Last week, My "girl time" REALLY messed things up for me. It caused me to gain 5lbs overnight and those 5lbs did not go away until Mother Nature did- so frustrating. But I have to remind myself that it's nothing I did. What matters is I am still kicking butt, getting healthier, and on my way to my goal.
Sober September
I sort of feel like I didn't quite get an accurate idea of whether alcohol played a part in my weight loss or not since my period caused me to gain 5 lbs. (which, yes, I lost again, but my body did a lot of changing this month). I am going to continue on my Sober September trek until 9/28 (best friend's wedding). We'll see. HOWEVER, I will say, overall, I feel better without alcohol in my system. I don't get headaches, I feel better, and my skin is better and glowing.
Other Changes/Accomplishments/Findings
- I usually wear skirts to work in the summer, but last Friday I wore jeans for casual day. 3-4 coworkers noted that my butt looked smaller.
- Tom told me my back looks smaller. Which is probably a weird thing to observe, but I know what he means- it's more flat. Less fat. HA. #Rhymes
- I am trying to get rid of my upper arm fat by doing overhead weights. I have noticed a small change and will keep working at this.
- Tummy is slimmer
- Pants are big on me
- Bought a shirt a few months ago that was too tight at the time. Now it fits perfectly.
- Yesterday I had a really busy day and a presentation at noon. I always eat lunch at noon on the dot. So, I grabbed a bag of carrots with me on the road to the meeting and ate 5 of them, slowly. It helped hold me over until I got back to eat lunch at 2.
- I try to call my dad right after work to distract me on the way home. I know myself, and I know that I get bored driving, especially in traffic. So I call my dad, and he gets me almost all the way home with our chit chat and it stops me from grabbing chicken nuggets at Wendy's or a blizzard from Dairy Queen. Because before my weight loss journey, that's what I'd do. Grab a unhealthy snack on the way home and then eat dinner. I don't do that anymore, but I still have to distract myself so I won't!
- Today a girl at the gym who is also there every day and is super fit and thin said "I have to ask you- how much weight have you lost? I saw you working out up there and thought 'damn that girl looks good!".
- I need to make sure I take my vitamin d. This may be one of my biggest issues. I forget to take it a lot. My levels are severely low, which can actually hurt weight loss. So, I need to make sure I take it every day. I now have a daily alarm on my phone to go off to remind me to take it. I'm going to take some notes in the next few weeks to see if it makes a difference or not.
- I'm hungry a lot. This is something that's only recently been an issue- like the past few days. I don't know what it is, but I can't get full. Obviously this could be sabotage so I am doing my best to figure out why I'm so hungry and to drink a ton of water. I've been putting lemons in my water, too. I have to find very low calorie snacks to pack during the day. Suggestions?
- I cannot seem to lose the weight in my lower tummy. It's gross because it's a little pooch. How do I get rid of this? I have been doing crunches!
So that's why, I guess, I post so much about it on the Internet. My posts hold myself accountable. I can go back and read something I put and it pushes myself to keep going. To see the support I get from friends and family, it helps the fear go away. It gives me hope. And at this point, I need all the hope I can get.
So yes. My friends. I need some support/advice as far as the feeling hungry thing. How do I stop that? Or how do I help satisfy my tummy enough to the point where I don't sit here daydreaming of candy bars?
I think at this point I can honestly say that I need you guys. Yes I am doing this for myself and yes I am the only one that matters, but I need my friends and family to be there for encouragement. It's hard for me to admit that, but I do.
I hope you all have a good week, and I'll be back next week with another check in and some fall recipes.
4 comments:
Megan, you're doing so awesome! Good for you!
You're feeling hungry because that's normal! Remember, you're body is getting used to this lifestyle change. It IS hungry. That's okay. Sometime it's also, like you said, that you need water. Fill your hunger up with whole foods, not "snacks" or those silly 100-calories tricks in a bag. Also, it's okay to be hungry...it took me a while to get used to that feeling. There's a difference between being hungry and feeling uncomfortable with that new feeling and being so uncomfortable because you're staaarrrrrving. I hope that makes sense. Don't get to the point you're starving b/c that's when diet sabotage happens.
THOSE CHIPS GET ME THOSE CHIPS! :)
Good job with the Jet's Pizza craving too! Maybe you should also think about what would happen IF you did call? How would you feel afterwards? Would you beat yourself up for days and give up? That's how my mind works sometimes. If I eat something that's not so great for me, I have a hard time saying, "Okay. Let's move on. Back to business." Knowing how to cope with getting past a poor choice is key in weight loss too!
Again, I'm so proud of you girlie! Keep it up!
Hey Megan! Way to go with WLWs--such inspiring reading! Something I stumbled upon that has helped me with snacking is making my own popcorn. I was surprised to learn that you can take a handful of popping kernels, put them in a paper lunch bag, microwave for a few minutes and voila! Microwaved popcorn! I found it on Mark Bittman's (whose eating style I try to emulate) blog. This particular post has some good ideas for popcorn toppings, too. http://markbittman.com/real-popcorn/
It's so much healthier than the bags of microwave popcorn, not to mention way cheaper. Hope you enjoy it!
Congrats on your weight loss -- so fantastic! I've lost 32 lbs. since January through completely revamping my diet and portion control (and with Weight Watchers, though I swear this is not an endorsement for them!).
My biggest trick for avoiding the cravings I once indulged daily is to make sure I always, always have something healthy on hand -- especially fresh fruits and vegetables. "You can't eat what you don't have" is my motto, so I can't keep the bad stuff if it's not hanging around -- but can't eat the good stuff if I don't stock up on it.
I eat smaller meals more frequently and always treat myself with an afternoon snack, though it's something like a small box of raisins, low-calorie apple straws (have you had those? They're crunchy like chips, but sweet and delicious!) or an apple.
What will keep you motivated is seeing the positive changes like you already have. Hitting "big number" milestones -- 20 lbs lost; getting into a single-digit size -- was seriously huge for me. After being overweight all of my adult life, suddenly finding myself with clothes literally falling off my hips gave me the motivation to keep going. And I just felt -- and still feel! -- so much better. Like a different person.
Keep on keepin' on! You can do it!
Post a Comment