Baby Weight is Down

My weight that is! And I feel fantastic. I do not feel I have been able to truly share in the loss of weight and gain of happy endorphins. All I read is about how women (and a few men) are struggling to lose weight gained during the pregnancy. So in the mess of unhappy bodies can I share in the glory of getting my body back after pregnancy?

Does anyone really want to hear how I struggled with excepting the extra pounds as apart of motherhood? I sacrifice plenty for my kids; I didn't want to live in a body that was not mine. First step I published my goals for everyone to see,

Project 622

5. Lose that 30 lbs of “baby” weight

6. Be happy if I don’t

I made exercise a priority everyday even if it meant doing Wii-Fit for an hour after the kids went to bed and the kitchen is a mess. I focused on eating healthier and drinking water, lots of it. I hate to drink water because it leads to going to the bathroom then washing hands and dry hands. Every 15 minutes. Seriously I believe I have the smallest bladder ever.

Months, which felt like eons, pass and I manage to lose a couple pounds. I begged the scale to move a little further in the other direction but inanimate objects listen like toddlers do. Scale doesn't budge but I felt good. Yes! That's #6 crossed off.

Call me what you want but the weight fell off after that to the point I am happy to maintain my weight as this is my pre-baby weight. I slipped on a pair of pre-baby jeans effortlessly that I was hanging on to "just in case" not ever expecting to see them again.

I just wanted to be me. And I really hate to hear "You look great for having two kids". I want to look great because I take care of myself and respect my body.

SuperMom status was never sacrificed during the course of this loss. Maybe its unrealistic to do it all but I can try.

#19 Get another tattoo

In Las Vegas and with the support of my close girlfriends, I did it. For me to get another tattoo was really no big accomplishment since I have known for 2 years what I wanted to get and where it was going to be. I just lacked the follow through so we all thought why not now, here in Vegas.

Tattoo Heaven helped me cross off #19 from my list when they put Julianna's birthdate written in Hebrew on my back. Just perfect.

My first tattoo was a butterfly as a symbol of happiness in the Chinese culture, in honor of my brothers' heritage; the butterfly was designed from a toe ring that my mom and I picked out in Santa Cruz in my favorite colors. The next tattoo Julianna's birthdate was drawn just below the butterfly which now appears to be landing on the text. The symbolism is that my happiest moment was the day that I became a mother.

I do plan to have one done to represent Amaya but I have yet to figure it out. Her addition will be just as meaningful as the first two. But no rush for now.

Vegas Baby! #8 Go on Girls' Vacation

Vegas Baby!

That's how I refer to my upcoming vacation each and every time I can mention it to anyone that listens. I am for the first time ever going on a trip with a few of the best girlfriends a woman can share my life with. This vacation also the first time I have ever left the kids for an extended time, overnight for Amaya. The fantasy of traveling to Las Vegas for a weekend trip sounded so enticing but as the date drew nearer I realized I wasn't ready to be without the smiles and hugs of Julianna and Amaya. A weekend vacation just wasn't going to happen for me until they leave for college.

Late one night curiosity, and a little bit of midnight restlessness, set in and I looked around for flights to Las Vagas. My option was to leave Friday evening and return Monday morning, oh dear tears started rolling down my face its far too long I think to myself. I find an early flight Saturday morning and earliest return flight on Sunday morning. I send out the message that I will be joining the clan for just one night. I am immediately instructed that Las Vegas cannot be accomplished in just one night. Now what, how in the world can I abandon my children for two whole nights and days. The guilt has taken over and I call my mom for moral support. Well, that didn't help since I get from her that she never left me overnight until I was at least a teenager. But she does encourage me that the girls will be okay and I'll have fun.

Long story short, I find the perfect flight I am most comfortable with that leaves late Friday evening and returns early Sunday morning. My pep talk goes a little like this: I'll only be gone for technically one day and be back just after breakfast on Sunday. Now I might sleep the entire day that I return but at least I'll be able to snuggle with my girls the entire day.

Can't live without them. Kids.

But I'm doing this for me and get to cross off #8 on my Project 622. Accomplished.

#16 Got credit score

I requested the dreaded credit report. The one that you are supposed to check every year. Well I've never check my credit report as recommended, because much like the medical business philosophy, "no news is good news". If I ignored it then I wouldn't have to be honest with myself, personally I like to avoid problems that I can't solve.

Quite the accomplishment for me, face my problems and be patient. I am all about solving problems and getting it done immediately. Improving credit score (#17) will have to take time but at least I know now where my starting line is. That starting line is fair and certainly not as bad as I thought.

So now I have to take the steps to get to the perfect 800. I will make a promise for my children to have better credit rating than they do so I can be a co-signer if necessary for those, ugh, college loans.

I ran that mile -- #42

I ran a mile today! I ran the entire mile!

I know this must sound silly to most but my entire life I've hated to run. I played sports of all kinds and I could swim around the world as long as you didn't ask me to run at any portion of the trip. In grade school I would never get an A in P.E. solely because I refused to run the stupid mile test. So today I made every P.E. teacher of mine proud, well maybe just myself.

Today after 15 minutes on the stair machine I thought to myself how tiring this is, so I'll go walk briskly on the treadmill. I wanted to start preparing to train to run this mile (Project 622 task #42) so I started slow with a run of 1 minute. After successfully running for the minute, let's go a little further and run 1 1/2 minutes. I got to that mini goal and just kept running one minute at a time until I ran 15 minutes. It really is like Forrest Gump; I just kept running. Technically I ran a little longer than a mile but the Kid's Playarea was closing and my kids would be really mad at me I'm sure if I chose the treadmill over them.

Now that my task is completed, I realized it was all in my head that I couldn't run a mile, my entire life. I want to do it again.

Finished a book -- #11

Without regret or hesitation, I would like to announce that I have actually 100% completed the book, The Measure of a Man. From the beginning to end, Sidney Poitier is an exceptional writer and man. I truly enjoyed the selection from Oprah's Book Club list.

I was only able to find time to read when I was working out on either the stationary bike or stair machine. Otherwise, despite my efforts, the book did not get opened. It all worked out just fine but it meant my reading time was limited.

As from my previous post regarding Sidney's Legacy, the book is phenomenal. I recommend the book to everyone to read. But you've heard that from me before. So what's next? I can't go back to reading mom magazines now while working out.

Any good recommendations? I'd like to hear it.

San Francisco Zoo

Project #56 Day trip to San Francisco Zoo

The weather is getting nice and I was itching to get out of town. The brilliant idea came to me to get my two best friends from high school together and let's get outta here. The three of us used to travel and have the best adventures. I bet you didn't know there are hip-hop skaters that dance in the middle of Golden Gate Park, neither did we until one of our adventures lead us there. Well now that two of us are mothers we sure were in for an adventure when I suggested a day trip to San Francisco Zoo.

The six of us piled into the Highlander with toddlers in the 3rd row seats coloring and eating snacks, which worked well until Angelo bonked Julianna in the forehead with a cup. Its okay we solved that problem with some "quiet time" as I like to call it; Angelo took a nap and Julianna never made a peep.

We made it with only one potty break and no Bay Bridge traffic! Unheard of, right? We stumbled upon rockstar parking, ie. free and close to entrance. Tip #1 Search for street parking before pay $8 for parking lot.

As we continue our journey pushing two strollers, three lunch coolers, two diaper bags, backpack, and the three little ones, we arrive to see the gracious giraffes. I think on my next list I will be to see giraffes in the wild, as in go on African Safari Tour. The giraffe exhibit has hills and tall trees as well as other giraffes to interact with, gorgeous but must move on. Tip #2 Try to resist spending 2 hours in the African exhibit.

The zoo starts with the Africa exhibit there are gorillas, lemurs, zebras, and others. We looped around and stopped for an unexpected delicious lunch at the Lemur Cafe. Even though we had enough food to feed a small classroom we forgot the staple items as in sandwiches. I would suggest the cheese pizza as a yummy giant slice to share. Tip #3 Lemur Cafe--pricey but money well spent.

Now after potty break, we stopped at the Children's Zoo. There is a petting zoo inside with goats, sheep, and chickens. The goats did bully their way to some snack pellets, but that was nothing compared to the squirrels we found rummaging through the strollers when we returned to stroller parking. Tip #4 When leaving your stroller unattended at petting zoo, the squirrels WILL chew through lunchpack zipper to get your cocoa-covered almonds.

Tip #5 The zoo closes at 5 pm. Your day will fly by, please keep an eye on the time.

Leaving the Children's Zoo we realize we have about 45 minutes left so we buckle the kids into the strollers and run to the other side of the park. We are proud to say it was worth it. In the very back of the park is the Australian Outback and bears, polar, grizzly, and black, and brown.

Tip #6 Don't forget to take pictures. My camera never left my diaper bag. I had a great time enjoying the zoo with a few of the greatest people in my life but a couple pictures are needed to document. I do believe we did capture the work of the squirrels; I'll have to check on that.

The ride home wasn't bad considering tired, grumpy toddlers in the back and exhausted baby in the middle of it. We pulled out the DVD player and "Bolt" saved the day! Tip #7 Bring a movie player.

The day was marvelous and I hope we can do it again. 13 years later, marriages, kids and we are still three women that are loving, warm, kindred spirits, brave, and silly. That trip was perfect for Project 622.

Next stop--San Diego Zoo.

Update on Project 622

Working on Project 622 has been so much fun. I have had several people close to me that want to help in some way to accomplish completing my list. Kellie wants to train with me so we can run that mile (#42 Run a mile), Cynthia offered to give me a bike (#33 Buy a bike), Tony and Monique promised to buy my shoes and babysit for that date (#24 Buy new pair of black stilettos, #25 Dinner date to wear new shoes); I absolutely love the support I've received.

So far, I have put working out into my daily schedule so for 3 weeks I've been in yoga and cardio(#4 workout 4 times in a week). I started that book, The Measure of a Man, (#11), that is an incredible man Sidney Poitier. A great read, thanks Oprah Book Club! I haven't lost all the weight but I'm happy about the way I feel (#6 be happy if I don't).

This is an amazing adventure and its not over. I am looking forward to crossing more off the list but until then I feel fabulous.

Have you started your list? Figure out what you want and write it down.