Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Weight Loss :)

Recently I've finally managed to take off a bit of weight. About 9 lbs in 2 months. Now I know that isn't a lot, but it is very exciting for me. Except for a brief stint on Atkins before getting pregnant with Katie, I've never been able to stick to a diet or lose any weight any time in my adult life.

My heaviest weight was 196 in June of 2003 - I went on Atkins and lost 12 lbs to put me at 184. I had to quit that diet in late August when I got pregnant with Katie. After I had Katie I lost most of the pregnancy weight and settled in at 187 - which is pretty much the number I had been at since about one year after Alex's birth until about a year before Katie's when I had ballooned up to 196. Today my weight was 178! :) :) I haven't weighed this little since 1996!

I'm not doing a specific program or anything - mostly because specific programs just give me something to fail at. :( I know losing weight to keep it off means making a lifestyle change, which is why I haven't gone back to Atkins even though I had some success with it. I don't think I could eat like that forever. I've been taking a 30 minute walk every day - even today in the rain. Since we live in a very hilly neighborhood I make sure I climb at least one hill on each walk. If the sun isn't too blazing I've started to take longer walks and do two hills now that I'm not as woefully out of shape as when I started. On the eating front I'm mostly just doing the obvious. I have one small snack mid afternoon about 2 - 3pm, but otherwise no eating between meals. My portion sizes are better now too. We have Tombstone Pizza for dinner on Wed. cause DH works late on Wed and it is easy. I used to eat four pieces of that! Now I eat two and maybe a bite or two of the one piece I gave Katie that she didn't manage to finish. I eat whatever I want - or whatever I used to eat - just less of it. I used to eat two PBJ sandwiches at lunch, now just one, etc. Anyway, I don't expect I'll reach my ideal weight this way, but if I lose 10 or 15 lbs that isn't bad. :)

Losing the bit I have has been really encouraging, so I feel better about keeping the changes I've made so far. Who knows what another 5 or 10 lbs might motivate me to do. :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huge congrats on the weight loss!!! I know how you feel about not being able to stick to a diet. I had always had issues until I recently tried out Weight Watchers. I found it is the easist diet to follow because you aren't restricted on what you eat. I have lost 13 pounds in 6 weeks. Keep up with it, you can do it!! :) - Kari (KariA1)

Jill in CA said...

Congratulations on your weight loss! That's exactly how to do it; make little changes you can stick with. I recommend being aware of the Weight Watchers points even if you don't follow it completely; it helps to know roughly what is equivalent. You should check out www.dwlz.com if you're interested; there are restaurant lists and food lists and it has really helped me to make smarter food choices. According to the online tools I used a few years back, your weight range recommends 22-27 points without exercise (exercise gives you more). Anyway, I don't strictly follow it now, but it helped me to be aware of what I was eating. I'm not following a "strict" or specific diet now, just trying to eat smaller portions and healthier food and exercise. I think that's the easiest way to stick with something long term. :)