I don't weight myself weekly. I determined from the beginning that this was going to be a lifestyle change in me, not something that was a fad or a fleeting thing, so I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on myself to lose a certain amount in a certain time frame. My goal was 30 pounds in 12 months. If I lost it all in 6 months, great. If it too the whole 12, that's great too. If I didn't make it all the way, then... well, that would be a bummer, but if that was the case I'd just try again.
I started weighing myself every other week. Now it's more like once a month. I lost a LOT those first two or three months and I didn't want to be disappointed when I wasn't losing as quickly towards the middle and end. And you can see that I actually gained 2 pounds at one point. I didn't let it slow me down. We'd had a lot of snow days (and I'm a boredom eater) so I just reencrouaged myself to keep going. Here's my breakdown:
Jan. 1: 228.0
Jan. 16: 222.6
Jan. 31: 218.4
Feb. 16: 219.6
Mar. 6: 220
Mar. 27: 217.6
Apr. 10: 216.8
May 24: 211.8
My total weight loss so far is 16.2, which I think is pretty gos darn good. We're about halfway done with the year and I'm more than halfway done with my goal.
One of the most popular questions I get is "How are you doing it?"
Honestly, it was a total attitude change. I knew I was a boredom/stress eater. I knew that potato products are my weakness (seriously... I have no problem passing up ice cream or a Snickers bar, but ask me if I want the tortilla chips or the fries with my entree and I will almost always cave). I knew that I needed to get more active. I knew that if I didn't have a gym buddy, I wouldn't get there regularly. SO I found checks and balances to those things before I started all of this.
1. I tracked my diet (not diet like lose weight diet but like everything i eat diet) for about a month to see when I ate and what I ate and how much I ate. I found that I often eat mutliple servings of things. Like, I would just fill a bowl until it looked "full enough." With our Jambalaya, for example (we eat it a lot in our house), I was eating at least twice as much as I needed to and feeling full. I desperately needed to change that.
2. After I tracked everything, I revamped what I ate. I now use mayo made with olive oil, fat free cheese, fat free yogurt (which I was already eating -- I like the Yoplait, or Weight Watchers brands and Aldi has 2 yum flavors that I like in their Fit & Active line). I incorporate more fruits and veggies into every meal (the fruit isn't hard, it's the veggies that are hard because I don't like many). We drastically cut our "eating out" budget so that we're eating at home more (saves money AND calories because I have a drive to finish everything on my plate since I'm paying for it all, you know?) I continued to track for 3 months every single thing that went in my mouth. I don't track anymore but I probably will start again soon.
3. I drink water. I cannot stress this enough. I was never much of a soda drinker, but when I'm stressed the fizziness definitely soothes me. Needless to say, I drank a lot of soda throughout most of Sept-Nov because I was so stressed at my old job. Now I use a water bottle or a cup (I have this cute one from Family Christian and desperately want another one) all day every day. I fill it (or have my kids fill it) 5 times in the course of my 10 hour work day. When I want some flavor, I use the Crystal Light packets. I like the Strawberry and Grape ones and also the Raspberry Lemonade.
4. I hit the gym at least 2x a week. Sometimes only once, sometimes 3x, but 2x is a definite because I go with a friend. Towards the end of April I was so busy with church stuff that I regrettably have to inform you that I didn't go to the gym for a while. Shameful, I know. I was actually shocked when I got on the scale and had maintained my weight. Anyway, I go with my friend L on Sunday afternoons and we do about half an hour on the elliptical machine. This is our time to catch up on the week's happenings in each other's lives because when we meet up on Tuesdays we take a class. For a while I was trying to get in a third day swimming in the pool but I'm so wiped after work that I haven't been going. now I'm off on Thursdays, though, so I'm planning on utilizing those days from now on.
On Tuesday nights, L and I go to BodyFlow. It's a tai chi, yoga, and pilates combination and at first I was skeptical. A lot of yoga has its roots in Eastern religion cultures and finding your center in yourself -- a lot of things I theologically disagree with. But the first night we were there -- Valentine's day week -- the instructor played Shadowfeet by Brooke Fraser (of Hillsong) and it was like God was saying, "It's okay for you to do yoga. At the end of class we have a 10 minute period where we just relax (seriously -- what other class can you do that in??) and I often use that time to pray and meditate on my church's Dwelling scripture for the week. Very cool. Anyway, I feel like I get such a workout every week and I really want to take a second class. I'll probably start taking the Saturday morning class at my gym.
4. I'm not too hard on myself. I think this is extremely important. I never had a terrible self image to begin with, but I wasn't happy. I didn't like how I looked in photos, and I could only imagine what I would look like once I got pregnant and gained x amount of pounds. I also wanted to just be in better shape. We have a conference coming up in July in the Rockies and one of the things we do is hike a mountain. I want to do that and accomplish that without dying in the process. I also am a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding in October and I want to look nice for that.
Anyway, back to the not being to hard on my self. That month where I gained weight was just motivation to keep going. So I backtracked for a few weeks. It's not the end of the world. Just keep pressing on. I also still allow myself a few things: regular ranch (because I think FF ranch is just NASTY), a candy bar every now and then, and a "calorie binge" every few weeks. Want to eat half of a pizza? Go for it. As long as it's not a daily or even a weekly thing, your weight is not going to balloon. And, yes, I still have my bad days where I feel like I"m CONSTANTLY eating, but I just get back on my horse the next day.
This journey isn't just about losing weight. The weight loss is a number I put on the assignment so that there was something tangible to track. I'm losing weight so I can get into shape, so I can get pregnant, so I can buy new clothes (YES!), and so I can build healthy habits I hope to pass onto my children. But mostly, what I'm finding is a confidence in myself that I didn't know I lacked. I thought I was confident and that I didn't have a body image issue, but the fact is that I did. And in the last 6 months, I have found a part of me that wants to be pretty and now I feel pretty. I am more conscious of what I'm wearing, I fix my hair, I'm starting to get more interested in fashion jewelry, and I feel sexier (to the delight of J, LOL).
I still have 6 months to go. I know there may be a weigh in here and there where I've gained a bit and that's okay. It's not the end of the world. I'm really enjoying this journey. I'm enjoying my BodyFlow class. I love that I can see one of my best friends 2x a week.
And I love that new clothes lie at the end. =)
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