I was doing so good keeping up with this blog and now i feel like a huge slacker!! Oh well, I'll just have to pick up where i left off...
Total Weight Loss
I have lost 25lbs so far, which i am super proud of, but i thought i would be about 30-35 down by this point. You'd think i'd have learned my lesson about "life" getting in the way sometimes. That 2 week bout of the stomach flu really put a damper on things. Although i guess i definitely did not GAIN weight during that time!! Luckily, I maintained my 20 lb weight loss and lost about another 5lbs additionally. Great rewards!! I love shopping for clothes again and most of my former wardrobe, although just a pathetic selection of clothes, fits me again. So, YAY for that!
Working out; a distant memory...
I never did get back on the workout train after Josh lost his job and stress levels hit an all time high. And i can really notice the difference. I have gone for a few walks outside when the weather is sporadically "nice", and I am totally sore the next day. That is just sad! I REALLY want to get into running and pilates again. I love the way pilates defines and elongates my muscles without bulking them up. My body is just so different now that i have had 3 kids, even after losing all this weight, things just sort of sag ;) I think some moderate cardio and yoga/pilates is what i need right now.
Eating Habits
I am proud to say that ever since i did the 3 day clean eating detox, I really have established better eating habits as well as cutting out some of my worst ones. First off, I am not a sweets slut anymore! Long gone are the days of getting ice cream from McDonalds or the store. No more nibbling on the candy dish array at my mom's house. And I rarely crave sweets these days. Such a welcome change from my former habits, especially when i was pregnant and gulping down big Icee's and pints of ice cream on a daily basis (oops!!). No more cookie binges, or any binges for that matter. It's not like I have been perfect, trust me, i have had a few or more "off" days. But I am doing MUCH better than in the recent past.
Just by cutting down my portion size, I have really learned to give my body what it needs, not what it wants. Normally, if i was starving hungry, I'd sit down to a meal with sides and everything. I have found that doesn't work for me. It just makes me feel tired and full. I love to eat light dinners; fish or chicken with steamed veggies, salads, etc... One of my biggest "give-ups" was POTATOES!! I love them every way; mashed, fried, steamed...I have had little portions of potatoes here and there; but now it's all about balance. One negative of this is the effect it has on my kids diets. My mom will forever scold me for not serving up 3 square meals a day! I just HATE eating that way. I'm a grazer by nature and i think people, in general, ought to graze throughout the day. Think of fueling a fire; you need to slowly feed it to keep it going consistently. If you throw a big log on, the fire will have trouble burning that up! Just like our bodies have trouble burning off a 3 course meal! Anyways, back to the kids eating habits, i do believe that it is important for kids to eat "square meals" in a sense because they need to be exposed to a variety of foods. I WISH my kids would eat fish and veggies, but it ain't gonna happen at this point, so i (or WE) usually end up making our own meal and then cooking separately for the kids. One of my goals is to get the kids on the same track we are on. However, I am glad that we are good examples to them in regards to what we are eating.
Keeping the motivation
I think frequently weighing myself really helps me stay on track. If the scale starts to creep up a few pounds, it makes me reflect on what i've been eating. I don't like to go on how my clothes fit, because let's face it, clothes stretch! I have proof of that! I think numbers are sort of important. I really want to get down to my goal weight, not only for the way i look and fell but also to get my body fat percentage down to where it should be for my age and height.
Going shopping keeps me motivated as well. I love to reap the benefits of losing weight by trying on all of the cute clothes i haven't been able to wear for the last few years.
This is a weird motivation, but just knowing i'm done having kids?? I guess it's sort of a cop out because a person should be fit when they have kids also, but i was not a good pregnant person! I feel like it's my time to get my body and health back.
I hope i can find some new reasons to stay motivated, although just personal satisfaction is really all i need to keep me going. Maybe i will find something i really love to do in a workout. I am considering doing another 3 day clean eating detox to jump start myself again! AND keeping up with the blog again!!
Yay! I like that log metaphor!! Good call :) I like grazing too...but I need to do a little less grazing at night time ;)
ReplyDeleteZ and I took a four week yoga class in the third ward and it was WOOOONDERFUL! It made SUCH a difference from practicing yoga on my own because I now know what I was doing wrong HA!! So keep your eyes out for a Groupon for yoga or pilates! I highly recommend it! They just had one for $20 and I didn't take advantage because I suck at life ;)
yeah, i had to rally cut down on eating at night, that was huge for me! I'd love to take a class of some kind, hopefully i will have time. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my blog, I'm gonna go cold turkey each week on whatever I was naughty at the week before. For my inaugural week, I'm starting with SNACKING after dinner. Worst ever!
ReplyDeleteI snack during the day, cuz yea - totally agree with you on that Tina. And I just have 100 cal snack packs or fruit, and it's b/c I only have a cup of soup for lunch. But yea, I'm very much in a habit of snacking after Addie goes to bed. It just goes so nicely with finally sitting on the couch, relaxing, watching TV and.....snacking :( Maybe I should just have a glass of wine instead!!!! A little less calories? eh...
yeah, that's what i do! Except i have a vodka and diet tonic with a little lemon or lime slice. Last night we had vodka, diet tonic, and a splash of cranberry juice for flavor. Low calorie and a great way to chill at the end of the day. The one downside to that is that i tend to get the munchies from having a drink...but i've been pretty good at staving off. If i get desperate, like last night, i have something healthy. I had a piece of cheese (just one serving) and two slices of fresh tomato! Super yummy!
ReplyDeleteOh! And that night-eating thing is what i wrote about in an earlier post as one of my biggest issues, which i categorize as "reward" eating. At the end of a hard, long day i think i "deserve" to treat myself. It's hard to break that, but having a little drink is more fun! My next hurdle will be convincing myself that i can take a half hour to workout again. It's hard in general to keep on a workout schedule, but especially being a mom, you just have a hard time putting any effort into taking care of yourself :/
ReplyDeleteI'm not so much for drinking liquor anymore these days. No stomach for that! But I do fancy a glass of wine, and yea I do like having a piece of cheese or SOMETHING with wine. Gotta stop that! It's not even a reward for me, just somethign I do. I think it's b/c I get to savor whatever I eat after Addie goes to bed. Since I wolf down my dinner when I get home b/c I want to spend time with Addison and she's running around wanting to play with me. But I'm just not gonna do it at all for a week and see if that can tone down the craving/habit just a little.
ReplyDeletethat's a good idea, i think i may try something like that. When i started eating better a few months ago and gave up sweets and other junk food it really made me aware of how much i was actually craving it and eating it. There have been a few times when i ate a piece of bday cake or candy or whatever but for the most part i haven't binged hardcore on anything. I find I am really craving savory and salty foods lately, which sucks because it makes me retain water. I like to go the spicy route for dinners and stuff (we do a lot of thai stuff). That way i get a savory spicy punch of flavor but without the salt.
ReplyDeleteI really think the more flavorful the dinner, the more satisfied I am and less likely to "stray" at night! And it doesnt even have to be a big meal or anything. Those yummy fish recipes I talked about in my blog, were SUPER flavorful AND really healthy, and the best part is that I was satisfied and didn't need chips or cookies at night! With this month of giving up dining/ordering out, I'll have to dive back into cooking yummy recipes again so the give-up isn't as tempting!
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