The Slimdown: An Update

Since I started Weight Watchers and the Biggest Blogging Loser back in June, I have lost fifteen pounds.  My ultimate goal weight, which seemed so far away just three months ago, is well within reach.  I am five pounds above that goal weight, and I'll be honest, it feels pretty darn good.

I try not to get too caught up in the actual number on the scale--although it definitely needed to be smaller than what it was and I am liking where it's headed--or the size in my clothes, which is better too, of course.  Instead, I try to focus on the way my clothes fit and how I am feeling.  I am at the same weight I was when I settled out from having the girls (130 lbs.), about ten pounds less than I weighed when I got pregnant.  But this time, because I have done it through eating right and exercising, and because I'm not two months out from birthing twins, my stomach is much flatter, I am smaller all over, and I just feel a lot (A LOT) happier with the way I look.

My backside is still incredibly flat (a lifelong problem for which there seems to be no exercise or solution), my chest is still quite large (I'm more okay with this one, most of the time), my hips are still narrow, I still have little to no definable waist, and though it is several noticeable inches smaller, I will never bare my stomach to anyone outside my immediate family (thanks for the stretch marks, kids!)...but overall, I am very satisfied these days.  My legs are stronger and more muscular than ever before, I can run a mile without stopping and without feeling like I am going to die, and my pants fit perfectly.  That is, the NEW pants I bought when I couldn't wear the old ones fit perfectly--the old pairs are gone, gone, gone.

I'll have to get a full-body picture soon...this is the best I could do for now!

As most of us have realized over the years, there is no secret formula or quick and easy way to manage our weight.  That holds true here--there is no magic exercise that helped me shed the pounds, and I certainly didn't do it with a super-special smoothie mix.  (Smoothies generally make me want to throw up.  I will never, EVER be able to drink a smoothie or a shake and call it a meal...I'm just not wired that way.)

Before getting serious about my weight back in June, I had already implemented a lot of changes in the way our family eats.  I felt pretty good about most of the things we were eating.  Upon starting Weight Watchers, I realized that the important change for me would be the amount I was eating.  On the Weight Watchers plan, I started paying a lot more attention to the little things that can add up during the day--creamer in my coffee (which counted for at least 1 of my daily points--I became very stingy very quickly and cut out the creamer as a non-necessity.  Who knew I could learn to like black coffee?), afternoon squares of chocolate, cheese added to a salad, the handful of crackers or single cookie I would grab when fixing a snack for the girls, etc.  All those things were negating a lot of the good I was doing with a balanced meal and an evening run.

For most of the summer, I followed Weight Watchers very strictly.  I measured everything to get used to portion sizes, I added up the total points in recipes, and I ate the heck out of all the delicious summer fruits and vegetables (most of which are "free"--zero points).  I also stuck to a legitimate exercise plan for the first time in my life.  I have been pretty consistent for the last several months, on a schedule of running at least 2-3 times a week and doing a mix of different yoga programs at least twice a week.  Seriously, this is the longest I have stuck with planned exercise, EVER.

Once I got the hang of eating less (and not starving, which was somewhat of a surprise to me!), the combination of fewer calories and exercise began to have an effect.  The scale moved, and more importantly, I could feel my body changing.  It was a great feeling, and an inspiring one...the changes just made me want to push harder.

Months later, I'm still here, and still pushing.  I have eased up on a few things--I haven't actually tracked my daily points in a couple of weeks, but I know the value of most foods I eat on a daily basis.  If I go outside the norm, I count again to be sure I'm not getting too far off track.  My portions have changed drastically, and my snacking is under control.  I might have an evening snack, if I really feel like I need it, and popcorn night with my girls is still non-negotiable (though I limit myself to only a small handful of their M&Ms).  We typically eat out at least twice on the weekends, and for at least one of those meals, I pretty much order whatever I want.  And it usually includes ranch dressing, which is still my absolute favorite.  But the other 90% of the time, I'm on track, and that balance has worked well for me.

Above all, I think the best thing Weight Watchers has taught me is to listen to my body.  Adjusting my portion sizes showed me that it takes a lot less to fill me up than I previously thought.  And if I eat the right things for my body, I will stay fuller much longer than I often expect.  I try to recognize when I am full, and I am working on training myself not to eat when I'm not hungry.  Novel concept, I know.  But those snacks and extras that were hindering me before weren't happening because I was hungry; they were just something I did out of habit. 

The challenge now is to stick with these new habits, both the eating habits and the exercise habits.  For me, it's the combination that works best.  I am happier than I was three months ago...not just because I'm down a couple of pants sizes, but because I feel better all around.  I have more confidence and way more energy.  I am super pleased with where I am right now, and my goal is to still be this positive three months, six months, a year from now. 

Mission:  Almost Accomplished.

Seriously, this time

Growing up, I was one of those skinny kids that never gave a second thought to what I was eating.  I loved my vegetables, but from a young age I learned to like them best the southern way--fried okra, fried squash, and mashed potatoes being at the top of the list.  For most of my life, right up until the last six or seven years, it was no big deal.  I could eat all my favorite things without worry.  Even more than that, I could take exercise (in the form of sports or walking, usually...nothing too strenuous!) or leave it, without a difference in my body or weight.

When Jeremy and I met in 2002, I was at one of the lower points of my college weight, just under 100 lbs.  (Yes, I spent most of high school and some of my college years being just plain skinny.)  While that weight is under where I need, or want, to be, it is far past time for the pounds that have crept on over the years to GO.

As I have aged and my metabolism has slowed, my habits--or lack thereof--have caught up with me.  My weight has settled between 140-145 lbs (yep, just putting it out there!)...which seems to be where I stay without working to do anything about it.  I was at this point when I got pregnant with the girls, then dropped down to about 128 after they were born.  Obviously, over the last four years I didn't change much and it added up again.

So what to do about it?  I am finally at the point where I am really, really ready to change my habits and take control of my weight and my health.

My eating habits are already so much better than they used to be, and they continue to improve.  I am still running on a fairly regular basis, with plans to continue that and finally get to a regular three times a week schedule.  Now it's time to put the two together...and I have a plan.

Some friends at work and I started the Weight Watchers plan in the last week.  (I confess:  we are cheating and not signing up for the actual program.  All of them except me have done it before, so we have the guidelines and food values we need, just not the monthly fee.)  I have also joined an online group, the Biggest Blogging Loser, coordinated by the fabulous Jennie.  It's just an encouragement/competition sort of thing, with each of us doing our own method.

Having never tried the Weight Watchers program, I was pretty excited to start.  It has gone well so far (admittedly, it's only been a few days...but I'm on track to lose at least four pounds this week!), and it feels very manageable.  I make my choices and technically eat whatever I want, as long as I fit the points in to my daily allowance.  I realize just how much mindless snacking I was doing, and I'm learning to let myself be hungry for mealtime, instead of shoving tortilla chips in my face while I'm cooking because I feel like I'm starving.  I managed to eat out over the weekend and enjoyed my meals, while still making pretty good choices overall.

The key to my progress so far seems to be the combination of the diet changes with my running.  Instead of the 170 calories I burn on my evening run cancelling out the brownie I ate in the afternoon, it's coming off my much more reasonable daily intake.  And it's actually making a difference!  Who would have thought?  Seeing progress is a huge motivator for me, so I hope I can keep up the enthusiasm.  Then, by the time I meet my goal weight (around 125, I think), the idea is that my habits will have changed enough that I no longer feel like I'm "dieting".  This will just be how I eat and how I exercise, forever and ever, amen.  (We've all heard the "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle" spill, which I know is true.)

One more thing that's making all this feel much more manageable...  As of this week, Jeremy is home in the evenings!!  Yes, for the first time in our nearly seven-year marriage, he is now working normal daytime hours, at least most of the time.  It couldn't have happened at a better time, as it's just been in the last few weeks that it has gotten absolutely too hot to run after work.  And the idea of me getting up before work to exercise is just laughable.  Give me 9:00 at night over 6:00 in the morning anytime.  Not only can I make the workout happen, I can actually cook a meal for someone besides myself.  The girls are good to eat most of the things we do, but sometimes it's just so much easier to throw down a bowl of cereal and call it dinner.  I am just thrilled in general to have him home at night, in case you can't tell.  (We'll see if that holds true after a few weeks of losing my evening alone time and having to share the remote....)

So there's what's going on around here.  Lots of salads, skinny ranch, and grilled chicken, basically!  But it will all be worth it, I am confident.

What's going on with you this week??

Lately

With only a few minor exceptions (mostly J's work stuff that's far beyond our control), things have been good lately.  Really good, in fact.

The girls are at a point where they can skip nap when we find something better to do, usually without earth-shattering consequences come bedtime.  It's nice to be able to do a few things differently every once in awhile.  With summer here in full force, I imagine we will take advantage of the option to choose adventures like the splash park or ice cream dates over naps when the mood strikes.

Addison & Mackenzie are interested in things they have never noticed before.  We spent nearly an hour out in the yard the other night, chasing and catching lightning bugs.  Their pretend games are longer and more involved than ever, and they can entertain themselves for the longest time with random objects.  Yesterday it was a roll of duct tape; today, a spool of thread. 

Jeremy and I are making a concentrated effort to change some of our eating habits, focusing on more real and natural (and low-carb) foods.  We are working hard to find new meals we both enjoy.

Personally, I have found myself eating a lot less meat.  I don't know if y'all know this or not, but the South is kind of a "meat & potatoes" kind of place.  Growing up, I didn't think you could have a real meal without meat.  Slowly, I'm learning that there are several meatless meals I really like.  Black beans, rice, and other vegetables and whole grains have become staples in my diet over the last few months, and I just realized today that I am now eating at least 5-6 meatless meals during the week.  I made and froze black bean quesadillas last week, and they make an excellent lunch.

The girls and I are taking lots of afternoon/evening walks.  They sit in the stroller, eating a snack and chatting their nonsense to one another while I jam to a Pandora station and focus on pushing 60+ pounds of kids and stroller up the hill in our neighborhood.  We saw the resident neighborhood peacock (yes, peacock!  No idea where he came from....) the other day, which was way more exciting for me than for A & M.  They did think it was really cool when I let them go out dressed like this, though:

Evening stroll attire should always include pajamas and rain boots.  Cowboy hat and Nerf gun are optional.

Yes, things are going well around here lately. 

How about you?

I know this...why can't I do it?

First of all, I hope all my mama friends had a Happy Mother's Day!  I certainly did--Jeremy and the girls were super nice and gave me a pretty low-key, relaxing day.  We went to church, had lunch with our usual Sunday crowd (including my mom, of course!), then took relatively good naps.  Last night we went to Olive Garden with Jeremy's family.  After that, I got a trip to Target with NO complaining or rushing from anyone.  Score!  : )

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So there has been an article going around this week, "Why the Campaign to Stop America's Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing".  The article is largely a rebuttal of sorts to some of the information presented in the upcoming HBO documentary The Weight of the Nation.  The author of the article, Gary Taubes, points out that the anti-obesity establishment largely touts the principle of energy imbalance as the reason we get fat.  At heart, the problem being that "we consume too many calories and expend too few".

Taubes's argument is that the establishment's theory "ignores" the implication of specific foods--namely refined sugars and grains--which have negative effects on the insulin hormone that regulates fat accumulation.  Simply put, not all calories are created equal, and those that come from refined sugars and grains are the most harmful.

And you know?  I KNOW THIS.  I've seen it in practice, when I was following the glycemic index meal plan while I was pregnant.  I started out with a few pounds to lose and only ended up gaining 26 pounds, most of which was comprised of babies and fluid.  I fully believe that it was because of the way I was eating that kept my weight in check, and the babies were able to use a lot of what I already had for their nutrition.

Now, I could be wrong on that whole theory about the babies using my "extra" weight, but I am certain I am not wrong about my diet keeping my weight under control.  After I had the girls, I continued to follow the glycemic index for the first several weeks.  Even when I slacked off a bit, I kept a lot of what I'd learned in mind and was able to keep my weight well below my pre-pregnancy number for quite some time.  

I can't pinpoint exactly when that all went out the window, but the scales and my body clearly reflect that it did.  Experience tells me that instead of drastically reducing my daily calorie intake and struggling to exercise more and more (which I could stand more of, sure, but that's not really the point here), the single best thing I could do for myself is to return to eating by the plan that I know works.  WHY AM I NOT DOING THIS?

I really have no answer to this question, except that it's hard sometimes.  Which kind of sums the whole thing up in one statement, because again, I know from experience that after awhile it's not nearly as hard to turn down those tempting desserts, the potatoes, or that basket of bread.  Well, okay, the bread is always a hard one for me, but it's a lot easier to do when I am seeing the results of those sacrifices.  But I have to start--really and truly start, not half-assing it the way I have been--to see a difference and therefore, keep my motivation going. 

So I guess this is my commitment anew to getting myself in gear and doing what I know needs to be done for myself and my health and my body.   I really am at pretty much an all-time low regarding my satisfaction with my body right now...no better time to start again, right?  

Here we go....

Diet & Exercise

As I mentioned last week, I have decided it is time to take a few serious steps toward improving my weight and health. I know myself well enough to know that I am not going to stick with any kind of drastic, all-or-nothing plan, but small steps toward the goal are better than no steps, right?

According to my profile on the My Fitness Pal app, my goal is 1200 calories per day. Honestly, I have never counted calories before in my life, but I knew for certain that I had been eating far more than 1200 calories every day.  I was not sure I could make it through a day eating so little!

To my surprise, I have survived at or around 1200 calories for about two weeks now...during the week, at least. Weekends, so far, have been a bit of a problem to get under control.  I don't go all-out and eat everything in sight on weekends, but I definitely relax the weekday standards. I know I have to change that, and I really am working on it. As part of our efforts to scale back the budget, we are trying to eat out less and plan good, healthy meals at home more often.

The frustrating part is that even after meeting my calorie goals each weekday, I think I might be down about one pound. Very, very discouraging.

I am working on incorporating more exercise this week, which is also an area where I have plenty of room for improvement. Again, I know myself well enough not to set my expectations too high, so I am starting with very minimum goals. I am still enjoying this power yoga/pilates workout on Netflix, and I like doing Just Dance on the Wii sometimes. I will never, ever, ever like running, but I do enjoy walking when I can work it in. That's really the key for me, I think...I have to find time to work something in. I am hopeful that at least a minimum level of regular exercise combined with my 1200-calorie diet (ugh!) will begin to make a difference.

Now tell me...
How do you control your diet on the weekends? Do you eat relatively the same every day, or do you have a designated splurge day? Breakfast is a hard meal for me to add variety--what is your standard weekday breakfast?

Game Plan

I have come to a decision.  It's time to do something about this weight that has been creeping on my body over the last few months.

I've had enough of narrowing down my wardrobe for the week according to which pants will be most comfortable around my expanding waistline.  I love wearing dresses in the summer, but I want to wear them because I want to, not because they hide all manner of flaws in my midsection.

When my weight leveled off after having the girls in April 2009, I was ten pounds lighter than I had been when I got pregnant.  Though that was still about fifteen pounds heavier than I was during most of college, I felt okay about it.  At this point in my life, I'm not looking for the body I once had.  Let's face it--that body is never coming back.

I was pretty happy with where my weight was post-twins, and even though this body is all sorts of rearranged, it was sufficient and there was hope for a little more improvement.  Instead, I have somehow managed to go ten pounds in the wrong direction.

I know what I need to do...I just have trouble putting it into action.  I have never really struggled with my weight in the past, and I have never worked out consistently, though I used to be a lot more active than I am now.  And I always eaten exactly what I wanted to.  (I know, I should not be complaining about making it almost 30 years before worrying about any of this!)  But I really have had enough, and I want to be comfortable and love my body again.

First goal--get back to this point, from last October:

Starting tomorrow morning (today, actually, by the time this post is up), I am going to get up at 6:00 and walk/jog in my neighborhood for about 30 minutes before I get ready for work.  The girls are consistently sleeping until the time I leave for work or after, but I will put a monitor close to Jeremy's sleeping head just in case they wake up while I'm gone.  I am going to walk at least four days this week, for a start.

Exercise will help, but the other half of that is to get my diet under control.  I even hate that word, "diet", and I'm not thinking of it as a diet, just eating better for my overall health.  I did really well managing my weight with a diabetic-style diet when I was pregnant, so back to carb-counting it is.  I didn't feel too restricted, because I could fit just about anything I really wanted in my diet, with the right planning and modifications.

I'm feeling a lot better now that there's a game plan for doing something about this little issue, and I hope this motivation sticks around after my first walk tomorrow in the hot and humid morning air.

Tell me something good--what's your motivational technique?  Also, I need breakfast tips...what's your favorite quick, easy, and relatively healthy breakfast?  I like to eat at work, but toast and peanut butter gets old quickly.  Thanks in advance!  

Edited to add:  Day 1=complete!