I got 7.8 miles in this week (added 1.8 today during my walk), as well as my Guts and Butts class yesterday (wee bit sore today...). I did also do a 50 minute yoga video a few days ago and it was great, I'm in good enough shape that I can do most of the poses without modification! I feel so much stronger and more flexible.
I also did get over 100 miles this week! YAY! I am at 107 so far, 193 to go. I'm so proud of myself! On Tuesday I ran my fastest mile in my adult life, 11.5 minutes! I actually ran/walked 1.5 miles with Athena, but that was how it averaged out. She's a great running buddy.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
5 Weeks!
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| So.. not a baby bump yet, obvs. Just bloat like woah. |
How Far along: 5 weeks. Seriously? Holy shit.
Baby size: About the size of an apple seed.
Total weight gain: 0.8 pounds, but that's not really anything. I weighed that 2 weeks ago.
Maternity clothes: N/A, but this bloat is crazy and I definitely change my clothes as soon as I get home. Pressure on my belly isn't comfortable.
Sleep: I love sleep. Sleep is awesome. Dee has been sleeping all night the last few nights, so it's been nice.
Best Moment this week: Watching C get happier about this pregnancy, and feeling better about it myself. Also, J asked me on Saturday if maybe we would be a family of 5 like the Berenstain Bears.
Movement: N/A
Gender: I can't imagine anything other than boy. He *feels* like a boy. I'm calling him Dr. Bunsen Honeydew for now (or just Bunsen).
Labor signs: N/A
Belly button: In, and expected to be in for the duration.
Cravings: Lemon curd, lemon drops, lemon bars, lemonade...lemon/lime lotion (not to eat, just to sniff), but if it's actually sour it is not good. Croissants, chai tea.
Aversions: the smell of pizza (ew), the idea of McDonalds (the first time I had nausea related to anything I couldn't actually smell was a McD commercial), and Bunsen does not like pears, or cheese (sad). I also can only do one cup of fully caffeinated coffee per day. If I have a second one in the afternoon it makes me all jittery and queasy. Sweet stuff that isn't lemony isn't very appealing either. Chocolate just doesn't taste right, and I don't really want to eat it.
What I miss: Food sounding good in general, my flat belly that I only had for a few weeks...And wearing the cute bras I literally just bought 3 weeks ago, because my boobs exploded again and now those don't fit.
Stretch Marks: No new ones.
What is different this time around: Still exercising, yay! And the lemon thing. I'm pretty sure I never craved lemon stuff with either kid. I also made it to 5 weeks not puking or feeling really sick, so YAY! So far nausea has been mild at its worst, and I'm hoping it stays that way. Also, when I was doing prenatal yoga last night, I noticed that I was able to do WAY more than when I was pregnant with Dee doing the same video. I am so much stronger and fitter, and I feel so much better about myself and my body!
What I am looking forward to this week: Getting my sample of essential oils that hopefully will assuage nausea/morning sickness when it arrives. More running, I'd like to get 6+ miles in again, and do prenatal yoga at least once in the coming week.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Happy birthday to Dee!!
We had a Fairy Party for Dee's 3rd birthday at my mom's house.
She was thrilled, but apparently not in the mood to keep her wings on
for any pictures. I'll eventually get one of her with her wings so I can
show you guys.
The food table had the following (with labels, of course!): Fairy Cakes (vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting), fruits and veggies "From the Fairies' Garden" (raspberries, strawberries, purple cauliflower, baby carrots, and sugar snap peas); Toadstools (Baby Bell Cheese); Shooting Stars (yogurt star cookies); Magic Wands (yogurt star cookies attached to breasticks); Fairy Pillows (vanilla cupcake kettle corn); Kelpie Treats (seaweed and veggie straws). It was all a big hit!
All the kids had the choice between fairy wings and dragon wings. I think the boys all picked dragon wings off the bat, Dee wore her fairy wings for 5 minutes, and the other little girl wore 2 pairs of fairy wings and a pair of dragon wings for a while.
I wish my camera worked so I could have taken pictures of what I wanted (my phone doesn't take very good pictures), but my mom did take some nice ones and so did a friend of ours. Nobody got pictures of the little teeny fairies that were scattered around the house and balcony.
3 year stats: 37" and 28ish pounds. She was 50% for height and 17 for weight.
 | ||
| Sitting in front of the Fairy Treats Table |
The food table had the following (with labels, of course!): Fairy Cakes (vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting), fruits and veggies "From the Fairies' Garden" (raspberries, strawberries, purple cauliflower, baby carrots, and sugar snap peas); Toadstools (Baby Bell Cheese); Shooting Stars (yogurt star cookies); Magic Wands (yogurt star cookies attached to breasticks); Fairy Pillows (vanilla cupcake kettle corn); Kelpie Treats (seaweed and veggie straws). It was all a big hit!
 |
| Dragon Riding, naturally |
 |
| J proudly wearing his "Poison dragon" wings (they had green glitter on the back, but you can't see that so well here) |
 |
| My fairy child |
I wish my camera worked so I could have taken pictures of what I wanted (my phone doesn't take very good pictures), but my mom did take some nice ones and so did a friend of ours. Nobody got pictures of the little teeny fairies that were scattered around the house and balcony.
3 year stats: 37" and 28ish pounds. She was 50% for height and 17 for weight.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
So That Happened...
You may have noticed I didn't do my weigh in post last week. I'll get to the why of that that in a moment.
In the meantime, on Friday, my weight was 140.8, which means I lost a pound that week, but didn't actually lose anything compared to the last couple weeks, meaning that I've been maintaining at about 140.
I found out why on Thursday night.
How Far along: 4 weeks on Thursday, which makes me 4w4d today, which is Carnegie stage 8, which means that my baby looks like a vulva.
Baby size: Poppyseed.
Total weight gain: None.
Maternity clothes: N/A, though honestly, this bloat is no joke. By evening it's seriously uncomfortable.
Sleep: Like a rock, if I actually get to sleep all night. Thanks to Dee, this is an infrequent occurrence, but at least she's weaned now so that makes my mornings a little better. I don't always hear her wake up at night right now though, and often C nudges me and wakes me up to tend her.
Best Moment this week: Not even a little related to pregnancy, but it was Dee's birthday party. I'll share pics of that in another post.
Movement: N/A
Gender: It's a boy. I know this.
Labor signs: N/A
Belly button: In, and expected to be in for the duration.
Cravings: Nothing particularly sounds good, but lemon/lime stuff is very, very appealing.
What I miss: Nothing yet, although I will be missing margaritas and Bitter Elders this summer.
Stretch Marks: No new ones.
What is different this time around: Bloat is worse, makes my belly look huge (see pics above). I am in better physical condition this time than with either previous kid, in spite of what the scale says, and I have mostly fixed my diastasis recti, so I'm going to keep trying to maintain that the best I can.
What I am looking forward to this week: Hoping that morning sickness does not decide to show up, and that some foods at least sound like something I want to eat. I also plan to get in at least 6 miles, but I'm not really very hopeful about any evening workouts.
This was not planned, as you may have guessed from my previous posts. C and I were not planning to have a third biological kid, and though I wanted one I was not even contemplating anything seriously for at least another year (though he now says that I had almost persuaded him to have another child). We were using spermicide (VCF films, which had not failed us in probably 40 months of use). I had the thought, the day I ovulated, that I had somehow gotten pregnant this cycle, but put it out of my mind as sheer imagination. When, a week after ovulation, I felt crampy (pinchy cramps) I mentioned it to C, and he said maybe things were just getting going early this cycle. Then a couple days later I almost fell asleep in my parked car right after I got to work in the morning. I had random hot flashes and random nausea flashes. Smells jumped out and ambushed me. I was intermittently crampy and felt "wet" constantly. My period didn't show up at 12, or 13, or 14 DPO, so on my way home I bought a DollarTree test. I didn't tell C because I fully expected that I was making all this up in my head and the test was naturally going to be negative.
I am sort of getting excited, but I am sort of terrified (C is in this same boat). I am not worried about pregnancy and delivery, really, except that we can't afford to deliver off network (J and Dee were both born at the same hospital, one that is not included by Kaiser) this time, so I'll be going to a Kaiser hospital. I do not like how they handle pregnancy or delivery, so this is hard for me. They no longer have midwives that I can see for my prenatal visits. I can only hope that our work quits using Kaiser, but I am not terribly optimistic about that. We were planning to finish fixing up and sell our house next spring (2015) but now that has been moved up to this fall, if we can do it. It's going to be a challenge. I think we can still move next spring, but we'll be really crowded in the meantime.
Oh, and did I mention that we no longer have any baby stuff? I think we still have the dropside crib I got from my sister but I hate that thing (never mind the fact that it's been recalled). At least we still have a few cloth diapers, too, so we just need to rebuild our stash of those. I'm also very glad that while I had put all my nursing bras in the "donate" box, we hadn't actually donated them, so I know that when my boobs decide to go nuts I will be ready. And breast pumps are covered now by insurance, so that is nice. Anyway, there you go.
For what it's worth, I will still be doing my 300 miles for the year, I'll just have an extra person joining me. I will still report my mileage each week, and any other workouts I do.
*Ahem* Also, please check my mileage ticker! GO ME!! 101 MILES DOWN! Booya!
In the meantime, on Friday, my weight was 140.8, which means I lost a pound that week, but didn't actually lose anything compared to the last couple weeks, meaning that I've been maintaining at about 140.
I found out why on Thursday night.
 |
| Morning |
 |
| Evening... |
How Far along: 4 weeks on Thursday, which makes me 4w4d today, which is Carnegie stage 8, which means that my baby looks like a vulva.
Baby size: Poppyseed.
Total weight gain: None.
Maternity clothes: N/A, though honestly, this bloat is no joke. By evening it's seriously uncomfortable.
Sleep: Like a rock, if I actually get to sleep all night. Thanks to Dee, this is an infrequent occurrence, but at least she's weaned now so that makes my mornings a little better. I don't always hear her wake up at night right now though, and often C nudges me and wakes me up to tend her.
Best Moment this week: Not even a little related to pregnancy, but it was Dee's birthday party. I'll share pics of that in another post.
Movement: N/A
Gender: It's a boy. I know this.
Labor signs: N/A
Belly button: In, and expected to be in for the duration.
Cravings: Nothing particularly sounds good, but lemon/lime stuff is very, very appealing.
What I miss: Nothing yet, although I will be missing margaritas and Bitter Elders this summer.
Stretch Marks: No new ones.
What is different this time around: Bloat is worse, makes my belly look huge (see pics above). I am in better physical condition this time than with either previous kid, in spite of what the scale says, and I have mostly fixed my diastasis recti, so I'm going to keep trying to maintain that the best I can.
What I am looking forward to this week: Hoping that morning sickness does not decide to show up, and that some foods at least sound like something I want to eat. I also plan to get in at least 6 miles, but I'm not really very hopeful about any evening workouts.
This was not planned, as you may have guessed from my previous posts. C and I were not planning to have a third biological kid, and though I wanted one I was not even contemplating anything seriously for at least another year (though he now says that I had almost persuaded him to have another child). We were using spermicide (VCF films, which had not failed us in probably 40 months of use). I had the thought, the day I ovulated, that I had somehow gotten pregnant this cycle, but put it out of my mind as sheer imagination. When, a week after ovulation, I felt crampy (pinchy cramps) I mentioned it to C, and he said maybe things were just getting going early this cycle. Then a couple days later I almost fell asleep in my parked car right after I got to work in the morning. I had random hot flashes and random nausea flashes. Smells jumped out and ambushed me. I was intermittently crampy and felt "wet" constantly. My period didn't show up at 12, or 13, or 14 DPO, so on my way home I bought a DollarTree test. I didn't tell C because I fully expected that I was making all this up in my head and the test was naturally going to be negative.
I am sort of getting excited, but I am sort of terrified (C is in this same boat). I am not worried about pregnancy and delivery, really, except that we can't afford to deliver off network (J and Dee were both born at the same hospital, one that is not included by Kaiser) this time, so I'll be going to a Kaiser hospital. I do not like how they handle pregnancy or delivery, so this is hard for me. They no longer have midwives that I can see for my prenatal visits. I can only hope that our work quits using Kaiser, but I am not terribly optimistic about that. We were planning to finish fixing up and sell our house next spring (2015) but now that has been moved up to this fall, if we can do it. It's going to be a challenge. I think we can still move next spring, but we'll be really crowded in the meantime.
Oh, and did I mention that we no longer have any baby stuff? I think we still have the dropside crib I got from my sister but I hate that thing (never mind the fact that it's been recalled). At least we still have a few cloth diapers, too, so we just need to rebuild our stash of those. I'm also very glad that while I had put all my nursing bras in the "donate" box, we hadn't actually donated them, so I know that when my boobs decide to go nuts I will be ready. And breast pumps are covered now by insurance, so that is nice. Anyway, there you go.
For what it's worth, I will still be doing my 300 miles for the year, I'll just have an extra person joining me. I will still report my mileage each week, and any other workouts I do.
*Ahem* Also, please check my mileage ticker! GO ME!! 101 MILES DOWN! Booya!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Adrift on a Sea of Unchanging Mist
Drifting. Floating. Stagnant. Close your eyes. Sleep. Tomorrow, tomorrow, always tomorrow. Aching fullness never comes. It is time. My body moves on and waves wash through me. Sleep is interrupted, again. The weight of my body is an unchanging burden. I should sweat, I should move, but the exhaustion overtakes me again and I decline to pursue activity. Dormant, hibernating. Could I crystallize for a while? Could I just...?
Wondering, pondering, my brain does not rest. Twinges and sensations abound and all I do is contemplate. Heaviness. Breathe in, breathe out. Exist. Be in the moment. Observe. Listen. Feel. Close the world around you. Let it be. What will happen will happen. No control but your reactions. Be still. Beat, beat, beat...forever. Still. Can you feel it? Life, insistent, cocooned in my body, my pulse, my soul. Hush and let it be. Let the waves come. Feel the air around you, close, thick, soft. Hush.
Wondering, pondering, my brain does not rest. Twinges and sensations abound and all I do is contemplate. Heaviness. Breathe in, breathe out. Exist. Be in the moment. Observe. Listen. Feel. Close the world around you. Let it be. What will happen will happen. No control but your reactions. Be still. Beat, beat, beat...forever. Still. Can you feel it? Life, insistent, cocooned in my body, my pulse, my soul. Hush and let it be. Let the waves come. Feel the air around you, close, thick, soft. Hush.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Weekly Weigh #10
Well this was a frustrating week. I kicked ass in so many ways, I ate right, I exercised lots. I met my calorie goals every day (actually was 100-200 calories below my max every day) I only got in 7.5 miles, but I did do 2 workouts (Bikini Body Mommy Day 3, and Guts and Butts yesterday). However, I've been horribly bloated (hormones suck balls) and as a result, where I weighed 140.6 on Monday (easy reach of the 130s!!), this morning the scale showed me 141.8. I know that 1 pound fluctuations mean nothing, but not a single ounce lost, and in fact a slight gain this week? Very frustrating. I am not tracking today, because I need a break. My hormones are bugging the hell out of me, it looks like I will have a short luteal phase this month (like 9 days, maybe, because I'm on 8DPO now and bloated as hell, as well as having been crampy yesterday and the day before). So, last week = ovulation, and this week = PMS. Lovely.
Plus I'm working late today, but fortunately not horribly late (yay!) and I can still make it to meet a new friend at the Christopher Moore book signing. My mommy is back from her stint in Hawaii for the past 2 1/2 years so she's babysitting, while C has a gig. Busy Friday night, yeah?
And Dee turns 3 on Sunday, and has her 3 year checkup on Monday. Her birthday party is next weekend, so I'll post pictures of that when the time comes.
Plus I'm working late today, but fortunately not horribly late (yay!) and I can still make it to meet a new friend at the Christopher Moore book signing. My mommy is back from her stint in Hawaii for the past 2 1/2 years so she's babysitting, while C has a gig. Busy Friday night, yeah?
And Dee turns 3 on Sunday, and has her 3 year checkup on Monday. Her birthday party is next weekend, so I'll post pictures of that when the time comes.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Happy Friday!
I got some new shoes at Kohl's for super cheap as part of some retail therapy when I was losing my shit at home. C sent me on my way so I'd get to cool off.
I've been better about walking consistently, and even ran my fastest mile ever (well, not ever, in recent history) at 12 minutes per mile, and I ran 1.5 miles in one go, only walking about a block of it. I've been working on strengthening my core correctly to fix the diastasis recti (using the exercises here). In 10 days, I've reduced my separation by half, so that's awesome. I lost an inch plus on my waist since my last measurements, which brings me to:
Week 9 Progress:
0.6 pound gain (dammit!!)
10.4 miles walked/run
1 at home workout (Bikini Body Mommy Day 2 - only doing these periodically)
Nutrition goals met-ish... not really very good. I was close to my maximum goal nearly every day. Also, there was lots of fried chicken. Calorie wise not so bad, but veggie and fruit wise not so good. Ovulation also happening, which causes some bloat/water retention. Bah.
Summary of Challenge to Date:
8 pounds lost (5.4%)
84.4 miles walked/run
3 inches lost on waist
1 inches lost on ribcage
1 inch lost on bust
No change on hips
Goals for next week:
Break the 140 barrier!! This means a 1.7 pound loss will be needed. I can do it!
10 more miles
Guts and Butts Class or 30 mins of Bikini Body Mommy workouts
Avoid sweets that comprise more than 10% of my daily intake total.
Keep 200 calorie "cushion" between my maximum intake goal and where I actually end up. I have Sparkpeople set up to include my calories burned, so this is really not that bad.
(Yes, weigh ins have changed to Friday, because it was too hard on all of us to have the weekend, our universal weak spot, in the middle.)
Almost forgot my "No 'Poo" update. I think I'm getting past the detox period. Turns out I was going through it after all. My hair would get really sticky/greasy and it was gross. Yesterday my hair was all wavy and nice and not quite as weird. I think I just can't use the conditioner part, that seems to mess things up for me. Today I just did a hot water rinse and have a ponytail, but we'll see this weekend how my hair does. I'm pretty optimistic. This website was really helpful when I needed some troubleshooting support (or thought I did).
I also got my custom dress from eShakti yesterday. I LOVE IT. It's perfect and fits me perfect (as it should, since it was made just for my measurements). I will make sure I get a pic of it on Sunday when I will wear it. If you want to know more about eShakti, or join them (you get a $25 credit with your first order, so you can get some great deals on stuff!), just visit the website linked above.
I've been better about walking consistently, and even ran my fastest mile ever (well, not ever, in recent history) at 12 minutes per mile, and I ran 1.5 miles in one go, only walking about a block of it. I've been working on strengthening my core correctly to fix the diastasis recti (using the exercises here). In 10 days, I've reduced my separation by half, so that's awesome. I lost an inch plus on my waist since my last measurements, which brings me to:
Week 9 Progress:
0.6 pound gain (dammit!!)
10.4 miles walked/run
1 at home workout (Bikini Body Mommy Day 2 - only doing these periodically)
Nutrition goals met-ish... not really very good. I was close to my maximum goal nearly every day. Also, there was lots of fried chicken. Calorie wise not so bad, but veggie and fruit wise not so good. Ovulation also happening, which causes some bloat/water retention. Bah.
Summary of Challenge to Date:
8 pounds lost (5.4%)
84.4 miles walked/run
3 inches lost on waist
1 inches lost on ribcage
1 inch lost on bust
No change on hips
Goals for next week:
Break the 140 barrier!! This means a 1.7 pound loss will be needed. I can do it!
10 more miles
Guts and Butts Class or 30 mins of Bikini Body Mommy workouts
Avoid sweets that comprise more than 10% of my daily intake total.
Keep 200 calorie "cushion" between my maximum intake goal and where I actually end up. I have Sparkpeople set up to include my calories burned, so this is really not that bad.
(Yes, weigh ins have changed to Friday, because it was too hard on all of us to have the weekend, our universal weak spot, in the middle.)
Almost forgot my "No 'Poo" update. I think I'm getting past the detox period. Turns out I was going through it after all. My hair would get really sticky/greasy and it was gross. Yesterday my hair was all wavy and nice and not quite as weird. I think I just can't use the conditioner part, that seems to mess things up for me. Today I just did a hot water rinse and have a ponytail, but we'll see this weekend how my hair does. I'm pretty optimistic. This website was really helpful when I needed some troubleshooting support (or thought I did).
I also got my custom dress from eShakti yesterday. I LOVE IT. It's perfect and fits me perfect (as it should, since it was made just for my measurements). I will make sure I get a pic of it on Sunday when I will wear it. If you want to know more about eShakti, or join them (you get a $25 credit with your first order, so you can get some great deals on stuff!), just visit the website linked above.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
75 miles!
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| Found in my garden. Transplanting them last summer worked! Meaning they didn't die. |
Today I hit 75 miles (on my walk). Wow. It's kind of amazing, really, to think that I did that. I've got 225 left to do, but 75 seems important.
The "Guts and Butts" class went well last week, I was sore for 2 days after but I'm glad I went. I will be going again tomorrow. For some reason I didn't really lose any weight (141.8 last week, 141.6 today) but I feel great and I had to use the smallest hole on my belt yesterday, so I am making progress. My skin has been mostly clearer still, so that's a nice perk, too. Next week is measurement week, so I'll see what progress has happened in that department. I'm feeling reasonably optimistic about everything. I'm slightly frustrated that my hormone fluctuations affect my weight so much. Every month during ovulation and PMS I can guarantee a no-loss or slight-gain that week. Ovulation will fall next week, so I'm going to work extra hard to have a 1+ pound loss between now and then.
Update on the "No 'poo" front: nothing very exciting here. My hair definitely has more body and curl. I've had to make sure to use enough baking soda solution (BSS) or my hair gets oily and awful. I haven't really experienced "detox" like I've read about. So far, so good! No itchy scalp, either, so that's nice.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Weekly Weigh-In and Other Thoughts
Drumroll please!!!
My weight this morning was 141.8. I have lost 7 pounds since I started this, and I have gone back nearly to my weight 2 YEARS ago. I am so proud of myself! I feel great. I've also gotten 60 miles down. I still have a ways to go in fitness and miles, and I want to be able to run two miles rather than just sort of half-ass run a mile and a half where I'm really only running a mile of it. Diet-wise I've been doing well at getting enough water (usually) and eating only whole food, though I do treat myself once in a while. I have the occasional chocolate from Trader Joe's, and sometimes I have a chocolate croissant from Starbucks (because really, they are AMAZING). I was terrible about getting fruit or veggies yesterday and got NONE. Unless you count the little bit of sauce on my pasta at lunch. :-/ Ah well. Onward and forward, I'll keep at it.
I am also going to go to a class tomorrow at work (over lunch) called "Guts and Butts" so we'll see how that goes. It seems like it will be fun, and I'm going with a friend from work.
Other than the fitness front, I've started to go "No 'Poo" this week. I've been pondering it for a while, because no matter what shampoo I use, my scalp is super itchy after a few days of use. I also tend to have a dry scalp. I have been only shampooing every other day for a long time, which helps, but even then I have awful itchiness problems a lot of the time. So I figured it was worth a shot. My method is this:
Dissolve about 3 tablespoons of baking soda in water. I think I used about 2 cups of water. The consistency feels slippery when I pour some in my hand, which I read is what it's supposed to feel like. I use a condiment bottle (ordered from Amazon) to distribute the BS (haha) and then massage it through my hair with my fingers. I do have to shake the bottle up every time I use it because a lot of the soda precipitates out. I think that as of this morning (two washes in) I've used maybe 1/3 of my solution. My hair is only shoulder length, so the amount may change as my hair gets longer, but we'll just have to see. Once I rinse the BS out, which feels a bit slippery, I use a spray bottle to spray a solution of water and vinegar into my hair. This is the "conditioner" step. I used 2 tablespoons of my orange-infused vinegar and filled the spray bottle the rest of the way with water (1 cup). It smells slightly vinegar-y but mostly orangey, which is nice and refreshing early in the morning, and once my hair is dry it doesn't smell like anything. I do rinse it out after I apply it and rub it through my hair. Again, as my hair gets longer I may change the way I do this, but for now it seems to be working.
I first did this on Monday morning, skipped yesterday (as normal) and washed again this morning. My hair wasn't any greasier yesterday that it usually is on a non-wash day, which is mildly greasy in the morning and a little more by evening. It feels totally normal, not weighed down or flyaway or anything (and in the dry Colorado air I was a little concerned about static). It's a little curlier than when I use shampoo, which is nice, because I do have sort of schizo hair that can't decide to be straight/wavy or a combination of the two. Usually the front is one thing (straight) and the back is another (wavy to curly). Oy. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this pans out, and the lack of unpronounceable chemicals is a bonus. I doubt I'll save much money doing this because I spend very little on shampoo or conditioner to begin with.
Once my hair gets long again I may use commercial conditioner again, but we'll just have to see how this goes.
My weight this morning was 141.8. I have lost 7 pounds since I started this, and I have gone back nearly to my weight 2 YEARS ago. I am so proud of myself! I feel great. I've also gotten 60 miles down. I still have a ways to go in fitness and miles, and I want to be able to run two miles rather than just sort of half-ass run a mile and a half where I'm really only running a mile of it. Diet-wise I've been doing well at getting enough water (usually) and eating only whole food, though I do treat myself once in a while. I have the occasional chocolate from Trader Joe's, and sometimes I have a chocolate croissant from Starbucks (because really, they are AMAZING). I was terrible about getting fruit or veggies yesterday and got NONE. Unless you count the little bit of sauce on my pasta at lunch. :-/ Ah well. Onward and forward, I'll keep at it.
I am also going to go to a class tomorrow at work (over lunch) called "Guts and Butts" so we'll see how that goes. It seems like it will be fun, and I'm going with a friend from work.
 | |
| A selfie because I feel pretty today :-) |
Other than the fitness front, I've started to go "No 'Poo" this week. I've been pondering it for a while, because no matter what shampoo I use, my scalp is super itchy after a few days of use. I also tend to have a dry scalp. I have been only shampooing every other day for a long time, which helps, but even then I have awful itchiness problems a lot of the time. So I figured it was worth a shot. My method is this:
Dissolve about 3 tablespoons of baking soda in water. I think I used about 2 cups of water. The consistency feels slippery when I pour some in my hand, which I read is what it's supposed to feel like. I use a condiment bottle (ordered from Amazon) to distribute the BS (haha) and then massage it through my hair with my fingers. I do have to shake the bottle up every time I use it because a lot of the soda precipitates out. I think that as of this morning (two washes in) I've used maybe 1/3 of my solution. My hair is only shoulder length, so the amount may change as my hair gets longer, but we'll just have to see. Once I rinse the BS out, which feels a bit slippery, I use a spray bottle to spray a solution of water and vinegar into my hair. This is the "conditioner" step. I used 2 tablespoons of my orange-infused vinegar and filled the spray bottle the rest of the way with water (1 cup). It smells slightly vinegar-y but mostly orangey, which is nice and refreshing early in the morning, and once my hair is dry it doesn't smell like anything. I do rinse it out after I apply it and rub it through my hair. Again, as my hair gets longer I may change the way I do this, but for now it seems to be working.
I first did this on Monday morning, skipped yesterday (as normal) and washed again this morning. My hair wasn't any greasier yesterday that it usually is on a non-wash day, which is mildly greasy in the morning and a little more by evening. It feels totally normal, not weighed down or flyaway or anything (and in the dry Colorado air I was a little concerned about static). It's a little curlier than when I use shampoo, which is nice, because I do have sort of schizo hair that can't decide to be straight/wavy or a combination of the two. Usually the front is one thing (straight) and the back is another (wavy to curly). Oy. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this pans out, and the lack of unpronounceable chemicals is a bonus. I doubt I'll save much money doing this because I spend very little on shampoo or conditioner to begin with.
Once my hair gets long again I may use commercial conditioner again, but we'll just have to see how this goes.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Spring, and Progress
I see many lovely flowers on my daily walk. I missed taking pictures of the crocus, but I will try to capture the flowers currently blooming and yet to come.
Also, you may notice my ticker now says 60 miles!! YAY ME!!! More tomorrow, but I am very proud of myself. 60 down, 240 to go...20% of the way there!!
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Also, you may notice my ticker now says 60 miles!! YAY ME!!! More tomorrow, but I am very proud of myself. 60 down, 240 to go...20% of the way there!!
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