Weigh-In and On to Phase 2

Weigh-in today--I lost 1.5 pounds this week. Not too spectacular a number, but a loss nonetheless. The bigger news is that Phase 1 of Operation: Baby Fat is complete!! When I started this goal, I seriously thought that it would take me three months to lose these 11 pounds. Now, only 4 weeks later, they are gone! I can't tell you how fulfilling that is--not to mention motivating.

So, on to Phase 2 . . . . with baby number 2 (who is almost 4 now), I gained ten pounds. I'm looking forward to continuing this journey. Oh, and I should mention that Karilynn at Losing to Win, has added me on her "Support other Losers" section on her weight-loss competition blog. I didn't get a chance to sign up for her competition, but I look forward to following the progress of those who did. Also, anyone coming here from her blog, I welcome your comments and encouragement. We can do this together, one day at a time!!

Miracles of Miracles!

I actually made it through a weekend without gaining any weight!! In fact, I actually hit a new low this morning on the scale! The real success in all of this is that I did it with a lot of temptation around me. On Saturday, I attended a Women's Retreat that served lunch. I happily ate the pasta salad, roll, and carrots, but I passed on the dessert. Then on Sunday, we had a family birthday party with my husband's family. And his family always has delicious food at these parties, not to mention some sort of birthday cake. I was really careful with my portion sizes, and felt okay about having a tiny slice of birthday cake--it was my relaxed day, after all! I felt really good about my choices over the weekend, because the me a month ago would have eaten lots and lots of everything available at both of those functions. I've really come a long way with this new lifestyle already, and I'm really liking it!! Not only that, my kids are starting to request healthier food choices. Hooray!!

Week 3 -- Weigh-In!

Y'all ready for this? I wasn't sure whether or not I was ready for this weigh-in. My progress for the week had been slow and I had gained a pound back after last weekend, so I didn't return to my last Friday low until Wednesday. So, I wasn't planning to see big losses for this week. In fact, my pace had been losing about a half a pound a day, so I was expecting to see about a 1 pound loss from last week. Don't get me wrong, I would have been happy with any kind off loss, but was hoping for a little bit bigger number than that. So, last night, I decided to sneek in an extra work-out on the elliptical, then I also woke up early this morning to work out (as I normally would have). So when I stepped on the scale, I was excited to see that I had lost 3.5 pounds for the week! That brings my total up to 10 pounds in three weeks!! I have to say that I am encouraged by the progress I'm seeing. My clothes are fitting much better, and I feel like I have more energy (which is a new thing for me). And, just in case anyone is keeping track, that puts me 1 pound away from my phase one weight-loss goal, and I technically have another 2 months to complete the first phase. Hey, maybe I'll be able to complete Phase 1 & 2 before the end of the quarter. One day at a time!!

Weekends are HARD!

I need to figure out how to do weekends without blowing all of my goals out the window! Today, I am up a pound from my Friday weigh-in, but it almost feels like I am back at square one. I was not good about drinking my water and I felt like I was hungry all the time. (I think there might be a connection there.) So, I think I need to focus on drinking my 96-128 ounces of water every day, and continue eating better and exercising. Then maybe I'll start seeing better results, and I won't feel so hungry all of the time. Here's hoping!

The Second Week Curse

Well, as I suspected, the second week curse is alive and well. My losses were not near as impressive as last week. However, I am encouraged that I continue to lose weight. Interestingly enough, I contribute most of it to my diet. I always used to think that if I exercised, I could eat whatever I wanted and be able to lose or at least maintain a healthy weight. It turns out that diet is the key to losing weight, but I do think that the combination of the two is the key to shedding it more quickly. I have only been able to exercise 3-4 times each week so far, but I have been able to make some healthier decisions in regard to my diet. So, I am still encouraged.

So, for my numbers. I lost 2 pounds this week! Which brings my total weight-loss to 6.5 pounds. I have to admit that is better than I expected to be doing this early in the quarter. The best news of all is that I hit the milestone that I was hoping to hit this week. I now weigh less than 200 pounds. (Yikes, did I just admit that I weighed in the 200s. Yep. I did. Scarey, I know!) I hope to never weigh that much again! Hopefully I can stick to the lifestyle changes I am making--one day at a time!

Checking In

I'm still here. Had a crazy week with all of my kids getting sick. So far two of the three are better. My 6-month-old is hopefully pulling out of it soon. However, I am happy to say that I am still making good food choices. Exercise, on the other hand, has not been happening. I am hoping to get some in during the next few days. However, I am still seeing small decreases in my weight. Although, from what I've heard, the second week losses are always less-impressive than the first week. I have found that to be true, so I don't expect huge numbers tomorrow at weigh-in. But, even small losses are still losses.

Something that I need to improve on is drinking more water. My goal is to drink between 96 and 128 ounces of water a day, and I've barely made it to 96 on most of the days this week. Yesterday, I only got to 64. I think if I drink more water, it will translate to good things on the scale. Onward and upward!

New Week

I am actually up one pound from yesterday, but surprisingly enough, I feel good about it! Sounds weird, huh? Well the reason behind my contentment, is because I've made Sundays my relaxed day. So, instead of being militant about my diet on Sunday, I let myself indulge a little. To clarify, it is not a "free" day, I am not allowing myself to eat whatever I want whenever I want on Sunday, but if I feel like having a couple of cinnamon bears, I don't beat myself up over it. This also helps me get through any cravings I may have throughout the week. So only being up one pound this morning was nice because I know that I didn't overdo my little indulgences.

Another success is that I am still down 4.5 pounds from one week ago! Not only that, but I am hoping to hit a major milestone this week with my weight. (I'll write about it when it happens.)

Still taking it one day at a time, one thing at a time!

Weigh-In & New Mantra

I originally was going to report my weight progress on Mondays, but I decided it might be discouraging to report after a weekend (especially because Sundays may turn out to be "free" days); instead, I decided to report on Fridays. So, when I weighed myself, I discovered that after five days of Operation: Burn the Baby Fat, I have lost 4.5 lbs.!! I have to admit that I am really excited about the results so far! I am trying to be really committed to this and it is nice to see some results quickly. I know, however, that it won't always be this way, but it's nice to have some positive reinforcement.

As for my resolve to keep working, I have adopted a new mantra in my life right now, and that is "One Day at a Time." In the past when I've set goals or tried to do something new, I always look at the big picture and doing that new thing every single day; it honestly makes me really discouraged because I tell myself there is no way I can keep it up for long periods of time. So, now I just think, "Can I do this today?" And most of the time I can say "yes." Now, I don't know if I will be able to do it tomorrow; but if I just focus on today, it is a lot more manageable and not so overwhelming for me. I know I will have good days and bad days, and if I have a bad day once in a while, I will start a new day and leave it in the past.

Day 3 Progress

I wish I could say that the last few days have been easy. I honestly expected them to be because I've just barely started and still have the "new goal" motivation. However, day 1 was HARD! Day 2 was HARD! But, I think I succeeded because I didn't do what I normally would do, and that is reverting to my comfort zone which includes eating whatever I want, whenever I want. I really tried to plan out what I was going to eat for each meal/snack. I'm trying to make concious choices about what goes in my mouth and how much of it. So, for me, that is a small victory; although, it would sure be nice to have one easy day in there somewhere. I kind of feel like my world is spinning out of control in a lot of different areas, so I am hoping to reign in everything and find my footing so that I can move forward.

As for my weigh-ins, I have been weighing myself everyday, just for recording sake; but I am going to post my weight results weekly. So, on Mondays I will post my weight results. I will say that I have seen a little change for the better. Hopefully that will continue.

And We're Off!

As I squeezed into my jeans today, I am reminded why I want to do this in the first place. I need to have a more active lifestyle, in general; but to be able to have that kind of lifestyle, I need to lose the extra fluff I've collected from years of not being vigilant and assuming that what I was doing (or not doing) was good enough. Well, it turns out, it's not; so it's time to make a change. I think one of my issues is that I continue to view my body as it was when I was 21, but my body has changed a lot since then. Not considering the extra weight I've added, but I've had three kids. That alone make some major changes. But because my mind has been telling me that I have my 21-year-old body, I have become complacent. I liked how my body was when I was 21, so I've been happy with myself for the past ten years, which is a good thing. The problem is that in my complacency, I didn't maintain the type of fitness regimine I did in my early 20s. And now that my metabolism has slowed down, I need to change the way I eat and I need to exercise more. Not an easy task, but a doable nonetheless.

So, to start everything off, here are my pictures on day one of Operation: Burn the Baby Fat. (They are pretty scarey, so be warned! Also, they were taken by my 5-year old, so disregard the fact that they aren't centered.)

Phase 1

Here is my plan: I gained between 5 & 15 pounds with each child, so I plan to burn the extra weight they left me with one at a time. So, first I will be working on burning off the extra weight from baby #3, which is about 11 pounds.

This is how I'm going to do it:
Exercise: I need to exercise 3-5 times per week. I will receive 1 point for every 30 minutes of exercise. With a total of at least 3 points per week.
Improved Eating Habits: I need to control my portion sizes, have set times for meals to avoid snacking all day (three meals with a snack between breakfast & lunch and lunch & dinner), make good choices for snacks, drink lots of water, and limit myself to one dessert per day.

I also intend to take pictures of my journey so that I can see my progress. I will post the pictures on this blog.