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??

We Did It! A 5k Foam Fest Recap

Remember a few weeks ago when I pondered how crazy I must have been to sign up for a muddy, wet, and messy 5k, for FUN?  Turns out, I was indeed pretty crazy.

When we signed up, none of us had any worries about the weather on May 4.  I mean, we live in the South, May is practically summertime, right?  My biggest concern was that it might be too hot for me at our 12:30 race time.

As the weekend approached, I kept hearing about a massive cold front that would be moving into our area.  By midweek I was obsessively checking the weather every day.  The prediction hovered between 55-60 degrees, with lots of rain.  Okay, not ideal for being soaking wet and muddy, but we remained pretty optimistic.

Until about Friday afternoon.

That's around the time it sank in that yes, it was probably going to be pretty cold, and raining on top of that.  Now we all know why the race organizers make it very clear that there will be no refunds.

When this was our view all the way to Nashville, I was pretty worried:

Still, we powered on.  What else could we do?  I think at this point we were all just thinking, "This will suck, but let's get through it and then we'll go out and have a good time tonight."  At least, I know that's what Jeremy and I were thinking!

When we arrived at the race site (where, I must mention, we had received an email reminding us that parking would be in a field...and they would have tractors on hand to pull out any vehicles that got stuck in the mud.  Comforting, right?), it had blessedly stopped raining for the most part, but it was a cool 49 degrees.  Yep, at this point, we were all pretty convinced it was going to suck.  A lot.

We look ready, though, don't we??

Once our heat began, I think we were all pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't quite as awful as we feared.  There was very little running to be done, at least for our group.  The mud was just SO ridiculous that we were sliding all over the place.  It was hard to walk and stay upright, much less do much running.  (Which was okay with me, I will admit!)  

There were a couple of obstacles in the beginning--a moon bounce filled with foam and water, for instance--then a looooong stretch with nothing but muddy trails.  And the hills...there were so many hills.  At one point I remember my friend Kelly saying something along the lines of, "This hill has to go down sometime, right?!"  

A little over halfway through, we began to encounter more obstacles--5 ft. walls, then a set of 8 ft. walls (which I turned out to be good at...who knew?), an inter tube crawl across part of lake, wading through a huge mud hole, a lily pad run (on top of the water--that was pretty neat!), a gigantic cargo net climb, two enormous blow-up slip-n-slides, and even an electric mud crawl.  Yes, with real electricity running through the ropes we were crawling under, as we found out the hard way!  Surprisingly enough, there was only one significant injury in our group...Jeremy twisted his ankle when he turned around to see our reaction to the electricity.  (He finished the race limping, but he's doing okay.  Just swollen now.)

Finally, just over an hour after we started, our group finished together.

No, we didn't lose one...Shane was so cold he went ahead to change and warm up the car.  (My legs are red because they were FROZEN, in case you're wondering.)

I checked the temperature when we left, and it was around 46 degrees.  We were soaking wet, muddy, tired, and freezing.  But still, I felt pretty triumphant.  I completed every obstacle on the course (except the electric mud crawl, which I skipped out of halfway through--I don't do electricity, thanks!).  We all stuck together, helping one another up when we fell and encouraging each other through the tough parts.  It was, dare I say, actually a lot of fun.  I never want to be that cold again in my life, but I am definitely glad I did it. 

I might even go so far as to say I'd like to do it again next year....as long as the temperature is above 60 degrees!

I may have lost my mind...

I just registered (and paid MONEY) to run in the 5k Foam Fest in May.   Seriously.  My first 5k (other than the one I walked in college) will be one full of mud, water, and foam. 

Here is the description from the event website:

We are the ONLY obstacle mud race that doubles as a human car wash! We don’t just bring mud and obstacles; we throw more foam at you than a pack of toddlers in a bubble bath! Imagine the coolest obstacle mud race ever, and then picture it staged inside a giant car wash! That’s the 5k Foam Fest in a nutshell!

Am I intimidated?  Yes, quite a bit.  I am also excited!  Jeremy is doing it, and we formed a team along with four other friends.  I don't anticipate a lot of pressure to run very hard...it's mostly about having fun.  

I think we will have a blast, and then to top it off, we get a night out in Nashville.  Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

I am planning to run a real, plain-old-boring 5k this spring as well.  I have been running again for about a month now, and while it's not pretty and it's certainly not fast, it does feel good.  I am ready to keep it up this time.  

WHO AM I??