The highlights of my last two weeks consisted of purchasing a new pair of running shoes and receiving two new Kickboxing DVDs from Amazon in the mail.... yes, my life is currently lacking in the excitement area; however, it did get me thinking about how much my life has changed over the last 7-8 months... how my priorities and focus have changed...
I would venture to say that this time last year I would have been most excited to find the latest and greatest scrapbooking collection or the perfect buttercream frosting recipe and most of my time spent sitting in my craft room, surfing the web and/or whipping up some fattening concoction in my kitchen... Don't get me wrong, my heart still goes aflutter when I see pretty pattern paper, I still yearn for the perfect buttercream frosting recipe (do you have one?) and I still scrap (even though I haven't shared anything in quite a while).... it is just I am definitely NOT devoting the time and energy I once did to these pursuits....
I am not a doctor, personal trainer or dietician; however, I have had several people ask me how I shed my 60 pounds and how I plan to keep it off.... so I will share.....
I have never really been a "healthy" eater. When I was younger, I was very active and I mostly (except those pudgy years) kept my weight at bay with moderate exercise, while eating and drinking whatever I wanted... fast forward to the baby years, take away the moderate exercise, continue eating poorly, add in an aging metabolism rate and viola... Here I am about a week after having Brody (baby #4)...
Beginning my journey, I knew I would need to make food changes, adjust portion sizes and change my attitude and purpose for eating. After Holly, I had success losing some weight with Weight Watchers, so I decided to return...
I joined Weight Watchers online. If you aren't familiar with the plan; WW determines a number of daily intake "points" based on your height, weight and age. They also give you a certain number of "flexible" points for the week and you can earn additional activity points. WW has a couple of nifty Smart Phone application which allow you to track daily points, input food label information to determine the number of points for foods, track exercise, track weight and even a scanner which scans a food label to give you the points values! WW online also has a number of yummy recipes complete with point values! (you can also input a recipe and it will give you the points). Looks like they are having a deal right now where you can join for $1.00 with a 3 month membership ($57.85).
Here is a screen shot of my plan manager for today:
Sounds like a lot of work, and at times it is, but the WW program has helped me to become more conscience of my food choices. For example, I currently have 26 points a day - I can choose to eat 1 doughnut with icing for 7 points, or I can eat this Bacon and Hashbrown stack for 5 points (although I can do without the ketchup!)... you choose - empty, sugary calories or hearty egg breakfast with 2 points left to boot!
I was very strict on myself at the beginning. I did not use any of my extra points and stuck to low value options as much as possible. Mealtimes conisted of a lot of frozen Weight Watchers meals - this made it easier to moderate portions (they are already figured out for you) while making sure I stayed within my daily point range. I also began eating a LOT of fresh fruits and veggies.. these are low to no point options which can fill that afternoon void. Once I started losing, I got really motivated and decided to add moderate exercise.
I have an old skiing knee injury and so running wasn't an option until I could work up the muscles surrounding it.... a few of the ladies I work with and I decided to start walking after school/work. We started out slowly and gradually increased our time and length of walk... by Spring Break we were walking approximately 5 miles a day. Having a friend to walk with was definitely a motivation on those days that I was dragging... and on the days I had to walk alone, I relied on my trusty iPod with some fast paced music. iTunes has several "workout" versions of popular songs, including this one which is currently on my "workout playlist"...
Getting stronger and needing some variety in my life, I bought a new elliptical and started my collection of fitness DVDs with these two titles:
Weight Watchers "Punch" workout - (it is actually on sale in the WW store right now for $19.95!) - I still really like this workout, although I am starting to outgrow the advanced workout - boo hoo! There are 3 levels... the instructor is very encouraging, has great cueing technique and isn't overly annoying. There are two workout models of average size who demonstrate high and low variations ... and the gloves are a great addition!
and Weight Watchers "Belly, Butt and Thighs" workout. Once again, the DVD features 3 workouts of varying levels which really work on your core. I have seen this one on sale at WM (in the clearance at my local store) and the ball can be used for additional exercises once you have moved on from this workout.
Consuming my 30-28 points a day (depending on my weight at the given time), working out 6 days a week for 60-90 minutes a day and maintaining a positive attitude, I started dropping the pounds. Here I am on Easter (with my kids, Grandma, Nancy and my nephew, Kiernan)- about 30 pounds into my journey:
Thanks for reading --- more to come!
Comments