The Sensible Mom

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update: My Current Weight and Way Back to a Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet

April 22, 2014 by Sandra Leave a Comment

I know that back in February I said that I’d share my current weight with you and start posting weekly weight loss updates.

I’m fully aware that it’s April, and I’m just getting around to this now. 😉

The reason I ended up taking such a long break in between these posts is that in February and into March, we ended up going through a stressful move. Then after the move was over, I found myself delighted to just be a wife and mom again without all the online responsibilities that I’d pulled back from.

Our family was finally experiencing more normal days after so many difficult days, and I couldn’t have been happier.

I Think I’m Ready Now

I’m ready to share my weight and share just how I’m planning on losing weight this year. But before I share numbers, I do want to say that I’m not going on a typical “diet” to lose weight. I won’t be counting calories, but I am going to be eating the same foods that the rest of my family eats.

I mentioned a long time ago that I wanted my family to follow a whole foods plant-based diet. We did for some time and then fell away from that because of how busy I allowed myself to get, and then there was David’s diagnosis…

Well, we’re getting back to following that way of eating.

However, we’re not getting back to it in an all or nothing sort of way, because we’re still going to eat turkey on Thanksgiving and special meals for birthdays. But for the most part, we are cutting out meat, eggs, and dairy from our entire family’s diet.

We officially started back on a whole foods plant-based diet with lots of healthy starches, vegetables, and fruits last week. I feel like this way of eating is right and totally doable for my family. And it’s actually already blessing us when it comes to our health. See below. 😉

My Current Weight

Last Monday, I started the week at 193 lbs., and I weighed in at 190 lbs. last Saturday morning. After 5 full days of eating a whole foods plant-based diet, I lost 3 pounds!

We did do something really special food-wise for Easter, and I’ll share more about that in my next post.

Overall, though, I’ll be sticking to eating healthy starches like potatoes, whole grain pastas and breads, beans, vegetables, fruits, and the like, and each week I’ll come back and update on my progress.

My goal this year is to lose 25 lbs., and I truly believe that it’s going to happen.

Here’s what my weight loss progress looks like so far:

Beginning weight: 193 lbs.

Current Weight: 190 lbs.

Goal Weight for 2014: 168 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2014: 25 lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 22 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 3 lbs.

Do you have a weight loss goal for 2014?

10 Goals for the Week

April 21, 2014 by Sandra 2 Comments

I didn’t get as much done as I would have hoped to last week, but that’s okay. 😉

Here’s what I did get accomplished:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Play outside with the kids at least 3x and get some much needed vitamin D from the sunshine – I don’t leave the house much right now, so I want to make an effort to get outside with the kids (and get some vitamin D in the process 🙂 ) instead of simply watching them play from inside. — I only played outside with the kids once last week.

2. ~~Plan a Family Night~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Juice 1x this week~~

4. Walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes 4x — I only made it on the treadmill 2x for 20 minutes.

5. Read 20 pages of Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom by Tricia Goyer — I got sidetracked last week and ended up reading The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good by Dr. John McDougall. I loved this book, and we’re starting a new way of eating this week. I feel totally prepared to live a healthier lifestyle after reading Dr. McDougall’s book, but I’m looking forward to getting back to Balanced on my Kindle app this week.

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Mop the floors~~

7. ~~Unpack one box sitting in the basement~~

Business Goals:

8. Get caught up on work — I’m still behind.

9. Return emails — I didn’t get to them all.

10. Write 4 blog posts — Someday, I WILL write four blog posts in a week. I’m not giving up on this goal!

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Play outside with the kids at least 3x and get some much needed vitamin D from the sunshine – I don’t leave the house much right now, so I want to make an effort to get outside with the kids (and get some vitamin D in the process 🙂 ) instead of simply watching them play from inside.

2. Plan a Family Night

Personal Goals:

3. “Eat that Frog” Tuesday through Saturday of this week! 😉 — I’m going to work on doing the most difficult task that needs to be done FIRST in my day before focusing on the endless smaller tasks that take up my time.

4. Walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes 3x

5. Read 20 pages of Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom by Tricia Goyer

Home Management Goals:

6. Fill one bag with items to donate

7. Unpack one box sitting in the basement

Business Goals:

8. Get caught up on work

9. Return emails

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

Breastfeeding 101: Tandem Nursing

April 15, 2014 by Rachel 2 Comments

Written by my contributing writer, Rachel

When we learned we were pregnant with our second child, my daughter had just turned 1 year old and was still nursing strong. She showed absolutely no signs of letting up on nursing. At my La Leche League (LLL) meetings, I had heard about tandem nursing and that women could breastfeed two children (and sometimes more!) at the same time, but I didn’t know if that would work for me.

I could not imagine nursing a toddler and needy newborn at the same time. I would NEVER get anything done. Nursing TWO children would be a lot of work, time-consuming, and a bit of a juggling act. However, I was not ready to end my nursing relationship with my daughter.

tandemlogo

I decided to talk with other tandem nursing moms through my Facebook LLL group, and I read several LLL articles on the subject. I also bought Adventures In Tandem Nursing by Hilary Flower – such a great resource!

Just like deciding whether or not to nurse is YOUR decision and no one else’s, so is deciding to tandem nurse.

Here are the reasons I decided to tandem nurse:

1. I Wasn’t Ready to Stop
My daughter and I were not ready to end our nursing relationship. She has been an on demand nursling since birth. Even now at 26 months, she would nurse all day long, if I let her! I try to limit her to one morning, one noon, and one night nursing session with a few times in between if she is in need of some calming mommy time. It is amazing how nursing can change her attitude – a lifesaver for those terrible two tantrum moments!

2. Continued Health Benefits
I wanted to give my daughter the health benefits of extended nursing to two years. In mainstream media, the idea of nursing past the 1 year mark seems absurd. However, the World Health Organization recommends nursing to 2, if desirable for both you and your nursling. Your toddler is still receiving wonderful health and emotional benefits by doing so – and so are you!

3. Sibling Bonding
This has been one of the most amazing benefits of tandem nursing for me. Getting to witness the bond develop between my daughter and newborn son is beautiful. They gaze lovingly and inquisitively at each other while nursing, she helps him out by squeezing my breast and expressing more milk for him, and she strokes his hair while they both nurse. These are precious moments that I will hold dear for a long time.

Ben and Meah bonding

Though it can be time-consuming and demanding, I find that tandem nursing has been worth the effort and has been a good decision for myself and my little ones.

I’d love to hear your nursing stories! Maybe you are currently pregnant and considering tandem nursing now, or have tandem nursed before. What effect has tandem nursing had on you?

Click here to read more Breastfeeding 101 posts.

10 Goals for the Week – And I’m going to start blogging again (for real this time)

April 13, 2014 by Sandra 5 Comments

Some days I think, “What is wrong with me? Why can’t I write a simple blog post and stop taking such long breaks in between posts?

Seriously.

What is WRONG with me?”

Well the truth is, because of everything that’s happened to my family over the last eight months, I’m not the same girl I used to be. I’m not the same wife and mother that I once was, either.

I’m different. And I can’t go back to being the “old Sandra” ever again. A part of me is a little sad about that because the “old Sandra” was so much less afraid of what life might throw her way. She was definitely more carefree.

These days, if my world starts feeling crazy or David starts throwing up (like he did this morning), my heart sinks, anxiety starts to creep up on me, and my mind starts racing with thoughts of hospitalization and stressful situations.

Then I pray. And I feel better and trust that the Lord is in control of everything.

I end up not having to call the doctor, and if my problems are related to my children, I steal a few minutes away from most of them so that I can regroup and come back a better mom.

All that to say…

I want to blog. And I’m going to make a concerted effort to write at least four times this week. The reason it’s been so difficult for me lately is that because of what happened to David, my eyes were opened, and I realized that I wasn’t being the wife and mother that I believe the Lord wanted me to be. Before David’s diagnosis, I knew in what order my priorities should’ve been, but in reality, they were all out of order.

I was working way too much online, and I needed a wake up call. While I never would’ve chosen the exact call I received, in the end, it’s made me a far better wife and mother than I’ve been in a long time. For that, I’m thankful. (I’m also very grateful that David continues to do well since his transplant. I’m going to write an update about his progress later this week as well.)

But my point is…

Doing things differently and focusing happily on my family these days takes an incredible amount of time. It’s time that is so worth it, and it’s time well spent. But it means that I have to be much more strategic about how I carve out time to write here on my blog.

I’ve decided that nights will work for now.

I tried early mornings, but after a few successes, I found that the earlier I got out of bed – the earlier my KIDS started to get out of bed. Somehow they just know when Mommy is awake!

So, while I wish I was waking up at 5:00am every day, it’s not going to happen unless I want “friends” up with me.

Most definitely, nights will work for now. 😉

I had no intention of making this goals post so long…

But I wanted to update you on what’s been going on with me and why I’ve been so sporadic in my writing and how I’m going to change that.

Now, finally, here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

2. Plan a Family Night

Personal Goals:

3. Juice 1x this week

4. Walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes 4x

5. Read 20 pages of Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom by Tricia Goyer — I got sidetracked last week and ended up reading The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good by Dr. John McDougall. I loved this book, and we’re starting a new way of eating this week. I feel totally prepared to live a healthier lifestyle after reading Dr. McDougall’s book, but I’m looking forward to getting back to Balanced on my Kindle app this week.