And now for something completely different.

I love Pinterest.  Seriously.

But damn, some people and their blogs.  I love and hate all the home improvement and decorating pins on there.  I was fantasizing last night about artfully photographing my home last night and featuring it on my own blog.  All perfect lighting and Instagrammed just so...to show off my living room with the one mismatched cabinet next to the fireplace in the hole where the built-in bookcases should have been (but a previous owner ripped them out)...the built-ins that someday I plan to have rebuilt when I can afford it but not going to DIY because really? I have 2 jobs and a toddler.  My dining room which looks reasonably nice when it is picked up, but almost always is covered in stacks of mail and things that haven't found a home yet.  The walls that are all still painted in the previous owners' colors, and mostly blank walls that we haven't chosen photos or artwork to frame and decorate yet.  And yes, we have lived here for over 3 years now.  Our couches that we have had for 8 years, bought second-hand, with the tear in the leather, that don't fit the house and need replacing.  The basement "bar" that got ripped out, and the half-completed half wall built to cover the hole in the sink cabinet where the bar was removed...still in need of tiling and drywall on the outside, and painting.  The original (?) linoleum on the stair landing where we had to rip out the carpet and padding because the cat randomly decided to pee on it for a MONTH (despite my desperate efforts during that whole time to dissuade her and clean up the stench). The basement bathroom tub that needs a new faucet set because the handle came off last year and can't be replaced except with an entirely new set, so we've been using a Vice-Grips as a handle.  For a year.

So much in our home is half-baked plans and vague ideas and budget constraints.  Overall, it is really a lovely house, and it is usually mostly picked up and presentable, despite the expected smattering of toddler toys in each room.  But as I curate my favorite DIY home improvement projects, most of which I know I will never, ever do, it makes me see my home differently: not the sweet older home in an old neighborhood that I love, but as a list of projects and budget shortfalls that seem like they will never get done.  I think my home is a lot more typical for a working family than the ones I see on Pinterest.  And a lot of people talk about their home being like this, but who photographs it and publishes it?  Really?  Actually I think that would be a pretty fun project.  This is real, yo.  Who has time to rubber-stamp cute phrases on matching wooden hangers for their perfect closet makeover?  Or my personal favorite, a roll-out "emergency sidewalk" made of pallets and old fire hoses so you can walk in your yard after a flood.  Really, old fire hoses?  I was wondering what to do with all of those.  I actually left a comment on that one: Where do you get old fire hoses? The replies were "An old fire house!" and "At an auction!"  Which is basically like saying, "When you don't have toddlers anymore, lady!"  Or for me, never, since I can't see myself at an auction bidding on an old fire hose.  Ever.

I know backlash against Pinterest is nothing new, and I honestly think it is a great site and I use a lot of the things I pin, especially recipes and sewing ideas.  But some days I really do just shake my head at some of the stuff, and then I step away to get some perspective.  We do enough.  We have enough. We are enough.  Repeat.

Math is easy

Doing the math: Going from 35% body fat to 26% body fat, and staying 186 pounds, means that I have lost about 17 pounds of fat and replaced it with 17 pounds of muscle.  Is that right?  Apparently it is.

It's hard to add calories, especially if I want them to be useful ones.  I could eat junk food easily.  But eat more good protein sources--that's harder.  Yesterday I managed 900 calories.  And still went over my carbs.  And only got 55g protein.  Yeah, not my best day.  Most days I get enough protein, and go over slightly on carbs.  Still working on that.

My arms are so sore today--yesterday's "shock workout" definitely was a shock.  I'm recovering quickly, I guess.  But it was hard!

It works!

I am about 5 weeks into my personal training contract, and still I have not lost weight.  My scale is also showing the same body fat--down about 1%.  This seemed impossible.  My measurements are consistently dropping, especially my waist.  Something has to give.

But last week my trainer switched from a 4-point caliper measurement of my body fat to a 7 point with a more comprehensive equation to see if we could capture what is obviously happening with my body.  Every single day someone comments on how much weight I am losing and how good I look.  I feel like I can't really accept that compliment, in my head, if I have no evidence to back it up--yet it is obviously true that my body is leaner.

Today, he presented me with the evidence at my training session.  My body fat percentage has dropped 9%!*  Zoinks!  So, that's what happened.  He said he re-ran the numbers 3 times to make sure it was right.  Now that's motivating!

We had a "shock" workout today--endurance and strength, high reps.  I am jelly, and heading to the shower next.  But I feel good.  My clothes are fitting much better.  I feel better.  Things are good.

The next phase will be to get some more weight loss.  I think if I can increase my calories a little and drop the carbs a little more I might get some improved results.  I'm right around 900-1000 cal/day right now, but maybe 1200-1400 with more protein would help a bit (I am between 60-90g protein now).  Let's see.

*ETA: I previously reported 12% drop.  This was from what my Aria scale reported to what my trainer reported.  Actually, his initial body fat calculation was 35%, not 38%, like my scale said.  So the drop to 26% is actually a 9% drop when comparing apples to apples, so to speak. Or pears to pears.  :)

Week 4

I'm 4 weeks into training. I'm stronger for sure. I'm maybe a pound down overall. But my jeans are now too big, so something is happening. My measurements are down--my waist by almost 3" since June. My body fat is down about 1.5% by my fitbit scale. I don't know what to make of all of this exactly, but I'm just going to say it's good. 

I finally tackled Lucy's potty training, after dithering for months because nothing was ever "stable" enough here for me to feel like it would be successful. Frankly, I probably was less ready than Lucy. I planned a toilet-training boot camp weekend--talk it up to her for a few days, then roll up the living room rug, put her in panties and sit the potty in front of the TV. She was fine. She has had a couple accidents where she didn't make it in time, and one with her dad where she didn't try to make it, but that's it. She is wearing undies for nap, her diaper is usually dry when she gets up in the morning, and we have switched to pull ups tonight. So, hooray! She sits on the regular toilet when we are out just fine, too, and no problems with #2 on the potty either. Pretty much awesome. 

Tonight, therefore, I took all the diapers out of her room and sorted and boxed them. I'll get rid of the disposables somehow--give away or sell. I guess I will keep the cloth diapers for a few years in case I have 1 more. How I do want one more--but at this point it looks unlikely. It was a bit sad to box them up. I loved cloth diapering, and although I can find something else to do with all the time I spent doing diaper laundry, I didn't mind it. My baby is not a baby anymore. 

I'm going to do more canning this weekend... Got some fancy Weck canning jars, I'm excited about them! What a nerd. :)