Weight Loss Wednesday

 

The picture on the left is from November. The right is January 20th. You may not be able to see a huge difference, but I do. The tummy is getting smaller!

 

Well, friends, I dropped the weight. I am now down a total of 35.5 lbs. How did I do it?

I think it's a combination of things. I went to the gym trainers and my friend Jeannette for advice. Here are some of the things they told me:

• Drink more water. My trainer slapped my hand when I told her I drink maybe two glasses of a water a day. Now I make sure I get my 8 glasses in. I count then during the day and immediately enter them into myfitnesspal so that I can easily keep track. Lately I've been adding a little lemon into my water. It's supposed to boost your metabolism and help your skin.

• I made sure to take my vitamin d every day. I'm severely deficient, so I am supposed to take 4,000 iu each day. For a while I was forgetting. Now I have an alarm on my phone, and as a backup Tom also has an alarm and texts me to remind me. I notice a significant difference in my mood and energy level when I take my vitamin d consistently.

• Both Jeannette and my trainers told me that I had to start doing more weights in my workouts. So now twice a week I focus just on Resistance training. I do a 10 minute warm up on the treadmill or bike and then do circuits with the dumbbells or bars: pec flys, lateral raises, tricep extensions, squats and lunges with weights, etc. I also add in crunches and other ab work on my strength days. Oh, and battle ropes. Battle ropes are my new favorite toy at the gym.

• I added lots of spinach and other veggies to my diet and really watched my intake of processed foods. I don't eat full on organic but I really watch what I eat. Example: lean cuisines are great and quick, but not necessarily nutritious. Instead, I bring my leftovers from dinner. Also, I love eating soup for lunch in the winter but try to make my soup for the week rather than buying canned soup. Just little things like that. Tonight I'm making a stir fry with lots of yummy veggies, chicken, and brown rice.

I was not eating enough calories. I know that sounds pretty contradicting, but I was eating way below the recommended amount for my weight. Now I make sure I get pretty close to the supposed amount- but by eating the right foods. Instead of grabbing a bag of chips that are 200+ calories and loaded with fat and salt, I eat a protein bar, Greek yogurt, or Angie's popcorn, which is an all natural popcorn that tasted delicious and is just 90 calories a bag. Oh, and my favorite desert is the Snack Factory dark chocolate pretzels. I eat exactly 5 every night as my night snack- 5 is just enough to fill my sweet craving, and it fills me up. They are delicious, and 5 is 130 calories total. So far I have only found them at Costco, though.

 

I want to be down another 10 lbs by the time my Florida trip comes around. I want to be able to feel comfortable in a bathing suit rather than totally covering up in shorts and a T-shirt. Florida is in about 12 weeks. I think I can do it. But I won't punish myself or feel guilty if I can't.

Each day that I get closer to that 50lb mark I push myself a little harder. A friend asked me how we are going to celebrate losing 50 lbs. I have no idea, but we will. At least, I will. 

I realize I may get stuck again. Maybe this is my new pattern, where I don't lose any weight for a few weeks and then suddenly drop a few lbs all at once. Who knows. I'm just going to keep pushing. 

I found myself encouraging a friend the other day. She was venting and telling me she was sick of being tired all the time and that she wanted to do something about her weight. I told her that it was in her control to do so, and that she is worth being healthy. I told her how important it was to take care of herself and that her body would begin to thank her. She emailed me later to tell me that on her lunch break she called a gym and signed up. I was so proud of her!

So now I will tell you the same thing: you are all beautiful and worthy of love and of good health. Take care of yourselves. Whatever it is that is your burden, get rid of if. It won't be easy. This is the hardest thing I've ever done. But I finally feel like I am fully living life. And that makes it all worthwhile.