A long time ago, in high school and even all the way throughout college I weighed, well, not very much. I was a size 2, and I wasn't even trying (yes, I was that girl). In college I didn't have a lot of money for food. Oh, I got enough to eat, but I weighed my options carefully at the grocery store (imagine a girl standing in the produce department trying to decide if she should have potatoes or carrots this week...you get it). I was also pretty active in college. I hated team sports, but I loved walking, hiking, and biking.
Now, four years out of college, this is me...about 25 pounds heavier. The truth is, I'm still not huge, just at the very upper end of my healthy weight limit. But I don't like being there.
When I started gaining weight, I commented to someone that maybe I should lose some. The reply was "Losing weight is too hard, just buy new clothes." I believed that person...losing weight did feel too hard. I gained more weight. Finally, at the beginning of the summer I started exercising; I lost a little, but wasn't willing to change my eating habits. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I decided that if I was going to lose weight, I had to make some (gasp!) lifestyle changes. Truthfully it is hard. Really hard. Changing my eating has been way harder than adding exercise.
It helps that Maggie has to go for walks every. single. day or she'll go nuts, and in turn drive husband and I nuts. She's my faithful little exercise buddy; we walk and jog for anywhere from a half an hour to an hour per day. It's good for both of us!
Although I've changed my eating habits (fewer simple carbs, less refined sugar, no eating after 8:00pm, better portion moderation), I'm not counting calories. I refuse. It's just too much brain damage for a lifestyle change. Sometimes I look to see how many calories something has in order to decide whether or not it's worth putting in my mouth. But I don't intend to count calories for the rest of my life. So this might be the slow way of doing things, but it's the right way for me...I think.
Some (most?) days I'm still surprised when my pants don't fit quite like I'd like them too. I have to remind myself that I'm not trying to be a size 2 again. I'm trying to lose about 10 more pounds (I've already lost 4 in about 9 weeks). So, I'm going to start sharing some of my weight loss/ lifestyle changes here. Hope you don't mind.
I've started setting goals for each week. Last week they were "Don't eat after 8pm," and "walk at least 4 1/2hrs." I didn't quite do the first (I did do 5 out of 7 nights, though), but I did walk about 5 1/2 hours.
This weeks goals are, "Play chase in the yard with the dog for at least 10 minutes a day (in addition to walking/jogging)," and jog for good portions of three of this week's exercise sessions.
Oh, I'm also only weighing myself once a week. I'm so much less stressed about my weight if I only see the numbers on the scale once a week, just enough to know how I've progressed.
What about you? Any weight loss, lifestyle change tips for me?
It was so cheap; I already had the frame, and all rest (berries, ribbon, ornament) were 50%-70% off at Michaels. I think the total cost was around $6. So worth it!
