#52weeksofRoarke

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Life in general has been moving along like normal for the most part. I have been keeping busy with work as usual and trying my best to prepare for this transition period that is about to happen. There has definitely been some major changes taking place around our neck of the woods lately.

My pregnancy has been pretty easy, which Im extremely thankful for. I really cant complain about too much. I am amazed with how much body is changing. Right now our June Bug is the size of an ear of corn and weighing in at about 1 1/2 lbs. However, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball which is a little freaky. My cravings are all over the place... from fast food one week to all veggies the next. Im just going with the flow.

I have been wearing maternity pants for probably over a month now. When I finally switched over to them all I could think about was why didnt I do this a LONG time ago. It is so nice to actually feel like I can breathe! Also, my cousin, Leslie, gave me all her maternity clothes since she just had a baby recently. How sweet of her to do and a true blessing. I feel like I may make it through this pregnancy without spending hardly any money on clothes Ill only wear for a few months. YAY!

Remington has definitely been realizing that changes are happening and I have tried to make it very clear to him that he is more than welcome to explore those changes. Any new baby stuff we purchase goes straight to the floor for a few days for him to sniff out and discover what they are all about. I have read that keeping your dog away from baby items only makes the transition harder when the baby comes, so he has had free reign of almost everything. He has also become very clingy to me lately... always following me around and during therapy dog visits leaning his head up against my belly. All my residents are amazed at the changes they have seen in him toward me lately.

Dan and I have been hard at work shuffling our house around and getting the nursery ready. I have felt a little badly because Dan has kind of lost his space in our house, but he has been a trooper during every minute and has done nothing but try to make me happy and do exactly what I want. Im definitely the stressed and anxious one about the baby coming and he is my rock as usual. I am so blessed to have him as my partner... so so blessed.

The most amazing thing I have seen and felt these past few weeks is the amount of movement happening! I am truly shocked at how strong this little human is at just 1 1/2 lbs! One night I was sitting watching TV and our little June Bug was kicking really hard so I decided to try to catch it on video to share with Dan. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched this over and over again in pure amazement!!!

Crazy right! And just FYI... I dont have three belly button holes... two of them are from when I use to have a belly button ring :)

Anyways... more updates to come in the following weeks. Time is flying by so fast that it is hard to keep up, but I will try my best!!!! Hopefully this was a nice little update to keep everyone in the loop!

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Roarkes older cousin Mae stopped my to visit this week.

Of course there was a photo shoot that took place while they were together.

Enjoy!

Can you see the love :)

Thanks for coming to visit Mae! Well see you again soon!

(take a look at Remi... he was madly in love with Mae!)

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Not a good week for me.  I didnt feel like I had eaten anything that bad all week (aside from the temptation of my hubbys Kashi Island Vanilla cereal) but I ended up gaining 2.5 lbs and am now at a total loss of 58 lbs instead of reaching my halfway point.

Being the moody brat that I am at times, I cheated all weekend out of frustration.  Birthday cookie, birthday cake, some sort of rice salad, bread, an English muffin - you name it, I ate it.  So today Im feeling slightly hungrier than usual from pigging out all weekend but Im feeling a bit more committed to the cause after having gotten it all out of my system (for now).

Again I find myself wishing that Medi-Weightloss had multiple phases for the actual losing of weight instead of one (acute) phase that tortures you with a lack of food choices until youve reached goal.  Then again, this is how most dieting COMPANIES make their money - they promise results that are definitely obtainable but they forget to tell you that in order to get those results you are going to have to make yourself and everyone around you at every meal miserable until you reach your goal and after that youll only be slightly less miserable once you begin to relearn how to incorporate ALL foods back into your diet.

*super sigh*

So Ive got some work to do and Ive got kind of a bad attitude about the whole thing at this point but Ive managed to stick with more strict diets for longer so ... here goes nothing!  Wish me luck next week... I really need to hear some words of encouragement before I have another incident of literally begging for a piece of red velvet cake.

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Well, 25 days in and I feel like Im really starting to "get it".  It seems as though Im eating a lot of things I would normally eat except in smaller portions or with fewer "frills".  For example, last night I had a 4 oz tilapia fillet seasoned with a lemon pepper herb blend and 1 cup of those delicious oven roasted turnip "fries".  The tilapia I would have eaten anyway but probably would have had closer to 6 oz before with probably 1.5-2 cups of turnip... and the pre-diet turnip would have been tossed with olive oil instead of just spraying it with olive oil spray.  So I really havent been feeling deprived, aside from my undying obsession with Easter candy.  I honestly dont think that will ever go away.  I could be told that a Cadbury Egg contained deadly poison with no cure and Id still consider eating it.  And while death by chocolate would seem appropriate for a fat person, I dont want to be fat anymore so as far as Im concerned all Easter candy is poisonous (to my diet). 

A lot of people have mentioned to me in the past 3+ weeks that they admire my will power and couldnt live without bread/pasta/rice/etc. but I dont plan on living without it forever.  This style of eating is a great short-term solution to a healthier me for the rest of my life.  If I can utilize the tools given to me by the Medi-Weightloss clinic and successfully reach my goal weight then Ill be prepared to enter a phase of my life that does include all of those delicious carbs.  And Ill be better prepared to incorporate them into my diet so that they are a healthy addition to my meals instead of being extra empty calories.  I mean, I love a giant mound of buttery mashed potatoes as much as the next person but have I ever really needed it?  Im not starving (then or now).  I dont need to overeat.  I just need to make sure my body has the nutrients required to function normally while losing weight or maintaining my goal weight.  And before, I was overloading my body with junk.  So, a low-carb low-fat diet is the punishment for overindulging.  It really could be worse.  I could have given myself a heart attack if I had kept eating poorly.  And that is just part of the motivation I have within myself to avoid those carbs that everyone loves so much.

Is it hard to stick with it?  Of course!  But every time I feel like it might be too difficult to toe the line, I remember what my butt looked like in the mirror 3 weeks ago.  I didnt recognize it.  The thought entered my mind, "I couldnt possibly be that fat".  And then I realized how long it had been since I had really taken the time to admire myself in a mirror... a long time.  It doesnt take long to transform your body.  And that is true whether youre gaining or losing weight.  So... I keep telling myself, "It wont be long now."

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Yeah!  I made it to the 140s!  Im super excited - I havent been here since last year, just before our vacation.  Now, to get down just another 10 would be fantastic!  As I go back through our weight loss chart and stats, I notice that we lose more weight in the phase 3 part of the week, which I find interesting since we dont really work out during that time period.  But, it supports our plan for "whats next" - eating a modified phase 3 diet everyday, starting up a cycle of P90X and having a cheat meal or snack in moderation - not a whole day of cheat meals.  And, by a "modified phase 3 diet", I mean, eat a fruit for breakfast and lunch (any fruit), eat a grain for breakfast and dinner (any grain), and get protein, veggies and healthy fats in at all meals and snacks.  I am so looking forward to it!

Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 149.8 lbs
Anthony: 240.0 lbs

Menu:
Breakfast @ 7:30am:
Steel cut oats with blueberries, egg and peppers

Snack @ 11am:
Carrots and sunflower seeds

Lunch @ 3pm:
Filet mignon and veggie kabobs

Snack @ 6:30pm:
Sunflower seeds

Dinner - none, fell asleep early

Workout:
Just a massage - yeah me!

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I did it - I got all 4 days of workouts in, even with the crazy evening schedule.  I think that as long as you make it a priority, you will make it happen. 

I made it out to the co-op over lunch to grab some things for the weekend along with some baking items for next weekend - there are several recipes that I want to try over the coming weeks.  Per Haylie, "if you bake it, your metabolism can take it!"  And, since I love to bake, why not try some healthier versions of the things we love?! 

Morning Weigh In:
Kiana: 151.2 lbs
Anthony: 240.6 lbs

Menu:
Breakfast @ 6:30am:
Turkey bacon and celery

Snack @ 10am:
Beef jerky and red peppers

Lunch @ 1pm:
Panera salad

Snack @ 4pm:
Beef jerky and red peppers

Dinner @ 7:30pm:
Filet mignon and broccoli

Workout:
P90X Legs and Back

Notes on Food:
We are coming down to the last few days and my lack of creativity is really showing through. I didnt change much up today and had beef jerky twice, but oh well, it was easy and good.

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