Week Fifteen: The Dear-God-I-Bought-New-Undies New Eating Lifestyle

New undies. I never knew undergarments could make a big woman so happy.

At least until I realized they were two sizes smaller!

I was a 22-24, and now I'm an 18-20. Is that awesome or what? I'm still not buying a bikini-unless that sucker looks like a bodysuit with a Spanx sewn inside.

I'm not breathing heavy when I go up the steps anymore. I'm willing to walk farther in the parking lot, and don't mind walking a few blocks to meet up with my husband a little sooner when he's coming to get me in the van. In fact, it's becoming fun!

It's starting to get warm here, and the garden is getting planted bit by bit. There's a ton of yard work and when the rain stops I'll go out and rake, pull weeds, sweep, and cut up more fodder for our fire pit. I put a healthy dent into the brush pile last week, but there's still a lot to do.

Sometimes I find myself just sitting outside and enjoying the sun on my face when I take a break from the house. I think part of me is solar powered- I feel great afterward! Maybe I just needed to get out of the house for a little while. The quiet is nice too, along with the chirping birds and scampering wildlife. Exercise is good, but sometimes you need to stop to recharge the spiritual batteries.

Food-wise the calorie counts are good, but I want to do better. I want to stay under 1500 calories a day consistently. I go over at least twice a week. Not a lot over mind you, but I'd really like to have those counts at 1500 or less on a regular basis. And no, doing exercise doesn't count- I'm still consuming more than I should, even though MyFitnessPal adds the extra calories "earned" by exercising. Just prepping myself for the day I might have to cut back.

There's a limit to my time allowed for exercise, because I like doing the indoor stuff by myself, and have yet to get family and friends involved in daily walks/biking/whatever. My husband should exercise, but his time is even more limited than mine, and getting the kids outside is like trying to get a sloth to run a marathon- unless it's to go get water ice or ice cream. Sigh. Hopefully this summer will get their rumps moving through jobs and volunteer work.

In the meantime, I have a house to run, crafts to create, and books to read and write. My interests lead a sedentary life- one I still want to keep while starting an active one!

It's a beautiful sunny morning. I think I'll take a walk today in my new undies!

Lessons learned:

Buying just one or two new (and smaller) clothing items can really make you feel awesome!

I need to find ways to make walks/biking interesting- otherwise I won't do it!

All this experience might make a good book.

Clear broth soups for lunch allows me to have more calorie expensive dinners, making the menu more diverse.

Diversity is good! It prevents food boredom.

Week Fourteen- The Dear-God-I'm-Feelin'-Skinny New Eating Lifestyle

Well looky there- I have feet!

I looked down the other day and noticed something. Something I haven't seen in the upright position in a long time. My feet. I still had a little trouble seeing them because God gifted me with upper-body blessings, but I could still see toes poking out past the valley twixt the mountains.

My belly no longer hits the exercise bike bars- or the steering wheel of the van. And now that spring is here and coats are stored away, I had to adjust the seat up a little further! Okay maybe a half inch further, but it still counts.

For those who are "of size" we usually have a wardrobe that flexes with us. Lycra and spandex are our friends. But after a thirty-eight pound loss, the Lycra doesn't need to stretch as far (or at all in some places- WOOHOO!) and things are starting to succumb to gravity's pull. I might have to get new clothing soon!

Luckily for me most of my clothes were getting tight, so now they're loose. Not loose enough to fall off (yet), but just getting to where they fit just right. I had no idea I was treating myself like a sausage for so long! Now I know what "it fits" means; it means you can lift your arms all the way up and the bottom of the shirt lifts a little- not rolls itself all the way up to your eyebrows.

I am no longer a sausage! Yay me!

Shorts that didn't fit last year now feel perfect and some of them feel a little loose. I'm not going out to buy a bikini anytime soon (so put away those cameras, beach guys), but I do have some used-to-be-tight swimwear I might fit into this year.

I'm feeling skinny!

I did have two backsliding moments this week. We had a birthday party for my daughter with homemade pizza and a home baked cake, and after checking out the calories of the pizza, I could have three slices! Did I need three slices? No. Did I eat three slices? Yep. Should I have eaten three slices? Heck no! After I overindulged I felt like a bloated walrus. it didn't help that we ran late doing family activities yesterday and we got take-out pizza, fries and cheesesteaks. I ate all that too, and take-out pizza has a lot more calories than my home baked version.

So I blew off this weekend and will hop back on the bike today. Some people hate Mondays, but I love them. I get to start over, fresh and new!

Lessons learned:

Just because I can have more, doesn't mean I should. Especially since I blew my calorie count out of the water the next day.

Small bites to savor the flavor not only stretches out the meal, but gives you time to feel full. Had I eaten slower this weekend, I might not have had that third slice of homemade pizza, or the second slice of take-out pizza the next day.

Picking a day to "start over" is always a good thing.

Forgiving yourself for an off day (or weekend) is key to sticking with your plan.

When in doubt of yourself, look down and see your toes. Wiggle them and smile.

I get weighed again in a few weeks- sooner if I can find a good home scale. I'm still on the fence about that though, because the scale isn't the only reason I'm doing this. The numbers only show that I truly am losing, and that my body is becoming more fit- but numbers aren't the only thing that tell me that.

I want to walk a mile without getting winded. I'm almost there. I want to start light jogging soon. I want to enter walkathons, marathons (where I can still walk) and join/organize walking clubs. I want to get to the point where I can go up the Appalachian trail again with my husband- and this time, get to the top. I'm setting fitness goals as well as weight loss numbers. 

After all, I'm already healthy- I'm just not fit. Yet.

Week Thirteen: The Dear-God-It's-Time-To-Reevaluate New Eating Lifestyle

Since my weight loss is leveling off at about a pound a week, my nutritionist and I are stepping things up. Since I didn't want a cut in the calories, we're going the way of extra exercises instead. And if this doesn't work, she will cut my calories. So I better get good, quick.

I also think I underestimated my intake, because I've been guesstimating cups and half cup servings. So I started using actual measuring cups to dole out my portions.

What I found was interesting.

I thought meat was heavier, so when I took out my little food scale, I could have more meat than I thought! I wasn't off by much, but it made me happy that I underestimated my meat intake. I love meat!

I was overestimating the side dishes by a tablespoon or two, but that's okay concerning veggies. However, carby stuff like pasta, potatoes and rice is not good to overestimate- you'd be surprised how many calories that adds up to at the end of the month!

After reevaluating my portions, I wasn't too far off the mark, but still off. That accounts for a little drag on the weight loss. That means I have to step up the exercise. Darn!

In addition to my 40 minute exercise bike workout, I need to do at least 30-60 minutes of other activity too- the more vigorous, the better. On nice days I can walk, bike (a real one this time), or do yard work. But what about the rainy days? For me, housework is never fun, but then it's never done either, so there's always something to do. Maybe not vigorous, but active, and that's what I'm shooting for- I just have to work longer. Yay.

Right now, mopping the floor tops the list. Then there's closets to organize, carpets to vacuum, and counters to be scrubbed. In a house with two teens and three cats, I'll never run out of things to do!

And when I need to rest? That's where the writing and crafting comes in. I figure if I can do thirty minutes at a time exercising, work a little at my desk or crafting table for a bit, then repeat, I can get a lot more done than trying to do housework for two hours then collapse on the couch. I do better staggering the work- at least at this point.

Planning menus for the week is also helpful, so I don't slap together something at the last minute- usually something carby and not veggie-dense. So one one of those "sit-down" times, I can search through my cookbooks and find good meals to make.

Right now, soup is my best friend. Low calorie, full of good veggies and meat, and filling. Some of my recipes allow me to have a whole quart of the stuff if I wanted! Not many, but if I'm feeling hungry, these fill me up- even if the bulk of it is broth. Yes, the lower calorie ones have a lot of clear, tasty broth. Totally yummy!

I was weighed in on Friday and for the first time in ages I'm under three hundred pounds! I'm now a svelte 297- Yay me! The exercise and reevaluation really did the trick- and I don't have to cut calories! 

That's a total weight loss of 38 pounds- how awesome is that? I can now wear a shirt I've been saving that was very snug- so cool!

This weekend I didn't exercise and I went about 200 over on my intake, so that needs work- but I'm back on the bike and working in the garden today!

Lessons learned:

Exercise every day, not just during the week.

Planning menus works.

Try to schedule some family activities on the weekends and in the evenings in late spring to early autumn.

Every once in a while recheck those food measurements!

Find more active things to do in the house for rainy days.

Play music when housecleaning- it makes the work more fun!

Week Twelve: The Dear-God-I'm-Getting-There New Eating Lifestyle

I went to my nutritionist Friday, and we happily broke out the scale. I couldn't wait to see the new, lower numbers!

It was a bittersweet moment; The numbers were lower, but not as low as I expected. 300.5 lbs.

I lost almost five pounds! That was fantastic, but I had expect to lose at least eight- even if I'd gotten into the 200's I would've been ecstatic- so why was I feeling upset at a four and a half pound loss?

Because I had expected more. I was really good and only messed up a few times this month, but I exercised over what was required of me. So why didn't the scale show it?

Two possibilities. One, I misjudged the amounts I had eaten (sometimes I'd let the computer calculate instead of putting in our recipe), or my body's metabolism is slowing down. Maybe a little of both.

The nutritionist recommended more exercise- for me, that would be vigorous household chores and yard work (mainly concerning our garden at the moment) or walking or riding a real bike on top of the 40 minutes I do one the exercise bike. If that doesn't do anything in the next month, then we start cutting down the daily intake.

I really, really, really don't want to do that! I'm giving the house and yard a good look-over to see what I can do that will spend some serious calories since I can't afford the gym right now.

Hand-mowing grass? Check. 
Digging out the garden plots? Check.
Lopping down all the branch fodder for the fire pit? Check.
Walk around the neighborhood looking for more wood and branches? Double check.
Removing all of the ivy, bricks and railroad ties in the front yard? Triple check.

Egad, I'm already tired! But these are things that take time and most aren't done in one day. Good thing for me, huh? And this doesn't include the housework!

The downside is most of my work is done in the home, sitting on my posterior. Paper crafting, sewing, and writing, writing, writing take up most of my day, and help bring in a little extra money. I'm going to have to revamp my schedule so I fit in more activity- or she is going to cut my calorie intake. *shudder*

I've lost a total of 34.5 pounds- 20.5 of them were doing this new eating lifestyle. I hope to keep on losing 1.5 to 2 lbs. a week on average, and slow it down to 1-1.5 when I get in the 250's. I'm still having trouble celebrating the five pound loss, but next month I'll definitely be in the 200's. WOOHOO!

Lessons learned:

Put in the homemade recipes- I might be consuming more than I think!

Exercise is good, but moving around for more than 20 minutes at a time along with my exercise bike is also a good way to get fit and burn calories.

Any loss is a good loss. Especially during jellybean season.

Menu plans will help reduce waste in the fridge, and help prevent "slapped together" dinners that usually have more calories.

Planning time to do everything will help me achieve everything and not get so overwhelmed.

Walks need to have a purpose or I won't do them. Get husband to fix the wagon so I can go on more "twig runs".


Well, I didn't make the goal I wanted this week, but I did drop some more poundage! The best part? Next month I know I'll have gone down past my first main goal!