Weighty Wednesday: What 1300 Calories Looks Like

I am officially a nutrition nerd. I have been using the MyFitnessPal app for the last few weeks and I am fascinated by it! (Disclaimer: I don't usually love the idea of counting calories. But I see it as a useful tool for me to lose this baby weight. I don't plan on doing it long-term.)

Since I last posted 2 weeks ago, I have lost 3 pounds. Finally some weight loss!

Lbs Lost So Far: 17
Lbs Left To Lose: 10

I thought it'd be fun to show you all not only what a day of eating looked like this week, but what MyFitnessPal looks like. I took screenshots of the calorie breakdown for each meal and my nutritional stats for the total day. According to the app, I am allotted 1250 calories per day. That seems a bit low to me, especially because I am nursing. So I typically "allow" myself to go over a little bit. I don't want to starve myself, whether I am breastfeeding or not! I've been eating somewhere around 1300-1500 calories per day for the last couple weeks and I have been feeling great. I'm surprised, because this doesn't sound like a lot of food to me, but I have been satisfied every single day. Never overly hungry. In fact, I feel like I've had more energy since I've reduced my portion sizes.

Ok here we go.

Breakfast: Boiled Egg, Coffee with half and half, vanilla yogurt

This breakfast was a bit smaller than usual, but I was in a rush. Even though I only consumed around 200 calories, I didn't get hungry until 4 hours later.

Lunch: Tuna salad with cucumber and lettuce on whole wheat wrap, Pineapple and Strawberries

I made a quick tuna salad with tuna, mayo, and pickles. I stuffed the wrap full of lettuce and cucumber, and at the last minute I added some garlic spread I got at the Farmer's Market. It added great flavor. (Reminds me of the garlic sauce at Mr. Pickles!) The fresh fruit on the side tasted amazing. A tasty 350 calorie lunch.

Snack: Multigrain Cereal with Milk

I was fixing Lucas an after-school snack a few hours later and got hungry, so I had a small bowl of his cereal. This is his favorite cereal.

Dinner: Bacon and Tomato Pasta, Green Beans

Oh my goodness, this dinner was SO good. Recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/bacon-and-tomato-pasta-recipe-1948382  If you like bacon and spaghetti you must make this! The ingredient list was simple....bacon, pasta, tomatoes, onions, garlic, parmesan....but the end result was restaurant-worthy. I used chicken broth instead of wine, and I added parsley on top instead of basil. Adam said it was the best thing I've made all year. I added in an extra entry of spaghetti noodles in the MyFitnessPal app, because I kept going back for more bites of pasta out of the bowl. I couldn't stop eating it! My dinner ended up being higher in calories than usual, but it was worth it.

And in full transparency, I had a small bowl of vanilla ice cream after dinner. I have noticed I have a hard time hitting my daily calcium goal, so obviously the ice cream was necessary.

Here is my macro breakdown for the day, minus the ice cream.

My day was a bit high in fat (probably the bacon!) and low in carbs, but I'm fine with that.

Here is the nutritional breakdown for my entire day, again minus the ice cream:

After using this app for a few weeks I have noticed a few things. I am consistently low in fiber, calcium, and iron. The fiber was the biggest surprise for me, since I usually eat a lot of produce and whole grains. And even on the day that I ate steak for dinner, my iron intake was still below goal. It kind of makes me question how they come up with these goal numbers. Maybe it's just difficult to hit my quotas on only 1300 calories.

So clearly I am fascinated by these nutritional stats. Do they interest you or bore you or confuse you? Have you ever used MyFitnessPal or something similar?

Andrew: 6 Months

Happy 6 Month Birthday baby Drew! Your half birthday was actually yesterday but I had it in my head that it was today because today was your well check with the doctor. Oh well, Happy Birthday!

You are a happy baby, and you absolutely love when people give you attention and talk/sing to you. I think you are going to be a people person! You need a lot of attention. However, you can get mad and upset really easily. Hungry or tired? You will sure let us know! Your crying gets really loud, especially in the evening when you are overly tired.

Speaking of being tired....I'm tired! And so are you. You just are NOT a good sleeper. And I think it's the fault of both of us. You tend to be a very light sleeper and like clockwork, you wake up after taking a 20 minute nap. However, I haven't exactly worked hard at establishing a good sleep routine for you since you don't have your own room. I'm going to have Adam set up the crib in our room and start getting serious about putting you in it for naps.

You started solid foods this month! So far you have had sweet potatoes, peas, peaches, brown rice, carrots, pears, and plums. Oh and you loved sucking on my watermelon slice the other day!

Here are your 6-month growth stats from your doctor visit today:

Weight: 16 lbs, 4 oz (25%)

Height: 26.75 inches (55%)

Head: 17.25 inches (64%)

Interestingly, you are almost the exact same size as your brother Ryan was at this age. I guess it makes sense since you were both 8 lbs, 6 oz at birth. Maybe you will be a little guy like your big brothers.

You can sit up well with support. But still no real scooting!

I feel like you've been teething forever, and yet I see no signs of teeth.

Oh the drool!

Nursing is still going really well, and I am thankful for that. If only you didn't want to nurse all night.

We love you so much my little blondy boy! Daddy calls you Drewsky-Man and Lucas always calls you "Baby Dude!".

Happy Half Birthday Andrew!

(Jenna decided you needed some spaghetti during your photo shoot)

Jenna's Bicycle Dress

Jenna received the cutest dress from Laurel, a good friend of her Grandma Jan's. It is covered in bicycles and just adorable!

Her first pose:

 We had fun this weekend doing a little photo shoot with her.

She was an excellent model!

 This is a perfect twirling dress!

 Our model got a little grumpy.

 But then she turned her mood around.

 And gave us the best pictures!!

 My sweet angel.

 My absolute favorite picture:

2 At Home

Well we are a week into the school year, and things are going pretty well! Lucas was doing so well going to Kindergarten until yesterday. For whatever reason he just refused to stay in his class. With the help of the principal we finally got him situated so that I could leave. Today was better so hopefully it was just a one-time thing! And then there was a little problem with Ryan where he was gagging and practically throwing up in his classroom because he felt "blood in his throat". Hmm not sure what that was about but he seems fine now!

Being at home with just these 2 is so different.

I am definitely able to get more done around the house. Last week I dusted and polished our stairs. The last time I did that was when we moved in.

However, Andrew still isn't napping much so that makes things hard. I find that the mornings just fly by and all of a sudden I am scrambling to finish my errands or work around the house before it's time to be reunited with the boys.

Walks are so much easier with just 2! We've been enjoying our morning walks in the cool Fall air.

Having just 2 kids at home reminds me a lot of the early years with the boys. It's like I'm in phase 2 of motherhood now. And I'm liking it!

Adam's 4th Stitch Fix

Well this Stitch Fix was a surprise! I forgot that I had changed Adam's Stitch Fix frequency to every other month. (You can select to receive a Stitch Fix on a twice-monthly, monthly, every other month, or manual basis. Basically you can choose when you receive your surprise box of clothes.) Adam received the email notifying him that he was receiving this Fix, but of course he doesn't check his email. So we got this fun surprise on our doorstep! I was secretly jealous. I want a fix!

You can read Adam's 3rd Stitch Fix Review here. That one was a homerun!

Baja Standard Slip On Sneaker by SeeVees

These were an immediate NO for Adam because he does not like slip on sneakers. He says they make him feel lazy, as if he didn't even have enough time to tie his shoes. I don't know what he's talking about...I love slip-ons! He does like that Stitch Fix keeps sending him shoes, because he likes getting shoes. I'm trying to talk him in to requesting a nice pair of boots in his next fix. I love the way jeans and brown boots look together for men. Status: RETURN

Essential Stripe Crew Tee by Hawker Rye

Adam's initial reaction to this shirt was negative. He has never worn a shirt with thin stripes, and honestly it looked more like something I might wear. Once he tried it on he liked the look of it, but ultimately decided it just wasn't for him. Status: RETURN

Baseline Triblend Henley by Threads 4 Thought

Adam really likes this shirt. It is similar to the gray polo he kept from his last box, but this one doesn't have a collar. It is soft and comfy and casual, which is exactly what Adam likes. Status: UNDECIDED

Talos Garment Dyed Pique Polo by Alesbury

Adam loves this shirt. The color looks great on him and it looked especially good with his grey shorts. He is trying to decide if he needs another polo. Status: UNDECIDED

Portland Chino by Flag and Anthem

Adam couldn't get over how stretchy these pants were! I didn't realize that men's pants are rarely stretchy. Mine almost always are! He didn't mind the stretch, he just thought it was different. Ultimately he wasn't in love with the color, so these will be returned. Status: RETURN

I think Stitch Fix has done a great job "getting" Adam's style. Almost everything they have sent him has been casual and comfortable and inexpensive. I think going forward if Adam gets another Fix he will need to be specific about he needs and wants. (Boots! Request boots!)

Have you ordered a Stitch Fix for the man in your life? Or for yourself? It's really fun and especially great if your guy hates shopping. Please consider using Adam's referral link if you try Stitch Fix.
https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/9300852?sod=w&som=c