I'm Back - And I Lost Something!

I can’t believe that almost ten months have passed since my last post!  2014 has been such a good year so far, and I’m here to tell you a little about why it was so positive (cue the applause from all the sistas who have been waiting to read this). 

In September, I posted a success on Instagram.  It was a comparison photo of me from May/September, and marked a 50lb weight loss.  Several of you wanted details, and I’m getting to that now.  This is going to require several posts where I’ll give more specifics, but this should help encourage you or inspire you if you’re feeling ready to accept a lifestyle change.  I’ll stick mostly to facts now, and get into the rest in other posts.

 

During the month of February 2014, I became motivated to change my eating habits to see if it would help me feel better.  I was always lethargic and lacked the energy to get through a normal day, much less the somewhat demanding life of a wife/mom/Christian day school teacher.  I’m not sure what caused me to be so resolute, but I knew that something had to change or I was going to break.  I couldn’t keep going.  I really didn’t think that excess weight really had a lot to do with anything, but I knew that poor nutrition did impact me and that’s what I set out to change.  In the back of my mind, I knew that if I lost weight it would be an added bonus.  I didn’t necessarily expect it, basically because I was conditioned to think that weight loss was a tricky or difficult thing for women.  I guess all the hype about weight in our society affected me more than I realized.

 

Needless to say, I changed my eating habits (no exercise involved to date), and the pounds started melting.  Here are the facts:

• I used Livestrong to track my caloric intake (smartphone app or computer)
• Breakfast every single day
• Morning snack
• Lunch
• Afternoon snack
• Dinner
• Bedtime snack
• Cut soda (even diet soda)
• Increased water intake (not nearly enough, but hey…anything is better than nothing!)

 

This is what I did.  Nothing spectacular.  I tracked for eight months solid, missing maybe 10 days during that time.  This is where a lot of people fail.  They say they are too busy or don’t feel like tracking.  I say if you want change, you’ll track.  ;-)

 

I reached another milestone this week.  I’m now carrying 60 less pounds around with me, and it feels amazing.  See the next post for how I learned to make better choices, cutting my caloric intake by 50% while eating filling foods.

Photo on left was within two weeks of starting, photo on right was October 15.
Feb 20-Dec 2  60+ lbs lost