Tag Archives: dieting

so big and fat

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You know how the saying goes, Mamas. Give yourself nine months to take off the weight since it took you nine months to put it on. So here we are, nine months later. And? Well I actually have been feeling healthy and strong thanks to my early morning Boot Camp class and healthier eating, but Wren asked me the other day, “Mama, why are you so big and fat?” I had to think for a bit before saying anything because I was really at a loss for how to respond. “So big and fat.” Really? Am I? Time to look at the numbers again since I’m officially still on the diet plan. I have lost twelve pounds on a good day and about ten on a bad day. Thanks to consistently working out, I have been building muscle, losing inches and getting faster (a 6:58 mile this morning!) Bonus: my clothes have been fitting better. Most importantly, I feel better about my body. After more than five years of either trying to get pregnant, being pregnant three times or nursing, I’m making peace with my body in its current season of life.

And we’re going to stop reading so many ‘opposite’ books (big person, little person) for a while, thank you very much dear library. I need a boost from my peeps!

“So big and fat?” No, not really. Especially when I look back at my “before” photo. Oh my! Not quite “there” yet, but feeling good about being here.

 

diet update

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I know a lot of you have probably been wondering how the diet‘s been going. Truth be told, while I’m not ready to shop for a new swimsuit anytime soon, I’ve banished my maternity jeans to the basement because they’re too big and dumpy. Six pounds lost will do that I suppose. While six pounds is nothing to sneeze at, it’s also not really enough to write home about, or write a blog post about. But here we are anyway. Me writing, you reading. Let’s get right to it, lovelies. I have not been following the diet 100%, but overall my life is healthier and heading in a better direction. I’m drinking more water, eating lots more filling, healthy salads and have started running a bit again. I’m eating fewer processed carbs and more lean protein, veg, fruit. I’m pretty sure jelly beans aren’t considered fruit though. But have you tried those Starburst jelly beans? Holy wow.

Anyway. A few insights along the way:

  • the chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs have all been eaten. This is good because they are all gone, but bad because I think I ate most of them.
  • spring break is over and the staycation pina colada pity party is less appealing.”Less” being the operative word.
  • so apparently I’m not only an emotional eater, but also a social eater. Can’t seem to say “no, thank you” when someone brings me Easter treats or pizza for dinner or when eating at someone’s house and they’re serving nothing that’s really an “acceptable” diet food. What to do?
  • I sure wish that sausage pizza and nutty donuts were a dieter’s best friends. One can wish, right?
  • I’m not ready to buy any new clothes, but Wren told me the other day that all the pilling on one of my favorite sweaters looked like earthworms so it made me think that I ought to start thinking about a few new wardrobe items.
  • I’ve concluded that people who are able to eat and drink everything in moderation are incredibly boring; I’m thrilled that my husband overdoses on chocolate almost every single day.

So now that Easter is over, we don’t have any major sugar-binge holidays coming up for a while so this ought to be smooth sailing into the summer, right? Ha ha ha. Well, I do have a renewed sense of commitment now that the Peep s’more fest is over and we’re into the season of grilling and lots of fresh vegetables. Oh yeah, and trips to the ice cream stand and a visit from the ice cream truck… there’s always something, isn’t there? And yes, I always seem to have an excuse, don’t I?

Onward into swimsuit season, aaaaaaaaahh!

week one

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Sorry, no embarrassing photo on this post… But I’m pleased to report that I’m a week into my diet plan and things have been going well. Not perfect, but pretty well. I lost three pounds in my first week! I passed on this tower of donuts – even my favorite, a french cruller. But I haven’t started doing the exercise portion using the gravity bands. This IS the week! I’m a bit worried about getting bored with some of the foods going forward. Any tips on fighting boredom while dieting? What kinds of non-food rewards do you enjoy?

blanket of white

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Happy weekend, lovelies! I hope you’re staying cozy in your nests. We were treated to a glittery blanket of white this morning. Welcome back, winter! We’ve missed your beauty. We’re heading out soon to do a small-scale winter picnic in the backyard. Hot cocoa and watching the birdies load up at our feeders. Cheers!

p.s. my diet has been going well, thanks so much for your support! Today I resisted a tower of donuts that Wren and Chris brought home this morning on their adventure to the donut shop. Yahoo for me!

p.p.s. want to increase your page views, fellow bloggers? Post an unflattering picture of yourself along with how much you weigh and watch your stats fly through the roof. People are funny!

the diet

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Most people begin a diet at the beginning of the year, but this year I decided that the best time would be after Fat Tuesday (or Paczki Day or Mardi Gras) ON Ash Wednesday, which is tomorrow! OK, it’s not really named after me, but still, don’t you think that seems just right? So today I fattened up with a paczki of the Traverse City variety, which is not nearly as delicious as the real Hamtramck variety, but I digress. Did I just say that I fattened up? Well, I was already too fat before I even bit into the paczki. I could say it was “baby weight,” but really I shed the true “baby weight,” and now I’m left with the I-ate-too-much-when-I-was-pregnant-and-didn’t-exercise-enough weight. Oof. After Wren was born, I shed the weight pretty easily because I was walking and then running a lot. A beautiful summer and fall stretched out ahead of me and it was really easy to get out with just a baby and really easy to eat healthy, fresh food. Now given how difficult I find it to grocery shop with the two, getting out to exercise has been difficult. And eating really healthy during November and December involved a lot more will power than I was willing to muster so I said, sure pass me another Christmas cookie… So here I am in February and I just feel chubby and yucky. It could be that I’m still struggling with how to shower every day too… ahem. So, here I am.

I didn’t need to share this with you, but I thought that it would help me to stick with my plan if I shared my struggles and successes along the way. First I wanted to make a list of all the diets I’ve tried in the past 20+ years. That’s right, I think I’ve tried one diet or another since I was an early teenager. Maybe earlier actually. Here goes the list, but I think there are more, but I can’t remember them right now. One thing I am sure of, you can find out today the equipment I have used to achieve the perfect body that most women desire.

  • Weight Watchers (three or four times?)
  • Jenny Craig (twice?)
  • Nutrisystem
  • medical weight loss treatment
  • South Beach Diet (three times?)
  • train for a marathon approach to losing weight (twice)
  • Ayurvedic approach
  • Eat nothing white
  • vegan and vegetarian eating for weight loss
  • Body for Life
  • Skinny Bitch
  • French Women Don’t Get Fat
  • Body Sculpting Bible diet
  • low carb
  • eat NO junk food ever again approach
  • Jillian Michaels
  • Spark
  • counting calories
  • counting fat
  • low fat
  • Biggest Loser diet
  • paleolithic
  • the I’ll diet tomorrow approach (almost every day)

And I’m sure there are more, oh my. And almost all the approaches worked and I lost a bit of weight, but I would get bored (or hungry!) and stop. I feel a bit queasy and distraught when I think about all the time I’ve wasted thinking about my weight and body image over the years. If I had put that energy and thought into something else, I bet I could have found the cure to some disease or come up with a million dollar idea. Best not to regret they say, but I do.

I never have been into fashion or make-up or caring too much about how I looked when I left the house, but recently I realized it was because nothing ever really looked good on me since I was short and stout. Skinny jeans, are you kidding me?! More on this topic in a future post…

Speaking of short and stout, most of the time I don’t realize that I’m only 5’1″ tall. Seriously, I just don’t think about it and it has never really bothered me to be short. But when I picked up The Petite Advantage Diet: Achieve That Long, Lean Look. The Specialized Plan for Women 5’4″ and Under, it was like being hit on the head. Duh! You can’t eat like your husband who is A FOOT taller than you and expect to lose weight, or expect to not gain weight. Or eat like most of the people I eat with because I’m usually the smallest one. Duh! again. Why had the reality of this never really occurred to me?! I suppose it was hidden in many of the approaches to slimming down that I tried, but it was never out there, loud-and-proud.

The diet isn’t brain surgery, lovelies; it involves eating small portions of protein-rich, satisfying whole foods with lots of veggies and fruit. I hate “diet” foods so I’m thankful that the diet really only calls for consuming actual foods and not strange, man-made concoctions with lots of ingredients I can’t pronounce. The books lays out a three week meal plan to follow, which is nice because I don’t have to do any calorie-counting or overthink what to eat (should I eat a salad with poached chicken or should I have a vegan burrito with some kind of healthy “cheese?” Hell, I’ll just have a few cookies and another cup of coffee…) It also involves caloric cycling with some days a bit higher in calories than others. As far as exercise, it calls for a simple gravity band routine that I can do at home, or really anywhere there is a door. This was also appealing to me because I’m not going to commit to finding (and paying for) childcare on a regular basis so I can drive to a gym and workout.

The one aspect of the book I can’t really get entirely behind is that the author, Jim Karas, seems to be anti-cardio exercise. Cardio just makes me feel so much better and this emotional boost goes a long way to making healthy choices and having a good attitude toward life. I’m not going to give it up, but since it’s only playing a very small part in my life right now, it’s not much to worry about anyway. There’s really not time to overdo it since I sometimes can’t find time to take a shower or clean yesterday’s dishes…

I also contacted the author to find out if I needed to adjust the calories since I was nursing. He said I could safely add about 200 calories, which I decided could be a couple extra pieces of fruit or something more satisfying like a small handful or almonds or some low-fat, natural cheese.

Are you still reading this post? Man, I realize this is probably getting boring and somewhat embarrassing for me , but I just wanted to get it all out there. Tomorrow I will post one of those awful “before” photos and some numbers (yikes!) so wish me luck! Please and thank you.

Now for you, lovelies. Any tips or tricks you’d like to share? PLEASE send them my way. Pleeeeeaaaase! xo

p.s. Happy Fat Tuesday! Any amazing indulgences you’d like to share? Giving up anything for Lent? Good luck to YOU!