A Fresh Start

I've not been this excited about losing weight in a long time! I had my consultation with Slim4Life today about getting back on the program, and I'm feel so empowered and ready to get back on track!

I was a little nervous about how the diet would restrict what I've been doing to keep my nursing supply up, and also how it would combine with the food we receive through the generous Missouri WIC program, but Kara, as always, was so upbeat and encouraging, I feel confident that I'll be able to meet my goal by my birthday!

I'll be eating the same foods--mostly unprocessed fruits and veggies and lean proteins--but the plan I'm on is a little more lenient with the amount of servings and some of the serving sizes. I'll be skipping the first "induction" phase that is all meat and leafy greens, due to the amount of protein that gets passed through my milk and starting on my new plan this weekend. My hubby's birthday is this week and we're milking the free birthday meals at restaurants for all they're worth!

I'm so excited to kick-start this part of my journey, and to have an actual plan for losing weight. Obviously, what I've been doing thus far has been a total disaster. I'm thrilled to be getting back on the plan and having the weekly accountability and advice of the staff at S4L. I'm a little sad that when I weighed in today, I was the exact weight as the day I signed up for the program, so the 28 pounds I lost and the 4 months I spent on the program last time is almost a wash, but I would have been more miserable and weighed even more at the end of my pregnancy without that effort. I may not have even been able to get pregnant at that weight.

Suffice it to say, I am more ready than ever to lose this weight and keep it off for good, and now I have the tools and support to do it!

A New Me 4/29

It is almost officially a year and a half since I started Slim4Life and this weight loss journey. As of this morning, I am at exactly the same weight as when I started, 270 (according to our home scale). Granted, I've had two beautiful sons (who are 6 months old today!) since I started, and ballooned up to 310 with the pregnancy, but I am just sick of being unhappy with the way I look, being sore and tired all the time, and not being able to fit all the beautiful clothes in my closet.

I am very excited to be going back to S4L on Wednesday to discuss getting back on plan. I can't take any of the supplements while I'm nursing, but hopefully eating better will help me with my goals, and the regular accountability and advice of the counselors should be encouraging. I am basically on the same timeline as when I first started, with getting to my goal by my birthday (actually, I have an additional month). I don't have all the "weight loss weeks" in my plan still. I may have to purchase some to get me to my goal, but it'll be worth it when I get there.

6 months post-partum Weight: 270 Pounds to Goal: 45

"Monday" Update

I know, it's not Monday, but all the time I had devoted to updating yesterday was eaten up by a cleaning misfortune at our place. So here's my weekly update:

Since I weighed myself in the middle of the day instead of the beginning of the day last week, my weight may have been artificially inflated. Nonetheless, I added more stones to my jar to represent this new goal. As of yesterday morning, I was able to move 4 of them over!

I didn't get up in time to get pictures taken in the morning, but I will for next week for sure. I've made an appointment to go talk with Slim4Life next week so that I can get back on track with them, and get that support and accountability. I'm pretty excited to see what their suggestions are for someone breastfeeding 2 six-month-olds.

I'm planning to update on my 5K training progress later this week as well. Until then, here's some inspiration:

Wishful Thinking

What a beautiful dream that last post was...I did end up working out one day last weekend, but I hadn't worked out again until today, and I definitely wasn't pleased with what the scale said on Monday.

My 5K training is going slow, to say the least. If I had worked out Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week as I had planned, it might be going better. Unfortunately, sitting on the couch for 2 days catching up on the last season of Smash did not motivate me to do anything but eat and veg out. So now it's time for some serious rehab and catching up.

I weighed myself last night (I normally do it first thing in the morning) and was completely disgusted with myself for my behavior over the last week. I was up to 278, which, thankfully, is down to 273 this morning. I am still frustrated and motivated to see that number in the 250's by summer, so I came up with a new list of goals:

• I still want to be 225 by my birthday, November 24.
• That gives me just over 31 weeks to lose 53 pounds, instead of 44 (as of last night).
• That is almost 2 pounds per week.

• I am going back to Slim4Life in May. I will hopefully get to make an appointment for week after next to get started.

• I need to eat better. Period.

• I am going to train for my 5K 4 days a week, no matter what!
• Waiting 6 days in between trainings is not cutting it. I was so worn out today I could only do half of the workout for week 2; not good!

• I have a set of cropped pants and shorts I want to be able to wear by summertime hanging out in the open where I see them every day as motivation.

• I want to be out of the maternity clothes and sweats that I've been living in for the last year by June 21st. I am packing them all away on that day until my next pregnancy!

• I am going to get the boys outside every day for a walk, rain, snow, sleet, or shine, or, here in Missouri, 105 degrees with 98% humidity. The sunshine motivates me to be active, instead of sitting on the couch.

• On days that I'm not training, I would like to do one of our Zumba DVD's or pushups or something besides just walk. I want to make being active a lifestyle, not just something we do to meet a goal and then stop.

I think that's probably enough for now. I know it seems like a lot, but it's really just about doing stuff, instead of choosing to procrastinate. That's how I've gotten where I am now. "I can lose weight later." "I need to wait until..." No more excuses. I'm tired of always doing the same thing, and wishing that I were successful. It's time to really make a change.

Training

So far, training for my 5K is going well. The C25K program is a 3 day per week system, although, for my own goals I'm doing it 4 days.

This first week, the workout is 20 minutes, jogging for 1 minute and walking for 90 seconds. I started Monday and got halfway through before my cheering section turned on me, so we had to make our way home.

Yesterday, the boys were SO good and let me get the whole workout in with not even a sign of fussiness, and they even sat there while I lifted weights for a few reps! It was perfect outside too, so we sat in the grass and played until they got sleepy. I miss nice weather and fresh air.

While I know the treadmill is nothing like running on the street, as a 5K will be, it felt great to sweat (and I sweat a lot) and know that I was doing something for myself.

I'm taking today off from working out, but we'll still go out for a walk this afternoon, and I'll do two more days of the same workout this weekend.

I was planning to do double of each week to take things easy, but at least these first couple of weeks I may go ahead and do as prescribed. It all depends on how my ankle feels, really, and today it's pretty stiff, since I just got up and haven't been on it yet. It'll loosen up by our walk.

Hopefully, all this will be worth it on Monday when I get on the scale again!

Weigh In

No pics today, but I am down another pound! I'm slightly off track for my goal of 1 pound every 5 days (by a half pound), but I think that will work itself out when I start training this week. I'm not worried about it yet.

We tried a new recipe yesterday for chicken enchilada soup, and with a few more veggies and a free afternoon, I think this could be a new staple! Here's a link to the recipe: chicken enchilada soup.

We used a package of chicken thighs I had in the freezer for a while instead of the rotisserie chicken, which gave me more than enough chicken broth when I boiled them. I ran out of celery so I just added some celery seed, and I'm terrible at picking out jalapeno peppers (I never know how hot they're going to be!), so I skipped that too. We needed the rest of our corn tortillas for fajitas with some friends later this week, so I used a few crunched Doritos instead of the fried tortillas. Saved some time and 1st degree burns that way too!

I'll be updating with how my 5K training is going later this week. Time to get the stroller out!

Weight Loss for a Cure

As I mentioned on Monday, I've been setting some more goals pertaining to my weight loss.

Yes, it is great to be healthy, and to be able to fit into my clothes again, and all that, but I can always find an excuse to push my deadline back, to put my ambitions on hold, due to birthdays, holidays, vacations: you name it, and it becomes an excuse. This time, I have decided to make an external commitment, one that I don't have any control over and can not move, as my guide. I've decided to train for and run a 5K race this summer.

I've always had a special heart for breast cancer awareness, since my grandma has been through breast cancer and beaten it twice. I have even volunteered for the Komen Race in Kansas City in the past. I've never considered running or even walking in this race due to a health condition, but I think this is just the thing I need to help keep me motivated.

I am going to try to stick to the "Couch to 5K" program, since I've literally been on the couch for the last several months. I'm giving myself two times as much time, to work up to it slowly and account for any setbacks due to my condition, so starting this week, I'll be training for a 5K!

Wish me luck and I hope to tell you about my workouts in the coming weeks.