X-Post: Practicing Safe Consumption

For the past two weeks or so, Scott and I (and our toddler Micah!) have been eating super, super healthy. Tons of vegetables (TONS), lean meats (esp. fish), a few whole grains, and fruits. We've never felt better, and look!... Scott's already dropped 12 pounds plus!

OK, confession time: We're trying to conceive. Sort of. I'd say we're "Conceiving Lite" actually. What I mean by that is that we've just been having fun with it, not actually taking my temperature, timing things out perfectly, etc.... just going for it and enjoying each other, because one thing neither of us wants is grueling, mind-numbing sex. (Sorry to our parents for those words.) And why not? That is precisely how Micah came into the world. When we got married, we decided that we'd get pregnant when we get pregnant. Surprise! One month later, I was preggo!

This time, though, I'm trying to be really smart about it. We've been in Conception Lite mode for about a year now, which is fine by me because I've been working HARD with my doctor on just getting my body right again. I was *really* sick during my last trimester of Micah's gestation with stress-induced pre-eclampsia, and either one of us (or both) could have died.

Imagine being in Scott's shoes at the time.

Plus, I remember a moment in a nutrition class I took at the U of U when the instructor mentioned that women wanting to get pregnant should prepare her body several months in advance with proper nutrition. I remember that so clearly, because in my then 20-year old Utah Mormon female mind, I thought I was for sure going to get married and pregnant ANY! DAY! NOW! All of my other high school friends were, for heaven's sake!

So Scott has lost 12 pounds, and I've lost 5. I'm actually over-the-moon elated and grateful for the 5 pound loss because it shows that the past year of seeing my doctor is working. Otherwise, it has been impossible dropping any weight at all.

Scott and I have been through a lot regarding my metabolism. First, the doctor told me to stop dieting. She said it was useless to have the heartache of not losing anything when I had other problems that were hindering the weight loss process. The biggest one was post-partum depression. Never anything too serious, I never wanted to hurt my baby or anything like that. But it never helped that I had a psycho insecure internet stalker sending me and my family insane ramblings in email, and who STILL reads my blog every single day, but now I LIKE that she still reads me. Then there was the insomnia that was causing me to produce way too much cortisol, so I had to learn how to fall asleep at a good hour and get eight hours uninterrupted sleep. Oh, and my doctor thinks that my lack of progesterone was due to having a little bebe boy, and all of those symptoms were feeding each other, and causing everything to spiral. Now that I've overcome those, thanks to my doctor (who is coincidentally a medicine woman in her Native American tribe, and a black belt in karate, and is in her 80's) I'm doing better than ever!!!

Note: If anyone in the Salt Lake area wants a referral to my doctor, let me know. I am 100% convinced she can read your mind, and that she can tell what's wrong just by looking at you. Or if you are suffering from post-partum depression, don't hesitate to contact me about that either. There IS hope! (Just leave me a comment with your email addy, and I WON'T publish it, but will write you back.)

ANYWAY, so now you know. And I feel good putting it out there, because I've always believed in the power of sending things out into the universe, so to speak. In fact, one thing I learned is that when you are genuinely grateful for your life and the blessings received, that's when you can finally make room to receive more blessings. So I hope my friends know that when they get pregnant or lose weight or whatever, I am never jealous, only THRILLED for them. Sincerely thrilled, because I have faith my turn is coming up soon, and in the Lord's time.

In fact, the focus of my blog has always been to count my blessings... but I'm sure to people on the outside it's looked like full-blown bragging, which is fine by me.

That said, let me tell you about some of our favorite products that make a low-fat, low-calorie, low-quantity diet liveable (and ENJOYABLE!!!). For the most part, we've been focusing on eating whole, non-processed foods. And we're even avoiding the frozen entree route, because as tasty and as convenient as they are, they're chock-full of sodium. But there are a FEW additions we made to our diets that have made all the difference in the world over the past two weeks.

This morning, for breakfast, my tastebuds almost reached nirvana! And that enlightening experience is thanks to this amazing product: Special K Cinnamon Pecan cereal. Topped with skim milk and a banana, it is heavenly!

For lunch, it's not uncommon for us to have a turkey sandwich on Orowheat Double Fiber bread. I actually hate wheat bread, but this is super tasty! I'd even go so far as to call it the best bread since sliced bread.

And for an occasional dessert? Oh my, diet dessert products have never been better... and Skinny Cow brand ice cream is the BEST, in my opinion. The Mint with Fudge ice cream cone is a more satisfying treat than any ol' premium ice cream I've ever tried.

There you have it... a very personal look into my life.