2013 resolutions

weigh to go: 3 months in

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

This is the picture that did it for me.  The one that made me realize that I really didn’t like the way I looked.  Christmas morning with my boys and all I could see in this picture was how big my arms and stomach and legs looked.  [My hair’s pretty gross too, but that’s not the point.]  It’s not even that I think I look necessarily huge, I just didn’t realize that this is what I looked like.  At all.

On January 2nd, I started a diet.  A couple weeks later I joined the gym.

Click here for the previous update.

As of a month ago I had lost 12.something pounds.  I posted this on Instagram.

I’m happy to report that 1 month later, as of today, I’ve lost 16.4 pounds.  This is not a dramatic weight loss – just averaging a pound a week, but that is fine.  I find it a little surprising because my lifestyle has changed quite dramatically since I started all this healthier living business.

I started Couch to 5k, are you familiar? I’ve historically never been a runner.  I’ve historically always complained about my crappy knees.  But.  I’ve recently been sooo inspired by Mommy Boots and her success with this program that the urge to try it was overwhelming.  I am currently in the middle of week four.  In case you are not familiar, this program is designed to train a non-runner (definition: ME) to run a 5k in just 9 weeks.  There are 3 sessions per week and each one is just about 30 minutes. Easy enough to commit to that, right? 

To give you a better, but brief rundown, I think Wk 1 starts out alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking.  By Wk 4, I’m up to this:

Warm up walk: 5 min
Jog: 3 min
Walk: 90 sec
Jog: 5 min
Walk: 2 min 30 sec
Repeat (minus the 5 minute warm up)
Cool down walk for 5 min

I have been doing the program outside at least 1x a week and inside on the treadmill 2x a week since I started.  Not intentionally necessarily, but it’s just worked out that way.  Jogging outside is like 54ish times harder than on the treadmill.  I hate it during, but I love it afterwards. 

My knees do hurt initially, but that kind of goes away once I get into my rhythm.  I did day one of week four outside and it was quite a jump from week three so it was rough. REALLY rough. But I completed it.  Did it again tonight on the treadmill and it was easy.  I’ve already told myself that if I am not able to successfully complete a day, I am going to repeat it until I’m successful. So far, I haven’t had to repeat anything.  Which is surprising since that 60 seconds of jogging the first week nearly killed me.  Or so I thought. 

This month’s major milestone:  I fit into my “skinny jeans” that I quickly outgrew about a year ago when I stopped nursing Dexter.  Woo!!  Getting back into them has been a goal since I started on this journey.  I did it and here’s the proof!

Disregard the dorky pose, fake smile, and wet hair.

So despite the fact that the numbers are not changing rapidly on the scale, I feel MUCH better. I desperately need to buy some new clothes.  I notice that I care more about how I look.  I’m wearing make-up.  Getting my eyebrows done again.  Dressing (a little) cuter despite my limited wardrobe (the picture above is not intended to depict that).  Contemplating a new hairstyle.

I’m proud of myself for challenging my brain and my body with this jogging madness, and I have so much more energy than I can remember having in recent years.  I’ve been known to bust out 50 jumping jacks in the bathroom at work. I’m still sticking with My Fitness Pal, logging everything I eat and all of my workouts.  It seems like a lot of work at first, but it really just takes a few seconds here and there and is kind of addictive!  Not to mention sooo motivating.  Come join and be a pal if you haven’t already!

xo,
~C~

weigh to go: 2 months in

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Click here for the previous update.

I was disappointed the last time I posted because I was doing SO well following my plan for dieting and exercising only to gain weight.  I’ve increased my water intake significantly, stayed the course overall, and am continuing to lose weight.  With my goal being to lose 20-24 pounds (and maintain in that range thereafter), I am over halfway there.  As of last Friday, I’ve lost 12.8 pounds.  
What’s working right now continuing to log all of my calories — yes, EVERYTHING I eat, on MyFitnessPal.  It definitely helps me focus, make better decisions, and plan ahead for what/how much I am going to eat throughout the day.  I’m trying to incorporate snacks between meals to keep my metabolism busy but it’s hard to do when I’m counting calories and have to ration enough for meals on days when I don’t hit the gym (MyFitnessPal gives me more calories to eat when I exercise — hello, motivation to go to the gym right there!). 
What’s also working is planning to cheat.  In other words, I give myself something to look forward to and that helps me maintain while that cheat day is approaching.  Last week it was enchiladas, chips & queso, and a margarita with a friend on Friday night.  I ended up eating twice as many calories as I was supposed to for the day, and guess what? It’s fine.  Not every day, but once every couple of weeks is fine.  I’m still losing weight and honestly?  I was probably eating that many calories EVERY day before January.  Yikes.  Having an awareness of this completely changes the way I look at my food, and yes, other people’s food as well.  I just want to make better choices, be around for a long time, and set a good example for my kids.  
What’s essential to my success so far and going forward is reminding myself that I am not in a race to lose the weight and get in better shape.  I’m determined to make this a lifestyle change.
Going to the gym makes me feel stronger, more energetic, and accomplished. I love how I feel leaving the gym.  I love being able to say that I pushed myself.  I even love wearing my sweaty clothes out of there like a badge of honor.  Take that, fat.  Keep crying! I am taking control of my life, my health, and my body.  I’m not letting my body control me.  I feel proud when I resist a cupcake here, a donut there, and a latte every morning.  I’m having fun searching for and testing healthy recipes for my family.  
I know I’m only 2 months in, but I like where this is headed.  Dramatic weight loss or not, I like feeling better and fitting in my clothes better.  
xo,
~C~

weigh to go.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I just thought I would provide an occasional update on my efforts to live a little healthier, lose some weight, and gain more energy that I talked about a lot in some previous posts.  I’ve been dieting since Jan 2 and exercising since a couple weeks after that.  My longterm goal is to just be more active, maintain a healthy weight, and engage in lots of physical activities as a family.  To get there, I gave myself a shorter term goal of losing 20-24 pounds (and stay in that range thereafter) and exercising 3-4x per week.

Weight lost:  Two weeks ago I would have been proud to tell you that I had lost 9 pounds, but unfortunately that’s no longer the case.  At my weigh-in two Fridays ago I had gained 1.8 of that back and then last Friday, another 1.6. So for now, my total weight loss is 5.6 lbs until I weigh again this Friday.  The thing is, I didn’t even cheat much.  Not enough to be packing on over 3 lbs in 2 weeks.  I’m not sure what’s going on but I was pretty bummed last Friday when I got on the scale. All I know is I’m not giving up.  I’m trying to increase my water intake since I do tend to eat a lot of pre-packaged (high sodium) foods for breakfast and lunch that may increase my water retention.

I’m having to pep talk the girl in the mirror (but not while looking in the mirror, that would be weird) to remind myself that I’m still exercising more than I have in the past three years.  That I’m not trying to lose 24 lbs in 2 months.  My goal is to lose the weight before we go to Disney in October.  My goal is for this current healthy living, that can be a struggle at times, to turn into a way of life by October.  I want to have energy and make good food decisions 90% of the time.  That there’s more going on here than the numbers on the scale.  That if I keep doing what I have been doing for the past 6+ weeks, there’s no way that I won’t lose the weight eventually. 

How are you doing on your goals for this year?

~C~