Battle of the Bulge

Warning: this is a boring entry I just needed to write my frustrations out. :)

This battle has been going on for almost a year and it is time to take charge and march to victory. I am not going to blame this extra poundage on the baby, because truthfully nursing Malia helped me lose weight fast. Six weeks after having Malia I was 10 pounds thinner than I was when little Malia came to be. Losing weight was the only positive thing that happened in regards to nursing. I would rather deliver an 8lb13oz baby and go through the recovery than nurse again, breastfeeding was not so pleasant. But that is neither here nor there, and for those of you who care...yes I am going to give nursing another shot if we are blessed with another baby. When Malia was about 3 months I made the very emotional decision (as much as I hated it I knew that it was good for Malia) to stop nursing for my sanity and per the pediatrician's orders. I tell you this because, yikes, here we go...I put on 15 pounds in the 6 weeks after I stopped nursing. I am partly to blame because I didn't reduce my caloric intake, but my goodness 15 pounds. Well fast forward to August, Stephen and I joined the gym, we were working out daily, and following the South Beach Diet he lost 15 pounds (which he has kept off, Go Babe) and I lost 3 after surving on celery, salad and lean meat for 3 weeks. Needless to say I was discouraged. I fell off the wagon in November and December (too many sweets and Malia was sick a few times so the gym was not a priority) but managed to hold steady and keep off those 3 pounds I lost in August. Well like the other half of the U.S. I hit the gym hard and was really watching my diet the first few weeks of January and I lost 1 pound. Discouraged again. Well during my physical for our foster app my bloodwork showed that I had
borderline hypothyroidism. Interesting sidenote: my dr. thinks this might be why I don't ovulate and menstruate so in an effort to help me menstruate my dr. put me on medicine, which I was very hesitant about taking. The idea of taking medicine every day for the rest of my life was a downer, the pharmacy called me 3 times to remind me my prescription was waiting before I went to pick it up. But I was hoping it would get my body in gear, because we would like to have another munchkin. The interesting thing was I didn't feel like I was tired which is one of the common symptoms. Well now that I have been on the medicine for a few weeks I am already noticing that I have more energy. I must have just gotten used to my previous energy level, for example working out, caring for Malia and maybe making one errand (groceries) was about all I was up to in a single day. In the past week I would say I have felt like doing more than I had in a month before I started the medicine. The reason I share this story is that I have lost 2 pounds since I started the medicine. I have also made a commitment to stop baking unless I have a very good reason (guests/birthday...) which I know is my biggest downfall. It is encouraging for me to think that those times I was working so hard and only lost 3 pounds that there may have been a reason. I am hoping that we are on the upswing and by watching my portions, working out and getting my thyroid going I can finally ditch this extra fat. 2008 was full of sickness, 2009 is going to be the year of health!