Yes, we're really good friends. I might even say I love Food. We hardly have disagreements and I hardly ever get upset. There have been a few moments when I even get this burning sensation in my heart (... and then that feeling creeps up into my throat.)
I think Food loves me too.
Because of this wonderful relationship I have with Food, I've been holding on to those extra... erm... few pounds since having Danica. At first I lost quite a bit, then it was a more steady weight loss that ended too soon (plus I think I've gained), and now I'm stuck at the same weight I have been at for months. Kind of frustrating.
Oh no, I can't just blame this on Food, though. I don't exercise.
Like ever.
So, I've decided to follow in the footsteps of my cousin Jaime, who said, "So I’ve decided my new job will be to get skinny. I have decided to approach it like a job. Something I have to do everyday. No ifs ands or buts."
Yep, I don't work anymore (besides being a mom/homemaker), so I'm making eating healthy and exercising my job.
I was hesitating whether or not I should blog about this... because that would mean I'd actually have to follow through! I've decided to keep my weight status on the side, showing my progress (or lack thereof). To help motivate me, because someone else might be watching and wanting me to reach my goal.
My goal. I've also decided to follow suit and try to reach my goal by my birthday. Which is in August by the way. I was originally going to make my goal small and reach for a 10 lb weight loss. But I thought that was kind of lame because I have until August. So I decided to try to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.
The only thing is I'm not sure exactly how much I actually weigh.
Because I'm going to be posting my weight on the side, I figured I should clear some things up. Our scale is not working properly. When I was about 8 weeks pregnant I weighed myself on our scale. It read 105. I know our scale's off, I just don't know how much. (I'm guessing a lot) And now that our scale says 124, I don't think I even want to find out how off our scale is. But since that's what my scale says, that is the weight I'll be going by in the meter on the side. FYI.
So my goal is to lose 19 lbs by August 30th. (That's practically September!) I have never tried to lose weight before and I'm worried I'm going to fail miserably! I know I'd like to be happier with my self image though, (not to mention fit into my clothes properly) and I know in order to do this I need to eat healthy and exercise. I also know that I've got to make this fun for me in order to keep me motivated.
Any suggestions? Any good, easy recipes?
I might buy Just Dance for Wii or some other dance type workout video.
I'm clueless.
I don't really know about any recipes (if you get any, please share!) but I've heard good things happen when you a) drink lots of water (divide your weight in half and that's how many ounces you should drink), b) get at least 7 hours of sleep at night (if possible ;), c) eat the proper amount of vegetables/fruits/grains every day and to focus on those first in the meal before moving onto the other things on your plate.
ReplyDeleteAlso I've read that you not only need to do cardio if you want to lose weight, but that if you do strength training you will continue to burn more calories all day.
As for having fun... I'm a big fan of just turning on the music and dancing like a fiend. But then, I'm actually a fiend. A spazzy one. You probably dance a lot more gracefully than I do!
weight loss has been a major journey in my life :) I have always wanted to just lose a couple more pounds and that has really made it too much of an obsession for me. My suggestion is to find a good friend and start walking. If no friends want to walk, get Danica in a stroller and put some great songs on you ipod. Walking is so easy but makes such a big difference. And then yah dancing is great too :: sometimes I will just turn on some music and dance with Zekey :: he loves it :)
ReplyDeleteAs far as food, this one is so hard. I love sweets, carbs, and in fact everything. I find never deprive yourself. If I want a brownie, eat a brownie, maybe just a smaller piece. If I don't eat the brownie I wind up eating ten other things to try to stop myself and then end up eating the brownie anyway ;) I think because you have been thin your whole life you probably have a great relationship with food, so just find you happy balance and you will do great :)
PS having fruit, fresh or frozen, on hand helps sooo much. Sometimes a piece of fruit does the trick (but sometimes it won't ;)
Good luck!! I am excited to go along on this journey with you ;)
I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I don't even see how it's possible for you to lose 19 more pounds. You look really tiny to me in your pictures. However, I understand where you're coming from. I still want to lose 10 more. The above suggestions are great! I think it's great to have cut up fruit around the house so if you want to snack, you grab that instead of sweets. I even liked to make fruit smoothies for my treat at night (just a bunch of fruit with like a half cup of orange juice). Eat a lot of fiber too...it makes you feel full, and drink a lot of water.
ReplyDeleteI got a pass to the gym, too, because I knew that if I had to pay for my workouts that I would definitely go. If it's something you guys can afford, I would do it because they have some fun hip hop classes and zumba that you can take too. They REALLY get you sweaty! Anyway, good luck! I'll be back on this train with you in about a month, after I'm done taking my break!
So I know I don't know you very well, but your blog is just so dang cute I can hardly resist reading it.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all... I think you look fantastic! You're WAY tinier than me and I don't even have a baby (so there goes my excuse...) Shoot, your current weight is more like my goal. :)
I'm sure you're aware of it, but Katie Jackson's doing a Zumba class every Saturday @ 10:00 at the church. I went for the first time last week and it was a BLAST (plus, it kicked my butt and made me sweat like a pig). If you have the chance, you should come! There were about six of us there and we had a really good time.
Good luck with your goal!
Awesome suggestions already! One thing I am working on right now is to drink more water. So whenever I go for a snack I try to go for the water first so I don't snack too much. (I know u r not the biggest fan of water, juice or flavored water is all good). Also, I totally agree to not deprive yourself of sweets, just have a little bit. I'm glad you're blogging about this, I need to eat better too. I got your back!
ReplyDeleteSo, I think 19 pounds would be too much to lose. That may be what you weighed before, but I think 105 pounds is actually underweight for your height. (I'm guessing your height is around 5'3"? Correct me if I'm wrong.) If you are 5'3", then your ideal weight should be 115 pounds. (I just learned all about ideal weight one of my classes last week, so it's kind of cool to put it into real life perspective!)
ReplyDeletei think you look great emily... but i can for sure understand wanting to be at your best and wanting to be toned... i always feel the same way :)
ReplyDeletewhenever i try to loose weight i am never able to or i feel like i gain a little extra and i think this is because i am focusing to much on the negative, which would be what i don't like about my body... i've noticed if i change my mind set to a more positive, which would be focusing on trying to be at my healthiest, and that goes for being active and putting the best things in my body, then i see positive responses... whenever i try to be healthy i loose weight so that would be my tip... to focus on being the best you can, instead of things you don't like and want to change...
also i know you are home with a little baby so if you like work out dvd's, i recommend p90x, it's not super cheap but you'll always have it and it works wonders... it is all about muscle confusion and it is 90 days of a variety of work outs in the form of dvd's and so your body never has a chance to plateau and get used to the same exercise, which can happen often when trying to loose weight and doing the same exercise routines over and over... if you don't go that route, i would recommend trying to do a different exercise each day you work out, at least in a one week period... to keep your body from getting used to the exercise you do and keep it from plateauing... and of course food is important, not sure if this is fact, but i've been told that 70% of weight lose is what you consume... so stick to healthy snakes and simple meals and eating small meals more often for sure helps shrink your stomach so that over time you don't feel hungry as often... also foods high in fiber are good because they make you naturally feel more satisfied... when my husband and i were trying to shed a few pounds we bought fiber supplements from the health food store and we would take one a half hour before every meal, and it makes you feel more satisfied by the time you eat... also foods high in nutrition will make your body feel more satisfied because your body will have the nutrition it needs.... it's best to stay away from over processed foods, even some of those weight lose frozen dinners can be bad... and for sure stay away from diet pills, most screw up your metabolism and even if they work while taking them, when you stop taking them, your body doesn't know how to regulate your metabolism on it's own and you can often gain the weight back and more... i could go on forever on this stuff but i'll get off my soap box ;) sorry... my husband and i are kinda health nuts, though we like treats to... we know a lot about it but have some bad habits too, love going out to eat and i love baking treats, don't we all have weaknesses with that stuff though :) hope this helps at least a little... good luck! you're so petite already i'm sure you'll reach your goal just fine.... oh and in the side bar on my blog i have links for websites for cooking light :)
Okay... I totally know what you mean. I haven't had a baby (yet) but we're hoping to get prego by the end of the year... thus, my goal is to be 120lbs. for a few months before we get prego. I haven't been 120lbs. since jr. high, but I know it's a healthy weight for me and I want to be a healthy mommy.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you've read my blog so you know that my husband and I have been doing Slim in 6. I can't tell you how fantastic this program is!! My husband has lost 37lbs. and I have lost 12lbs. (only 8lbs. more to go!!!) Slim in 6 is geared more towards women's bodies. It's a six week exercise program that we're keeping up until we've hit our goals. If you have more questions about it you're welcome to ask. It's made by Beachbody, the same company that makes P90X. I've tried P90X and it's definitely geared more towards men's bodies (to bulk you up). Give it a try... if you're consistent you WILL lose weight.
Something else that we've been doing is eating healthier, not any huge changes, just consistency. I get all my recipes off of Allrecipes.com. I look for recipes that are less than 300 calories a serving and less than 15 grams fat. Most of the recipes we've liked I've put on my mom's blog, lulushomecookin.blogspot.com. We eat larger meals (still pretty small servings) for lunch and dinner, usually some healthy cereal with fiber for breakfast... and a small snack (like string cheese or fruit) inbetween the meals. I take at least 20 minutes to eat each meal, it helps me realize when I'm really full.
Sorry for the essay, but I have NEVER had luck with losing weight and it's so exciting to me now! We feel great, but every person's body is different. Just be consistent in your habits and realize that although eating less and healthier isn't what you want to do you can be strict with yourself now and once you lose the weight you can be more moderate.
Good Luck!!!
another thing you can do if you're looking for things to get and do on the wii....zach has wii fit, and it's pretty fun. it weighs you and tracks your weight each time you play. it has a calender too, to help you see how often you get on it and exercise. a lot of it is balance and stuff, but then there's also hula hooping and stuff. it's pretty fun, and you don't feel like you're exercising because you're playing a game, but you definitely feel it after a while. if you do well on some of the games, it unlocks other levels for you to do and stuff. anyway, zach uses it as part of his workout routine, and i think he's seen a difference (kelly can correct me if i'm wrong). but yeah...don't worry so much about losing a certain number of pounds as opposed to just being healthier all around, no matter what your weight is. and kelly's right...105 is too low. that's how much christopher weighs. you and christopher should not weigh the same.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Katie's comment, Zach does use the Wii fit and enjoys it, but he also runs 4.5 miles three times a week. Between doing these two things and eating healthier, he's lost 15 pounds.
ReplyDelete