Pounds Down!!!

It's been just about a month and a half since I got back in the groove and got serious about loosing weight. And it's well past time for me to give everyone an update on how I've been doing. I got off track in following the South Beach diet but I have been dedicated to making smarter choices in the thing that I eat. I've also become far more motivated than I've ever been with exercising! I workout a minimum of three times a week, and it seems to all be paying off....
Since January 20th (when I started measuring) I have lost 1.5 inches in my thighs, 2 inches in my booty (around me hips), 4.5 inches around my belly, and half an inch around my flabby "mom arms"!

GO ME! Sorry, I'm just so incredibly proud of myself and my dedication! There's nothing better than having physical, right there, up in your face results!

I guess she's done...

It's been almost 4 days since K breastfed during the day! I cannot believe that she just stopped like that. She's still asking for it at bedtime and gets up once during the night, but I am so happy to go about my day doing things without having to sit down so she can snack 6-8 times a day! Don't get me wrong, I loved breastfeeding and the bonding time it gave K and I, but I was ready to be done with it. Fifteen months was more than enough for me.

On the weight loss front I am now down eight pounds! I know it doesn't sound a lot but every pound I loose is one step closer to getting healthier, one step closer to having another baby and one step closer to feeling good about myself! So I'm going to count ever pound as a victory!

stupid goldfish and their salty goodness!

Today is day 2 and let me tell you... all was well today until K wanted an afternoon snack and I poured some whole grain goldfish in a bowl for her. She kept offering to share them with me like the sweet kid she is but of course mommy had to say "no thank you sweetie". Do you know how hard it was for me to turn down the salty goodness of goldfish? Especially when a super cute blue eyed baby girl was holding them up to my mouth and offering to share? I pretended to take a few of them because it made her happy, but man that was a test of my willpower!

Overall though today went well, I can't get over how I'm not really hungry. I feel satisfied, I wasn't sure that I would. I thought I would be starving all the time! This morning I made ham and cheese omelets for K and I, and I think she liked it. She gobbled it up before I could even sit down with mine! This afternoon I made a turkey roll up with some veggies in the middle and dinner was a chicken saute with a side salad. S was really worried about all this "health food" but he said he actually enjoyed dinner tonight so I guess he's coming around!

Day 1

Today was the first day of my new lifestyle. That's right, I refuse to call it a diet, it's a lifestyle change. I'm learning to cook and eat healthier so that I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Therefore it's not a diet. Went grocery shopping this morning and stocked up on all the things I'll need to make my meals for the rest of the week.

I did eat a banana this morning for breakfast because I wasn't stocked up yet and it was a better option than hubby's sugary cereal. I had an egg for lunch, a string cheese for a snack and a salad for dinner! Tonight I want to hard boil some eggs to keep on hand and whip up some egg scramblers to freeze so I have them on hand. Plus make some sugar free jello jilgglers so I have some type of "sweet" snack. I am so excited about this, I really hope that with all the support I'm getting I can stick to it and really make this work!

The (not so) Skinny

So I wrote a while back about losing weight and how things were going well. They WERE going well, then those stinking rotten holidays snuck up and shoved cookies down my throat. And of course those cookies were followed up with mounds of mashed potatoes, glasses of booze, pies, pies and more pies, plus all those sneaky carbs that jump out and attack you. I've been slacking to say the least! So I've been trying to make some choices about how to move on from here. I've had good luck so far with simply cutting back, but I've reached the stage where that is no longer working for me and I need to find another way to keep progressing.

My SIL and BIL have started the South Beach and I've been doing some research and trying to figure out if it's a good fit for me too. It will be helpful to have others around me that are following a similar program and hopefully we can lean on each other when we're feeling weak! I've been mulling over this for a few days and I think it's worth a shot and hopefully it will kick my rather large behind into gear!

Hubby on the other hand is not so enthusiastic. He's whining and crying about how I'm not going to be using bread, and there won't be mashed potatoes on his plate every night at dinner anymore. After a long talk the other night about how much I hate the person that stares back from the mirror at me and how hot that girl was that he danced with at his sisters wedding back in 2008. (That was me by the way). I also explained to him that I'm terrified that if I get pregnant again at this weight that I'll just keep adding on and it will be harder and harder to get the weight off. So no more babies until I loose 30lbs. (Please dear God don't let that take me too long!) I think I have him on board now, I think he gets that I won't be happy and feel good about myself until I'm back under and well below the 200 mark. I know I'll probably never be the 140 I was at seventeen but I would be thrilled with 170 or even 160.

Weight Loss

I have written this post about a million and one times since Bug was born and each time I've gone to hit that "publish" button, I've chickened out! This time I have vowed not to, I need to write it, I need it out there in the world and I need to keep getting the support from those I know IRL and those I don't!

When I got pregnant with K I weighed 259 pounds. That's right, my little 5'3" self weighed that much! I hated it, but yet I did nothing about it either. I gained (thankfully) only 17 pounds while I was pregnant and when I gave birth I was 276. That was when the midwives told me that before I had another baby, if I wanted to deliver with them again, that I would need to lower my BMI drastically. The hospital had changed their policy in the last weeks of my pregnancy and they fought to keep me so that I wouldn't have to be switched to a high risk doctor for the last weeks. Before I get pregnant again I need to weigh less than 200 and preferably less than 190 or I would have to see a high risk doctor during my pregnancy and would have to deliver with them rather than my midwives. After my experience with the AMAZING group of midwives that I had, there is no way I'm having another baby without them. So, my journey started.

Given that I was breastfeeding, I had to keep my calorie intake at a certain level or fear loosing my supply, I couldn't make any drastic changes in my diet. It would have to be a slow, steady paced one. As soon as I had the clearance to start working out, I did. It wasn't much, just some stretching and Pilates in my living room. Remember I live in PA and gave birth in October, it was cold outside and I was going out there to walk! I will admit freely that I wasn't commited and my drive to excrise was lacking! I did a hit or miss exersie plan for most of the winter until the warmer weather kicked in. About March/April, I broke out the stroller and started walking up our hill and back (just over a mile). I huffed, and puffed but I stuck with it a few times a week until... well I just stopped. Over the spring/summer I did it off and on whenever the urge stuck me.

My diet, well I have to say, I haven't changed it much. I cut back on the sweets, I made a meal every night, and cut back on the soda and sugary drinks. I would go on kicks for about a week or so where I would eat healthier, but it never stuck. I honestly think the only thing that saved me was the breastfeeding, it burns some serious calories.

Over the summer, I discovered the world of Zumba! I LOVE it. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! But I can't bring myself to do it when anyone else is in the house. My husband is one thing, but my father-in-law lives with us and the idea of him walking in and seeing me do it, is HORRIFYING!

Anyways, here we are, first week of September and I'm SO proud to say that I am down from 276 to 229. I have lost 47 pounds! I still have 41 more to go to reach my goal! However, my pants don't fit, my shirts hang off me  and I finally am starting to feel good. I notice a difference when I stand naked in front of the mirror, I notice a difference in my attitude, and most importantly I'm starting to feel like a woman again! Not just a blob, but like I have a figure! I know realistically I will never be the size 10, and 140lbs that I was back in high school (can you believe I thought I was fat back then?) but I will be so happy if I can trade in my size 24's for a size 16 (or less)! Right now I'm a 20 and they're getting loose!

So I charge out all out there, support me. Question me on where I am, tell me I'm looking better. Scold me if you must when I pick up a soda! Because the time is quickly approaching where I'm going to be ready for another baby, but I WILL NOT trade in my midwives! :)