I'm not one for posting my weight loss journey, but I wanted to share a couple discoveries that I've made with those of you on a quest for a healthier lifestyle, smaller waistline, or to get back to your pre- pregnancy weight (which may have been 4 years ago... ahem).
Just after Halloween, I was asked to be a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding. I'd already been unofficially asked to stand up beside my baby sister come October, but somehow that upcoming wedding didn't kick me into healthy gear. My cousin's wedding did. Maybe it was knowing that we'd be bridesmaid dress shopping soon because her wedding was 6 months away, maybe it was because we're the same age and went to school together which means her wedding will be a high school reunion of sorts. Whatever the real reason, I immediately (we're talking as I was congratulating her) gave up my comfort foods. The plan of attack back then: low carb, not to be confused with NO carb.
For 2 weeks, I consumed only 20 carbs per day and tried to drink lots of water. I ate healthy carbs when I did. I ate a Hershey Kiss at the end of each day. I made an effort to eat white meats instead of red. I didn't count calories. The only exercising I did was housework and trying to stay off my tush. After 14 days, I upped my carb intake to 30-40 per day. That's it. And it worked like a charm.
In 6 weeks, I lost 15 pounds. Woo Hoo! Then it was Christmas, and by some divine miracle, I managed to survive the holidays without gaining anything back-- no thanks to any effort of mine.
Fast forward to last Sunday. I stood on the scale to discover that I'd gained 3 pounds back. AND I was scheduled to go bridesmaid dress shopping in 4 days. Oh, yeah. Fantastic. I'm happy to say that as of this morning, I've lost the three pounds plus one more. Obviously I won't be a size smaller by Thursday, but at least I'm feeling a bit less... buoyant and more confident. That alone will make the dress shopping more fun.
Here's what I'm doing this time around:
I found this site, myfitnesspal.com. A ton of you probably know it or use it, and to you I say- how could you not share this with me?!? For those of you unfamiliar, it's a super easy way to track your daily calorie intake and physical activity. It lets you search their database for foods (there are millions!) and keeps a running total of calories, carbs, fat, and protein. The activity log works similarly. You can search for activities, and the site calculates the calories burned. There are more features, but I'm just getting my feet wet! Everything on this site is free!
The second thing I found and love is Exercise TV . It's a huge database of fitness videos available to stream for free and with no sign up. The problem with videos is that I get so BORED with the same ones, and I hate to spend money to purchase new ones. Yesterday, I did the Celebrity Shred, and today I did Kickbox. I'm finding that if I choose a video when I wake up, I can let it fully buffer and then play without a hitch when I'm ready. I'm sure those of you who live in the civilized parts of the country, the parts with real high speed internet, won't need to allow time for buffering.
So there you go!
May your scales greet you with smaller numbers!
