Much Needed Family Time

It's been over a week since my last entry....  We were on a family vacation last week :)  It was much needed!!  We left Wednesday night when hubs got home and headed out to Hill City, South Dakota.  I planned ahead and packed a lot of healthy snacks, along with a homemade trail mix that the kids seemed to enjoy.  We did a lot of walking there too, which was great as a family.  It was difficult when Scrappy decided he wanted to be carried.  Daddy carried him most of the time, though.  2 of the days we were there, the weather was crappy - rain and snow.  The other 2 days it was pretty nice - mid 50's and sunshine.

Of course, being gone, I missed a weigh in and a meeting, but it was excused.  Today I was back at the meeting, and a little nervous about how I did.  I mean, I ate pretty good most of the time we were gone, but that order of chili-cheese fries could have bitten me in the butt.  But I only ate about half of the order.  Plus we had an extra walk at the cabin, just exploring the grounds and checking out the stream.

I also rediscovered a game that I had forgotten was a very good workout - that winded me a bit and wore me down!  The game?  Tetherball!  Beau had never played before, so I got to teach her how while Scraps played on the playground equipment.  It was a lot of fun!!  Beau got mad when she accidentally got hit in the face, but she got over it.  Then she started having fun with it too :)

Well, back to the meeting.  I was nervous because I've been feeling HUGE, even though I'm only 8 1/2 weeks pregnant.  But with it not being the first baby, everything gets bigger faster.

The result?? I'm down a whole 3 pounds!! 

I have lost all the weight I gained in that one awful week of retaining water.  I'm back to a total 6 pound weight loss since I started TOPS.

Total weight gained this pregnancy?? 0 pounds.

Oh, I know I'll gain some eventually, but I'm trying to keep it from being an overwhelming amount.  Granted I had normal gains with both my other kids - 31 pounds with my daughter and 36 with my son.  My goal is to not go over 25 with this one.  I still have a few weeks until I see the doctor, so that's something I'll have to discuss with him.  With the nutritionist giving me a 15-25 pound guideline, I think that should be ok....  We'll just have to wait and see what happens!!

Here are a few pictures from our journey :)

Sabatoge?

Of course I'm a little behind with this along with everything else I'm doing.  BUT there is a good reason. 

A VERY good reason. 

And until today, I had fallen off my plan and my workouts.  Yeah the eating has been good, but not so much on the exercise.

On the April 28th weigh in I had a gain.  A horrible gain.  Ruined my losing streak.  I was drinking tons of water and unfortunately retaining all of it.

I gained 4 1/2 pounds on the April 28th weigh in, bringing my total weight loss to only 1 1/2 pounds.

The reason behind the gain????

I'm pregnant!!  Baby #3 is due on Christmas Day!!  We are so happy and excited!!

Huge amounts of nausea has kept me out of the gym - I could hardly function without feeling like I was going to lose everything I'd eaten.  Fortunately it only lasted about 2 weeks and I'm over it by now.

May 5th weigh in?  A loss of 1 1/2 pounds!! Yay!! 

I was no longer snacking and munching to combat the nausea.  I still hadn't been as active as before, but I was able to eat a lot healthier and not all the time.  I've actually gotten to the point that I can't eat much at each meal without feeling uncomfortable.  Small meals and a few snacks.

And today I got a HUGE amount of activity in.  We did the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk which is a 10k walk.  The backs of my knees ache pretty good, and we had to take a few breaks on the walk, but man do I feel GOOD!!  Plus the weather was beautiful - pushing 70 degrees!!

We are getting ready to go on vacation this week - leaving for 4 days.  We went to Trader Joe's in Rochester for the first time today and picked up some freeze-dried fruit and other things for snacks.  The fruit was more reasonably priced than online.  The granola bars and cereal bars were cheaper too!!  I'm planning to make some healthy trail mix to take on the trip.  We bought some fruit and other foods to take too, so we can pack most of our meals. 

I'm trying to plan on eating breakfast at our cabin and one packed meal, and we can eat one meal out.  That will save us a lot on both money and calories. $100 for 8 meals, a whole lotta snacks, and food left over.  Considering just getting Taco Bell costs us about $25 (let alone anything at any tourist spot) I think that's doing pretty good for us...  This includes a case of water too :)  I'm determined to not let the vacation deter my efforts.  We'll be doing a lot of walking on our trip too, so that's a plus!!

Of course, how does pregnancy affect TOPS?  What are the rules?  Well, I need to get a note from my doctor to see how much weight is ok for me to gain and get it put in writing.  They've noted my pregnancy already, so gains are not counted against me.  I'm allowed to gain throughout the pregnancy and still be 'in good standing' as long as I stay within the guidelines that the doctors set for me.  I'm not sure who my doctor is going to be - I'm seeing Lombardi for now since Thorn is on leave, but may see the new doctor that starts in July.  I know Thorn's guideline is "unlimited, as long as mama and baby are healthy."  We'll see what Lombardi says.  I see him in about 5 weeks (when I'm at 12 weeks) and get my first ultrasound then.  I go back to the nurse in 3 weeks.  (Hopefully I can get the insurance figured out by then!!)

I met with the nutritionist on Monday.  Her recommendation is to gain no more than 25 pounds.  With my daughter I gained 31, with my son, 36.  But then again, with both of them I was pregnant in winter when it's so much easier to sit around and do nothing.  I'm determined to stay active this summer!!