dehydrated, but still. I laid in bed worrying about her all night last night. Barely got any sleep. I have been non-stop worrying about her today at work. She’s at daycare because she has no fever and other than refusing to eat is in a fairly decent mood. When I called at noon she hadn’t eaten yet. I HATE that I cannot be with her while she is going through this. I hate that I can’t hold her and cuddle her and help her in whatever way I can. I usually like being a working mom, but right now, as she is going through this…I genuinely DESPISE the fact that I can’t be with my baby right now. This is by far my biggest cause of stress.

I am having post-partum physical issues. I thought I was home free, but started bleeding a few weeks ago..at 14 weeks post-partum. I went into the dr. and they did a painful procedure to try and stop the bleeding. It hasn’t worked. I’ve missed a lot of work due to this issue and S’s issues so I don’t feel comfortable telling my boss I need even more time off for my physical needs. Especially right now when I don’t know if I’ll need to take more time for S medically. I had to use all of my vacation and sick time because of my difficult pregnancy so I have zero days off left until June 1. Luckily my boss has been flexible, but I don’t want to push it to far and put my job at jeopardy. So, I’ve got to put off seeing the dr. for another week. It’s frustrating.

Allergies are out of control for me right now. I can’t breathe through my left nostril at all. I’m taking allegra and Sudafed and still…no relief. I’m sick of it!

I’m tired. Super super tired. I barely slept last night. I was worried about S, we had a thunderstorm, and I had caffeine too late in the day.

The effort it takes to stick to my healthy lifestyle feels like a ton right now. Just knowing that I have to go home and cook dinner tonight makes me feel like I’m carrying around a huge extra weight on my back. Add to that the fact that I need to find some time to get in activity and it just feels hard. I know that its worth it and that when I step on that scale on Saturday I’ll be glad that I powered through. And I don’t feel like I have a lot of options. If I don’t power through and cook and give in and eat fast food I’ll 1- feel bad about it and 2-not see the results on the scale that I want and will find that aggravating. And I just want this lifestyle to feel like second nature. The only way I will ever get there is to keep doing it! So, I will power through.

My house is not clean and my husband’s parents are arriving on Thursday. I usually get the house stuff taken care of on Sunday but with Baby S’s issues it didn’t get done. I hate having people come to my house when it is not clean. I’ve done some talking with a friend today and have realized that this is just the way it is. With all the other stuff I’ve got going on, perfectly clean house is bottom of the priority list for sure. Now…just to truly accept that……

So, to end this post on a positive note…I will say that I have not used food through any of this. We are on day 3 and I am still sticking strong to my goals. Even got a walk in last night. The scale is inching downwards and I am determined to get that 20 pound sticker this weekend.

First Mini-Goal ACHEIVED!!! Woo-hoo!!!

Today was weigh-in.  And guess what...I met my first mini-goal.  I now weigh less than I did when I conceived baby S!!!!  I am so proud and excited.  I gained 37 pounds with my pregnancy.  This probably would have been closer to 25 pounds, but I spent my last trimester on bedrest and so got absolutely zero activity for nearly 3 months...and the last 12 pounds found their way onto my body.  The first 17 pounds came off with basically no effort from me, but I was so scared that those last 20 pounds wanted to stay for good.  I joined WW at 4 weeks post partum.  And with some mindful eating and dedication, here I am, 15 weeks post-partum and finally those last 20 pounds are gone.  My #1 supporter, Michelle, pushed me to come up with rewards to go along with my mini-goals a few weeks ago (thanks Michelle!).  I choose fresh flowers as my reward for meeting mini-goal #1.  Here they are - I'll be enjoying these babies all week!

So, here's the official stats for the week:
-2 pounds, for a total of 19.6 pounds!

So, only 0.4 pounds from that 20 pound sticker...another week with something to work towards!  :)

This Week's Plan

As promised in my previous post, here's my plan for next week:

Sunday – Tilapia, Quinoa with peppers and onions, Spinach Salad
Monday – Chicken with asparagus, Brown rice with peas
Tuesday – Michelle’s Mac’N’Cheese (made with tofu – this will be a first for me…if it’s good I’ll share the recipe), Corn, Spinach Salad
Wednesday – Ground Turkey Meatballs, Garlic Mashed Potatos, Brussel Sprouts
Thursday – Pulled pork sandwiches, Roasted Red Potatos, Balsamic Glazed Carrots

Yep, that’s right…I’m making the carrots again next week! I try not to repeat something two weeks in a row, but my in-laws are coming to town and will likely be joining us for dinner on Thursday night and these things were just that good! Easy and good = perfect for company!

Here’s my shopping list (we buy our meat from Sam’s so rarely include meat on my shopping list):
Spinach (I buy the bagged kind)
Fresh red pepper (for salads)
Tomatos (for salads)
Black Olives (for salads)
Fresh Asparagus
Frozen Sweet Peas
Tofu
Egg Beaters
Half and Half
Frozen broccoli
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (the 2% milk variety)
Frozen Sweet Corn
Onion Soup Mix
Reduced Fat cream of mushroom
Frozen potatos (for mashing)
Buns
Carrots

Here’s what I already have on hand:
Quinoa
Peppers and Onions (I buy mine pre-chopped and frozen…by BirdsEye)
Brown Rice
Salad Dressing
Frozen Brussel Sprouts
Red Potatos
BBQ Sauce

So, all I need to do now is add our weekly staples to the list (fruit, yogurt, dark chocolate, A’s lunch items) and I’m good to go.

I challenge any readers out there to put your plan together and publish it to your blog (and leave a comment letting us know you’ve done it). Maybe we can all share some ideas with each other!

For me…Planning is Key

There’s a slight chance I’m going to get my 20 pound star tomorrow at WW. I need to lose 2.4 pounds this week to get there. My scale this morning showed that I’m close…but who knows what tomorrow will bring. The scale can be so fickle.

Anyways, when my WW leader gives out stars she often asks people what has helped them be successful. They rarely are prepared for the question so they say the first thing that comes to mind…usually journaling or exercise. I’ve been putting a lot of thought into what I would like to say in response to this question. Journaling is big…no doubt about it. I’m always amazed when I first get back into journaling just how many calories I’ve been consuming! How quickly we forget that just because it can be eaten in 20 seconds or less doesn’t mean its ‘free’! :)

So, in my thinking about this I’ve decided that there is one thing that has been even more imperative in my success in this journey so far. And that is….drumroll please…planning!

Now that little S has joined our clan it has become even more important than ever before. I usually sit down on Sunday morning and make a plan for the week. I plan 5 meals total –one vegetarian, one seafood, one chicken, one pork, and one ground beef/turkey. The sixth meal is always out and the seventh might be leftovers, eaten out, or put together on a whim. For me the benefits of planning are endless. A few:

1.  No thinking in the evenings. When I come home I know exactly what needs to be done and I don’t have to stare in the fridge and pantry trying to come up with what I can “throw together”

2. Grocery shopping made easy – I make my grocery list at the same time as I make my menus and so I don’t have to send hubby to the store on a regular basis to pick up missing ingredients

3. Less wasted produce. I buy produce for our planned meals and it stops me from buying a head of broccoli thinking I ‘might’ use it and then forgetting about it before it goes bad

4. A lot less eating out! This is a big one. When I fail to plan ahead of time and I have a stressful day at work or with the baby I am very quick to call A on his way home from work and say “stop and pick something up on your way home.” When I’ve got a plan this happens far far less often. No statistics on this…but trust me!

5. Dinner anticipation. This is good for A and myself. We know before we leave for work whether tonight is taco night or salmon night and we can look forward to it all day. Sounds kind of silly but we both find that we enjoy this aspect of it.

6. Pre-prep opportunities aplenty! Some evenings S is happy to sit in her bouncer seat and entertain herself. On those nights I can look to the next nights dinner and see if there is any pre-prep I can get done. Some examples are chopping veggies and boiling eggs. Allows me to be pretty flexible.

7. Fewer canned vegetables – when I plan ahead I can buy the fresh produce to have on hand and I don’t resort to the cans nearly as often.

I could go on and on about the benefits here. I used to hate the idea of pre-planning because I never knew whether I’d be in the “mood” for a given food 3 nights from now. But, I’ve found that knowing each morning what I’m having for dinner that night allows me to get in the mood for it.

A few of my tips – plan the meals that you anticipate will have a lot of leftovers for earlier in the week…then you can take those leftovers for lunches. Plan at least one meal that is super simple for later in the week…then if you have a really really stressful day you can always move that meal forward to the day where you could use a break. And finally, look through your fridge and see what you’ve already got on hand….then try to use those in your weekly plan.

I would suggest that if you haven’t ever planned a week out in advance you should give it a shot this week. You can do anything for a week right?

I’ll post my plan in a subsequent post.

We all have a shallow reason or two don’t we….

So, the main reason I’m going on this journey is to get healthy. I think the best side effect of me getting healthy is that I’ll be taking my husband and daughter along for the ride. I’d say that if you combine my desire to get healthy with my desire to be more physically able to do things, you’d account for 95% of my motivation for losing weight.

However…there’s that other 5%. That “shallow” 5 percent. For a lot of women, that would be clothes. Honestly, clothes have just never been my thing. As long as I have a nice pair of tennis shoes, a comfy pair of black flats, a comfy pair of brown leather casual shoes and a nice pair of sandals…I’m a happy lady. No fashionable shoes for me, has simply never been my thing. I buy clothes for comfort and rarely even notice what other people are wearing. That’s not to say that I dress sloppy…I do take the time to look nice. I just don’t have any huge desire to wear ‘cute’ clothes driving my desire to lose weight. For some women, the shallow desire is to be noticed by men. Honestly, as long as my husband notices me…I’m happy. Never been all that comfortable with anybody noticing me anyways!

I do have one big one though. When I get pregnant again I WANT TO LOOK PREGNANT! I have always LOVED pregnant bellies. I think they are just so amazing…the fact that hiding just below the surface is a brand new life, a brand new soul…it just astounds me. I am one of those people who really loved Demi Moore’s photo. I like when women wear clothing that shows off their round bellies. I can’t look at a pregnant lady and not smile. I hate it when pregnant women refer to themselves as “fat”. Is there anything more amazing than the miracle of life? I wish we could all just embrace it.

When I was pregnant with S, I never really showed. The people who know me really well said that they could tell…but to the average person on the street (or at work) there was no way to tell if I was pregnant or if I just carried my fat out front. I never lost my belly roll…my stomach never got that ‘rounded out’ look. It really bummed me out. I never got the “when are you due??” questions unless I fished for them. When I was on work trips and we’d be taking plant tours no one knew that part of the reason I was getting worn out from all the standing was because I was 6 months pregnant. I really really wanted to wear a sign that said “I’m Pregnant” all the time.

So anyways, when I walk around my office building and see the beautiful pregnant women (I work with a lot of young people so there are always a few pregnant ladies around) I find myself thinking…next time that will be me! I know that even if I could get down into the 200’s there’d be a better chance of me getting that round belly. Can’t wait!