Babies, Babies and more Babies!

So Paul and I have a hand full of friends and family that are pregnant! Congrats to all of you! I think we are at that age where we have moved on from the constant weddings and now we are in constant Baby Showers! I definitely think it is much more fun to buy baby gifts than wedding gifts, that's for sure! Of course it's way to easy to get carried away...

Anyway, I'm a morning show listener (The Bert Show), and they have a producer that recently had a baby so Bert came across this advise on the Huffington Post, and I wanted to pass it on to all those soon to be mother's I know. I'm not a mom, or mom-to-be myself (yet), but it seems like very good advice!

See what you think!  Click Here for the FULL ARTICLE.

The Best Parenting Advice I Never Got

If I could go back and give myself some more practical advice it would look something like this:

1. When they nap, you nap. Don't send emails, don't catch up on work. Nap.

2. Travel with your children when they are very young. At six months old it's just as easy to keep them entertained in Cozumel as it is in Cleveland. You might as well get a tan out of the deal.


3. Buy a rechargeable, cordless hand vacuum. Your floors and cars will thank you.

4. It's perfectly acceptable to make an entire dinner in the microwave.

5. In every parent-child relationship someone has to be the grown up. Try to make sure that someone is you. A two-year-old has the right to act like a child, you do not.

6. Take everyone who volunteers to babysit up on the offer. Repeatedly.


7. Buy everything you can second-hand.

8. Make time for the other relationships in your life -- seeing you in the role of good friend or devoted spouse teaches your kids way more than a Baby Einstein marathon.

9. There's no such thing as using too many wipes.

10. There will be times when you're sure you are a terrible parent and, secretly, wonder why you ever had kids in the first place. This is normal. Forgive yourself these occasional moments of self-doubt and, from time to time, let yourself mourn your life pre-parenthood. Then have a healthy glass of wine, get some sleep and get back to work. After all, as you've no doubt heard, it's a tough job, but it's all worth it.

Oh, and go see a movie while you still can.

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I love movies! You should definitely do that last one... and let me know when you do as I'm totally game!

Definitely READ THE FULL ARTICLE! It's very entertaining!!!


HC3 Diet - We've Passed the Half-Way Mark

Paul and I have been on the HC3 Diet for about three and a half weeks now,passing the half-way point. Things are going well, but I must say, we are getting tired of the same stuff we've been eating and are ready for the reset phase when we can add more options into our diet!

Yesterday we met with Kelly Hall, our nutritionist at Optimum Health, and definitely had a lot more questions for her this time around! While we have continued to loose weight, we are planning to try a couple different things to pump up and keep the momentum!

We've had several temptations (alcoholic beverages mostly) that we just could not resist, we have generally stayed strong with the diet, and overall during those times didn't gain weight, just maintained. After the Bryan Adams evening, our ketone levels just dropped off, and so we had to build back up, but the rebound was definitely quick. Kelly was a bit concerned with me, as my eetone levels have continually stayed high, which would imply fat burning, so I should be dropping the weight faster, but weight loss seems to taper more and more as my ketones stay at a high level. It seems to be the case that it's better to be at a medium ketone level to really continually lose the weight. The main concern was that I am getting too acidic.

So, she is starting me with a half serving of Total Vegan on a daily basis to see if that puts me in a good place to lose more while still keeping the ketone levels moderated. It's kind of nice because the Total Vegan is Chocolate flavor, and I've missed chocolate!

The continual weight loss has been a huge motivating factor, we have about 2 weeks left and it's certainly possible that we could both drop another 15 pounds or so. We just need to keep focused on the long term goal. It's definitely worth feeling more energy and comfort with our bodies, and also seeing clothes that didn't fit us previously fit us now and even are too big!

Here is an image of the body composition analysis from July 26th and August 9th respectively. I know it's hard to read cause it's on thermal paper and the heat has gotten to it. I've outlined the main details below (first is mine and the second is Paul's) :

Body Composition: July 26 August 9th

  • Weight 149.6lbs 145.0 lbs
  • BMI 31.3 30.3
  • Fat % 38.8% 34.7%
  • Fat Mass 55.0 lbs 50.4 lbs

Desirable Range - Fat % 21-33 and Fat Mass 25.2-46.6lbs

 

Body Composition: July 26 August 9th

  • Weight 234.6lbs 227.0 lbs
  • BMI 34.6 34.5
  • Fat % 39.2% 34.8%
  • Fat Mass 92.0 lbs 79.0 lbs

Desirable Range - Fat % 8-20 and Fat Mass 12.8-37.0lbs

I'm very close to being within the desirable range, but definitely would prefer to be in the middle of that range with wiggle room up or down. Paul's got a little more to go, but has definitely made awesome progress! I get frustrated that he seems to have dropped so much more... but I guess that's the difference between girls and guys! Unfortunately we don't have details from the start date, but I have officially dropped 13 lbs total, and Paul has dropped 18 lbs total.

YEAH for Us!