BIG Before and After

I came across a photo today that had somehow become linked to my youtube/google account. Now, I had deleted this photo completely from my computer after I saw it the first time because it made me cry.  Now, seeing it a few years later still makes me want to cry.  Then, it was because I had gotten so big and felt like I couldn't change that ... Now, it is partly because I let myself get that out of control and partly that I've come so far from where I was in that picture. The photos was taken probably in 2009 or 2010 at a friend's wedding.  This was long before my pregnancy, so it had nothing to do with baby weight. I have to remind myself daily that I DO NOT want to go back to that ever again. It helps me stay on track and avoid doing things that will cause me to gain and gain and gain.  I haven't reached my goal yet, but 154 isn't terrible ... just 14 pounds til goal!

155 and Holding

Back in April of this year (2014), a friend advised me to stop jogging (because it was supposedly slowing my weightloss) and to go low carb ... among other things.  In desperation, I did everything he said for about 6 weeks, and I managed to drop 8 pounds in the first couple weeks (didn't lose anymore after that ... the diet is just too strict and difficult to maintain).  I've kept those pounds off for the most part (except for the occasional fluctuation due to water and such), BUT I have dropped the low carb diet AND have gone back to jogging (Couch to 5k app for the win!).  I haven't gone carb crazy, but I have been a bit more lenient about what I'll allow myself to eat.  Even so, I am having a HUGE problem getting in enough calories, and I'm really afraid this is going to stunt my progress. I recently adjusted myfitnesspal ... it bumped it from 1200 to 1500, but on many days I top out between 700 - 900 calories AND I'm exercising every morning ... so there is that added deficit ... which I never add back to my "allowed calories."

I think I've trained myself to be afraid of most foods, and I'm having a hard time deciding what is okay to eat. I've been avoiding fruit because of all the sugar ... avoiding most REAL sugar, period ... been trying to stay away from high carb things like bread, cereal, pasta, rice, etc. ... basically, it has gotten down to just eating meat and vegetables with a bit of cheese and low carb flatbread here and there.

I quit the low carb diet because I felt like I was starving all the time, but I STILL feel like I'm starving.  This week I've been having a Publix Premium salad kit and a Light and Fit Greek Yogurt for lunch, and it just doesn't hold me very long ... maybe 2 hours if I'm lucky. I would just do flatbread sandwiches, but I've developed a fear of the sodium and nitrates in deli meat.  I was also just told that my sandwich cheese was absolute crap for my body.  AHHH!!!

Sooooo, I've been stalled out at 155 for a few months and am ready to just throw out my bathroom scale. I HAVE reached my goal pant size, which was 10.  I've also managed to buy a couple 8's and a couple of 6's ... not too shabby!

I'll keep working on the fitness aspect and continue to try to get my eating right. I am still having to try to reign myself in on the weekends, which doesn't always go well.  I'm definitely not an athlete who just eats to perform ... I loves me some food!

Here's a picture from yesterday:

100th Post AND Awesome News

This is my 100th weight loss post, and it comes at a great time.  After being stuck between 163-167 for 6 months, I've finally broke through the plateau! This morning I weighed in at 157, so I feel like I'm solidly in the 150's and on my way down. When I hit 159 earlier this week, that marked a 50 pound loss since my highest non-pregnancy weight.  (Well, that I can remember ... Jamie says that I was higher than that at one point ... like 212 or 215 ... I just can't remember.) Either way, I've lost more than 50 pounds, which is hard to put into perspective. I feel like the same person, but when you start thinking about how heavy 50 pounds is, it's hard to imagine carrying that much extra around. I slapped on a pair of size 10 jeans at Old Navy and just about cried. I'm wearing medium shirts (except in those teeny tiny junior sizes).  The jeans I'm currently sitting in are a size 11 from Rue 21 (a teen store)...WHAT?!?!

Anyway, how did I break the plateau?

Last Sunday, we had dinner with Jamie's good friend (well, he's my friend too...haha).  His degree revolves around fitness, he's been a personal trainer, and now he's pursuing a degree in the medical field.  He has studied how the body loses fat and builds muscle extensively.  All that being said, I went to him for advice because I was tired of being stuck.  Here is what he told me to do:

STOP running, walk for 30 minutes instead
STOP eating breakfast, your body doesn't need it ... just have your morning coffee ... period.
Cut most carbs out of your diet for a while ... just eat meat and vegetables ... NO fruit

Now, I usually halfway listen to advice like this and later shrug it off. I've tried low carb before and only lasted a day.  I was a teenager when I tried it the first time. BUT, I just happened to have a container full of leftover hamburgers at home, so I already had the fixin's for low carby-ness. I thought, "I'm going to try this ONE MORE TIME." So, here I am, a week into doing what he told me, and I've lost 6 pounds.  SIX POUNDS IN ONE WEEK ... SIIIIIIIIIXXXXXXX!!!!!

TO ALL NEGATIVE NANCIES:

Now, I know there are naysayers who will poopoo all over what I'm doing, but just know that the extreme low carb will only be for a month.  After that, I will work to maintain my goal weight once I get there.  I don't feel that I'm doing anything harmful to my body at all. I'm having moderate servings of meat and large servings of vegetables.  I understand not eating fruit ... it just has SO much sugar.  Besides, who decided to make it a requirement to eat fruit? I think that's a dumb rule.

If you want to tell me, "You're going to gain all the weight back when you get off the low carb diet," then save your breath. I've heard this and said this a million times, but what I am currently doing is working for me. Until I reach my goal weight, I will do what is necessary. I refuse to be one of those chicks who is constantly starving themselves.

"But, what about your kidneys, Jennifer?" Trust me ... I've done plenty of reading up on low carb diets. I know there can be side effects if you do it in a stupid way.  I'm not munching on bacon and pork rinds over here though. I'm having lean meats and healthy vegetables.  I've upped my liquid intake to keep my kidneys flushed out and happy.

"You're just losing water weight." ... I've heard this one a few times.  Sure, some of the loss is more than likely from water weight loss, but do you really want to be retaining water anyway?  If I've lost 6 pounds of water weight this week, then so be it. I don't want to carry around 6 extra pounds of unneeded water weight.

My friend told me, "You have to eat fat to lose fat." Now, there's a complicated sciencey explanation for why this is so, and he did explain it to me, but there is no way I could repeat it ... I work at a newspaper, not a laboratory.

I think that covers all of the negative stuff I've been faced with just this week. Try it or don't try it. Like it or don't like it. You do you, and I'll do me. I shall carry on until I get to my goal or stop seeing results. At either point, I'm going to have to make a lifestyle change either to kickstart weightloss again or to maintain weightloss.

TALLY-HO!!!

Feelin' Good About Myself Today SO Here's a Pic ;)

Kinda Sorta Before and After

I didn't actually think to take "before" pictures when I first started in the low 200's.  This "before" pic is actually after I had lost 15 pounds. The "after" is current.  I put 163, but I haven't weighed myself in about a month, so it could be lower. About 25 more pounds to go ... then I'll have some REAL "after" pix!