New Treadmill!

I am so excited! We finally got a new treadmill. It's a really nice one, an Ironman Legacy TV treadmill. It was expensive for us, at $999. We charged it, which we don't like to do, but I didn't want to waste money getting a low-end one that couldn't take my weight and would break in a year. We got it at Costco.com. It included shipping, but not tax. It was way under retail value, and I couldn't find any other treadmill anywhere near that price range with the kind of features and the quality motor and warranty this one has.

My husband loves it. I've played around with it, but haven't done a real workout on it yet. It's been a few days, so I HAVE to get on it tonight. There's not a lot I can do about my weight right now, so I'm going to focus on working out. I know I need it to boost my metabolism and help me get in shape. I just got a Pilates for Pregnancy DVD that I want to try, and I'm planning on doing the treadmill at least every other day. Having the integrated tv will really help, because it will help pass the time and make it less boring.

My weight started at 260 when I got pregnant, but I went on a diet at that point (not realizing) and lost seventeen pounds. Then I gained it back very quickly after I stopped dieting. I think my poor pregnant body held onto every calorie I ate! When I got back to 260, I hovered there for a while, then fluctuated between 260 and 263. Just in the last few days I went up, and now I'm 265. Yuck. I want to try being a lot more careful and hopefully lose a couple of pounds.

Now I know what you're thinking--dieting during pregnancy is bad. That's not really what I'm talking about. In general--if I'm not pigging out--my body's trend during pregnancy is to not gain the first trimester, gain a little over the second trimester, and pack on most of the pounds gained during the last trimester. This fluctuates of course, but it is the overall trend. That is how it went last time, and I only gained 28 pounds, the least of all my pregnancies. My doctor had told me that, in my case, mild dieting was okay. Really, it wasn't dieting, it was just monitoring my food intake carefully. He said the South Beach diet was okay for me, because he trusted me to put the baby first, after getting to know me. We went over the amount of calories I needed to get. I admit to not following it, really, but did try to watch what I was eating.

I'm finding myself lately giving myself too many "treats". So I think the weight I've gained this week is definitely fat. A few regular sodas here (poison) a few ice creams there, a little fast food...voila, two pounds in two days! Instead of relieving my stress with ice cream, I need to use the treadmill!

So here's my plan: start working out, try to drop a couple of pounds, and only let myself gain a few pounds slowly over this next trimester, and in the third trimester, be very careful to eat only healthy foods and exercise as much as my huge size will let me. If I could get no heavier than 285 at the end of this pregnancy, I will be very happy. Ug, I hate to say that. My highest was 280 with the last pregnancy. But as usual, I started this pregnancy a little heavier than the last.

Doctors recommend 25-35 pound gain for normal women, and 15-25 pounds for obese women. They usually focus on the 15 pound recommendation. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. According to my pregnancy book, women gain 7 pounds in maternal stores (fat, protein, nutrients), 4 pounds in increased fluid volume, 2 pounds in breast enlargement, 2 pounds in the uterus, 2 pounds in amniotic fluid, 1 1/2 pounds in the placenta, and 7 1/2 pounds for the baby. That makes 26 pounds. For someone like me, whose babies have been 9 - 11 pounds, that would be a 28 to 31 pound weight gain. But they want me to gain only fifteen?! Even if you took out the 7 pounds for maternal stores, I would still gain a minimum of 21 pounds for the uterus, breast enlargement, amniotic fluid, fluid volume, placenta, and baby. Get real!

I figure a 25 pound gain is healthy for me. So as much as I hate the idea of seeing 285 on the scale, I think it is the right figure. I just really don't want to weigh more than that, if I can help it.

Wish me luck on the walking!