Drumroll please....

I'm not writing this to brag... okay, maybe a teeny bit, because I'm so excited.  Mainly because this doesn't come easy to me.  But... this morning I stepped on the scale and...

10 pounds UNDER my pre-preg weight... aka... my goal weight.

Yes, you read that right.  I remember after Jude was born I was thinking it would take 6 months to get back to my pre-preg weight.  Well, that took 2 months.  2 months later I dropped an additional 10lbs.  I am SO happy.  I feel like I always have one eye on the scale, because if I don't, it seriously tends to creep rather quickly!  It feels so nice to wear jeans that I haven't fit in in 2 years. 

What have I done?  I attribute it to breastfeeding and focusing on eating clean and natural.  I am not counting calories (stopped about 2 months ago), but eating lots and lots of veggies... and not many processed foods.  The CSA we joined has been a huge help.  I wonder if being dairy-free for the past 2 months has helped as well?

Who knows.  I just know I feel good and healthy.  I feel so much better when I am putting good nutritious food in my body.  The next step?  Exercise.  I walk most days with Jude (I estimate about 2-3 miles each day), but I need to get back on the yoga wagon.  I remember feeling so strong when I was doing yoga daily.  I found yogadownload.com and it is my new favorite for exercising.  Perhaps that will be my August goal.  Getting one step closer to an all-around healthy lifestyle.  And perhaps a new goal weight to keep up the motivation.  :-)

Hi ho hi ho...

... back to work I go!  This week is my first week back on the job.  I wasn't planning on starting until next week, but looking at the calendar I have WAY to many grant deadlines that are super close, so I needed this extra week so I'm not totally overwhelmed when I go back.  I really think I have the ideal situation in going back to work.  I'll be in the office on Tuesdays and then work at home the rest of the week (about 8-10 hours worth).  Yesterday was Jude's first day with our sitter and I have to say that it went WAY better than I expected.  I was expecting to feel totally emotional and obsessed the entire day about going home.  I was so busy at work, I was just thankful for how much I was able to get done at the office that I won't need to do at home.  And I feel really good about Kim.  She is coming to OUR house to watch him!!  I'm SO glad it worked out for Jude to be in his own environment.

The anticipation of this week starting was way worse than it actually starting. I found myself sad thinking about spending time at home needing to focus on work and not on Jude.  But he took a wonderful 2.5 hour nap this morning which allowed me to get a lot of work out of the way so that I could focus on him an being a wife and mama the rest of the day. :-)  I'm feeling pretty good at this point!

Last week was my 6 week doctors appointment!  I was happy to get the "all clear" to begin life as normal.  And I feel completely normal too - which I thought would almost never happen.  So I started yoga this week... and wow.  I am stiff and TOTALLY not flexible.  But I really want to love yoga... I really want to be good at it.  I'm just not naturally flexible, but I feel like it really challenges me.  So I have kind of decided for this to be my focus for a little while.  I am still going to do the couch to 5K running plan, but I want to do yoga 4-5 times a week as well.  And once I hit the 5K distance {which shouldn't take too long} I just want to run that a couple times a week to keep up cardio.  But I want a different challenge... and I want to love yoga.

I can't believe how fast the time has gone... I keep saying that... but it's true.