Greetings all my friends and zonefam!
I hope each of you are continuing to reach your individual goals! It's been about a month since I've posted and I saw a few mentions of where I'd been and done but I wanted to get back and let ya'll know how awesome everything has been since my daughter was born on November 9th. It's been about a month and I'm getting back to my normal routine, work, etc which mean I'll get back to posting here and there.
So my daughter, Mia Clare, was born on November 9th, at about 41.5 weeks term, and was born 8lbs & 6oz. My brave wife endured 42 hours of labor before an emergency c-section at 1:42am because of a developing fever. Both mom & daughter then recovered for a few days in the hospital while I slept on the couch, pushed the wheelchair and stayed bedside with both the entire time. I'm so happy to say that the zonefood that I'd packed kept me happy and fed easily the entire time for the most part aside from a salad here and there. The week was intense and incredible and fatherhood has been everything I'd hoped and more.
Both went home on the 13th and we've been happily rearing our little one ever since. She's on breastmilk only, and my wife finally started taking her FO. 4 caps of Omapure a day to be exact, and our daughter is simply incredible. All the DHA she had in womb, via the Prenexia Multivitamin, and now via the 2.5g of FO a day, has made our child simply astonishing. She was active tracking at 10 days (about a month ahead of schedule) and at birth, her head circumference was 15", which is the 95%! At that age, according to the docs, it's all based on brain growth/weight because the scull isn't formed, so out little one definitely got the most out of the optimal nutrition my wife provided. She's already holding her head steady at 3.5 weeks and has been gaining weight great, now at about 10.5lbs, on breastmilk only. No formula, not a single drop so far, fingers crossed
BABY PICTURES:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?a...229f5d3b97
And me, the diet and my goals. Well, the morning we went to the Hospital, I weighed 198lbs, which was 47lbs from my start weight on June 4th when I started the Zone. I'm still practicing it faithfully and have as of this morning weighed in at 186.6lbs!!! An amazing 12 more pounds this month have been lost. And it's not all muscle either. I've cut back on my weight lifting to twice a week but my Bodyfat has dropped 2% since Mia was born further, and I'm currently quite happy with 15-17 blocks per day depending on how late I sleep in (I've been off of work for a month). I'm hoping to get to 180lbs by New Years and then will totally flip my diet around as I change to 25-30 blocks per day and enter a period of "Mass gain" cycle with heavy weight lifting 6 days per week, trying to gain 10-20lbs of Muscle until March, when I'll drop back down into the correct zone levels until I reach my ultimate goal of 10% BF at the 1 year anniversary mark of Being in the Zone!!!
I can't tell you how much joy it's brought me as I've told so many people that I've lost roughly 55-60lbs since going on a diet. People who haven't seen me in months can barely recognize me and I'm in the process of turning over my entire closet. I used to be a 40-42 size pant and now I'm loose in a size 33! I used to be a XL - XXL in Polo's and Tee's and am now comfy in M, at times Large due to length only not width, which is amazing. I haven't fit medium shirts since I was literally 13 years old! That's nearly 20 years ago!
And the best part is my health has really inspired my entire family. My mom has reached her goals with a combination of Zone/Weight Watchers/Fish Oil and is due to get her Knee Replacement next week just ahead of Christmas. My father has been able to reduce his insulin and drop his first 20lbs since starting sugarbusters. And my lovely brave wife has lost ALL of her baby weight and is enjoying breastfeeding now but still eating smart as much as she can, though she's not on any organized diet. She's looking forward to getting back into the gym but her genetics and natural portion control has always made her much healthier than I.
With the birth of my first child I'm so lucky now to really feel with confidence that i'll live to the ripe age my genetics will allow me too. My predispositions to early heart attach, cancer and Diabetes have all been sweated off or left on the plate these last 6 months and it's so transformative, it's nothing short of spiritual. I hope every person who logs onto this website one day also reaches this point, when they can say with confidence that they've really done it and crossed that highest mountain for lifelong health. I know many of you have, and the life long struggle ahead remains to stay in shape and in control, but armed with the knowledge of the Zone and the discipline and commitment it's taken to get to this point, I'm not shy at all in knowing that it's much more than possible, it's simply going to happen. I'm going to be the role model I always set out to be for my daughter and entire family and I hope each of you can do the same at some point. The feeling of worth and accomplishment exceed everything and anything, even college, with a single exception... nothing beats fatherhood! And to have it all happen in the same year is, well, overwhelming! I'm just so happy and lucky to be this alive, it's as if my entire life so far is 20 years ago and i feel 20 again with the entire world ahead of me... I'm going to mountainclimb one day and scuba dive and do all those things I never tried because I was fat all those years. This has been a battle since I was a child, and I know now exaclty why this happened and I'll do all it takes to make sure none of my children face the battle of obesity in their lifetime. Not a single happy meal or whopper, so long as Dad can help it... and healthy eating and portion control from this day forth.
Happy Holidays!