4-Day win follow-up

Beck's 4-day Win focuses on one behavior modification model in particular, the Transtheoretical Model, or Stages of Change. This is a behavioral change model developed by Prochaska and DiClemente'. They theorize that there are five stages of developing behaviors:

Pre-contemplation

Contemplation

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Relapse*

Focusing on these stages in particular isn't the purpose of this blog however. You can google the model or authors and get the analytical background...I'd like to focus more on the power behind each stage and better understanding them, via Beck's 4-Day Win. Let's dive into the "why" and the "how." In the battle of weight loss, the two are inseparable.

Until I had my son, I never faced the weight-loss beast. I went from a lean 115lbs to a very pregnant 175lbs. My waist went from 25" to 42". Talk about some mind games! Within four days of his birth, I dropped 20lbs. I went from 155lb to 150 quickly...Down to 140 with relative ease, within 17 days of delivery. About a month a half later I was down to 133. Then I started training again: rowing and snatching. Needless to say, my milk supply dropped and I had to put my weight loss endeavors on hold for a bit. With clean eating and lots of walking, I was down to 128 by December (Connor was born in mid-July). But then the scale got stuck. I would float between 123 and 128, hopeful at 123 that I would very soon have my former body. But then, the scale would creep closer to 130lb and I'd get frustrated and disappointed. (At 5'2", on a good day, this weight isn't very forgiving.) I'd beat myself up, saying to myself that it was embarrassing that I was an elite coach, a trainer that has helped people get tight and strong bodies. What was the hang-up with myself?

In addition to the physical weight, the mental weight of the situation, daily, changed my attitude. I was becoming a different person. Resentful and sad. Two things I have also never been in my life. I was obsessed with losing weight. It consumed my day. How crazy, when I have so much more wonderful happenings in life! But, the scale and food ruled my days. I would go between being desperate to lose the weight to rational about needing to eat to supply milk for my babe.

I bought the Four-Day Win last summer. And for some reason didn't open it up until a few weeks ago. I may not have been ready for the book right away. I needed to fight the weight battle to better understand and appreciate the meat that lay in these pages.

After reading, I think the book would be better titled," The Power of the Watcher."

....now my husband is home from a long day of work (at 10:01 pm)....to be continued..again...

The 4-Day Win

I recently posted about this book (The 4-Day Win: End your diet war & achieve thinner peace, by Martha Beck) on Facebook. Every now and then a book comes along and really inspires me, it changes my life.

I played sports growing up, but was always a little awkward. The days I was on, I was really good at the game. The days I was off, I was reeeeaalllly off. I didn't care though. I played for the fun of it. Sure, being on a winning team was nice, but I played for sport. This is evident if you were on my tennis or soccer team in High School. ;) There was gymnastics, softball, flag football, baseball and more softball, in addition to tennis and soccer. Most of the time I didn't even know all the rules of the game or how to technically do the task at hand.

I think this is what has driven me in my adult life to know every detail about how and WHY to do something. Anything I do now, I do with a purpose and HAVE to get the background information. In college, I naturally fell in the Health Promotions field. Understanding how to get information to the masses intrigued me. Countless behavior modification models, statistics, epidemiology and psychology courses targeted how to better get information to "target populations" by investigating their social, economical and educational background.

Beck's 4-day Win focuses on one behavior modification model in particular, the Transtheoretical Model, or Stages of Change.

I've got a babe at my feet wanting to play, so I must continue this blog later.

...to be continued ;)

Useless baby stuff

While I'm on the mommy blogging theme, I thought I jot down some things we got before having the babe that we THOUGHT we needed, but never used: (I'll elaborate more later when I have more nap time)

I'll preface this with saying that I know how emotional baby raising can be. So please understand that this is what has worked well for us, with this baby. It is not intended to be recommendation for you and your circumstances, as everyone's in unique.

1. Crib

This may seem like a big necessity. I did look for a bassinet or something smaller for when we brought him home. One of the ladies I volunteered with on base said she used a dresser drawer with her first. I guess whatever works. They do look so tiny in that big expanse of mattress at first...Since we nurse through the night and co-sleep, the crib was used for a changing station in the bedroom until I decided changing him right in bed was easier. I didn't have to move him from his warm spot and wake him up any more than need be.

I know: GASP! CO-SLEEP?!?! Aren't I afraid of smothering him? Him falling off the bed? Okay, let's be real and think about this rationally instead of resulting to scare tactics. Neither myself nor my husband are obese or have sleep issues. Co-sleeping is a bit of a covert-op, it seems. The more I talk to other women about it, the more I realize there's a silent majority content with the same decision...but no one is opening up to talk about it for fear of being judged. Judge away. We're happy, healthy, thriving and all are sleeping well. Even Dad.

Thankfully we got a convertible crib. I've started integrating the toddler bed into naps during the day. Because we're wanting to wait a biiit longer before baby #2, we're still nursing through the night (not nothing like when he first came home, because the boy could chow-down!). I'll wrap this up with saying that a good monitor and being near-by when he awakens avoids any attempts to wander about, since he's more mobile and crawling now.

2. Diaper Genie

We cloth diaper and wipe. You'd need quite a few of those to fill up the genie. I got a small flip-top canister from target that has a removal inner pail. It's just big enough to hold his night time diapers. All the others go straight into the washing machine when their soiled. Diapers are washed at least once a day. The pail is washed at least once a week, but doesn't even really need it.

3. Diaper Bag

I had three diaper bags before the baby came. One was used for my hospital bag. It. was. huge. The second was a bit smaller but could hold blankets, diapers, clothes, etc, etc. The more I carried it around, the more I realized I never used anything in it other than a diaper or two, a few wipes and a blanket- maybe. So I down sized even further to a small messenger style north face bag. It's just big enough to hold my sunglasses (if necessary), wallet, keys, a few diapers and a slim wipe container. (It's as long as a diaper and as thick as maybe four diapers stacked.) It has a few handy little compartments and a nice long flip-front that's magnetized. It gets the job done and it's not a huge bulking thing to lug around. But, just in case it's not enough, we always keep spare diapers, wipes, chews, a blanket, socks and hand sanitizer in the car (we are in Montana now). We never had blow-outs or a need for extra clothes. So we lost the chaff.

4. A slew of Baby Bottles

With the exception of adding breast milk to newly introduced foods, I don't have a need for bottles. Plus, he won't take one. If I didn't have bottles, I could easily use a cup or other container. Screwing the bottle onto the pump is MUCH more convenient though. I have a rotation of about 4 or 5 bottles I use for pumping and freezing or mixing.

5. Bottle brush

I don't store milk for more than a couple days, so washing isn't a chore. With one bottle to wash at a time, soap, water and a sponge work just fine.

6. Bed rail

I got a bed rail when we decided to stick with co-sleeping. It was more of a hassle to maneuver over and around, especially in the middle of the night. Babies don't even have the ability to roll around. Once we got on the move from NC to MT and didn't have the rail for hotel and billeting rooms, I realized it was more for my peace of mind than a necessity. It may come in handy if he turns out to be a little thrasher in bed.

7. Changing table

Luckily I never bought an actual changing table. I didn't see a need for one from the get-go. Instead, I bought a farm house drop-leaf table from an antique shop in case I didn't like the idea. It's now in our living room as a piece of furniture. We use the ottoman for a changing station now. When we're done diapering, it'll return to its usual function.

8. Pacifiers

He never took a bottle nor a pacifier. We got one juuust in case. He chews on it when hes sleepy now, but doesn't suck. He never started sucking his thumb or fingers either. None of those bad habits to break.

9.Onesies

Maybe onesies are less of a hassle with disposable diapers. But with changing a diaper sometimes three times in one hour, they turned out to be an incredible headache. We ended up going and sticking with tops and leggings. Some days he looks a bit ridiculous. But really, he's a baby and we're at home. So long as he's warm and dry, we're both happy. I especially like his peacock speesees top. It really brings out his grey-blue eyes :)

10. Sleep positioner

This goes back to the fact that babies don't roll around. Lie them on their back to sleep and they'll wake up the same way. We were gifted a wedge positioner after I had already purchased a regular positioner. I exchanged it for a wedge to use with my Boppy. A much better use of materials for a new baby and feeding times. One of my best girl friends used hers and said her babe slid down it. I don't think they kept using it after that...I used the regular positioner in the stroller to keep his head from bumping into the side rails. You can get head postioners that do the same.

...Something I left off of my previous Blog about things that make being a new mom easier, a breast pump. We went with the Medela Pump in Style. I also got a hand pump, but once I saw how easy and great the in Style did, I never used the hand pump again. I actually got the In Style from ebay for about $65 with shipping. Reviews will tell you it's not safe to use someone else's pump, for cross-contamination reasons. But....hospitals use and re-use their pumps on different women all the time. Some hospitals rent out pumps. So long as nothing that touched the last woman touches you, it's perfectly fine. I was cautiously optimistic but haven't had one bit of trouble. I bought my own tubes and...oh what's the name of the cone/martini glass-looking thing??? Anyway, easy and cheap new replacements that can be found anywhere on line or at Babies R Us.

Something else I've forgotten that was a big save many a time: a mattress pad protector. It's like a huge water-proof pillow case for your mattress.

New Mom Niceties

I'll save you from the emotional rundown of the obvious things that make having and raising a babe easier; like having a supportive, understanding and patient husband, a best-friend/idea-bouncer-off-er/sister-in-law, always here-for-me mom, ecstatic mom-in-law, amazing friends that are in the same boat and a little research...These are actual things you can buy, purchase or be lucky enough to be gifted, that I feel have made my first go-round a little smoother.

1. Moby wrap. Just about anything that can strap your babe to you is probably good. But between the Bjorn and the Moby, it's Moby hands-down. When our son was still small (which didn't last too long) I could have him in the Moby practically the same as he was in my belly. He was born in July, so I couldn't keep him in too long or he'd get pretty steamy. He wasn't big enough really for the Bjorn, but my arms and back needed a serious break! The Moby adapted nicely when he got bigger. The first time I put him in facing out in the wrap, you'd think he'd won the lottery: be attached to mom but still see everything coming?!?! Holy crap, JACKPOT! We tried that hold at Mike's (my husband's) second half-marathon after Connor's birth. He must have been about three months old then. It made for a much better walkabout than the first half-mari when I thought taking the stroller was a good idea. The second go-round I was more keen. I had the babe on my front, Mike's post-marathon flip flops tucked in the back of my jeans, the camera over one shoulder and a small diaper sack strapped to my right wrist. Sounds precarious, but if you've ever been at a post-race rally you know how quick things go and how tight it can get amongst all the families and runners. This was by far much better than navigating a stroller with a potentially crying baby. Connor enjoyed this way so much, he wore himself out and passed out before we got back from the race.

I still use the Moby just about every day: vacuuming, going to the grocery store (commissary), walks around the block when the snow's too deep, out and about... It's especially good at keeping strangers from getting too close. I still have to take a quick turn for the more aggressive types, but at least I can move him away from the when-was-the-last-time-you-washed-your-hands folks. The Bjorn is good for quick trips and can be easier to get him in and out of, but it feels less supportive and kills my back in a matter of minutes. Connor grew from about 9 pounds when he was born, to almost 22 now (at 6 months). So if you have a smaller, lighter babe, the Bjorn may be easier for you. But the weight distribution, carrying options, and hip placement for the babe, of the Mobe put it above the other carriers for us.

2. Wipe warmer. Putting a cold cloth to a babies nether's several times during the night is a good way to wake up the neighbors, or at least a sleeping husband. I liked it so much I got one for each changing station. Now that we live in a two-story, it's even more valuable. One warmer warms from the top, the other from the bottom. I much prefer the top warmer. It doesn't need maintenance cleaning like the bottom warmer. You can get a anti-microbial pad for the bottom warmer, but that would defeat the purpose of not having unknown chemicals ultimately touch my babe's delicate new skin. We make our own wipes (and yes, we do cloth diapers)... so the top warmer works better for this reason too. I even found a way to fold the wipes so they pop-up just like disposables. It can hold about 20 Gerber-like wash clothes, folded lengthwise. They last about two days and fit perfectly into the warmer.

3. Lightweight, Sturdy Umbrella stroller. We got the Chicco lightweight. Again, it's something I used everyday until we moved up north. I put him in it so I could take a shower but still have him nearby. I put him in it so I could cook or do practically anything that I couldn't have him strapped to me with the Moby. At about 2 months old, he started going crazy every night at 6pm. I thought, oh no not a colicky baby! For some reason I started taking him for a walk at that time and it completely avoided the whole break-down. My step-mom's mom said there's nothing better for a fussy baby than fresh air. She's right.

The great thing about the Chicco lightweight, is that the seat can be adjusted from completely sitting up to completely lying down. I didn't want to go the car seat and stroller route because I don't care too much for bulky things. The Chicco never disappointed, and I never missed having the car seat combo. We also have BOB SUS for jogging and the snowy/icy terrain up here. It handles beautifully and is a lot smoother ride than the Chicco. I'm guessing because the tires are inflatable and take 35lbs of pressure.