Weekly Weigh-In

Had a great loss this week, but, more importantly, I’m feeling amazing! I’ve cut out so much of the processed junk I’d fallen back into eating, and I’m proud to say that today is my third day of being completely Diet Coke free!

I started the week (last Wednesday) at 132 pounds, and weighed in this morning at 129.1! Feels good to be back in the 120s, after a brief stint back in the 130s for a minute. 😉

For those who are interested, since I’m no longer weighing in at a WW center, I’m using my WiThings scale and the MyFitnessPal app to track my weight. We’ve had the scale for a few years, and I love it! It tracks your weight, BMI, and body fat percentage. I believe there are newer versions that also track blood pressure. Highly recommend it!

Hope you’re all having a great week! Halfway to Friday! 🙂

How I’m Losing It Now

I thought I’d make a post to fill everybody in on how I’m eating now, since I’ve shifted a bit away from the Weight Watchers mindset.

As a side note, I am still posting WW points plus values on the foods I share both on her and Instagram, because I know most people who follow me find that info useful. I’m certainly not anti-WW now. I think it is a fantastic way to lose weight, especially when you have a significant amount to lose. When I started Weight Watchers, I was regularly eating fast food, frozen food, and processed foods. I was a new mom and felt I hardly had time to stick a Lean Cuisine in the microwave. Weight Watchers is excellent for people in this sort of situation, since you can continue to eat foods that are convenient for you. I will always recommend Weight Watchers.

However, now my “baby” is a toddler, and while I’m definitely not an expert at this “mom” thing, I have gotten a good bit better at managing my time. I am able to cook a meal at home most nights, and I enjoy it. I’ve also lost all of my “baby weight,” and am focusing more on losing the few extra pounds I’ve been carrying around for a while. I’m in a healthy BMI range, but I want to be in the best shape of my life, because why not?

So, here’s what I’m doing now to try and get me there– and by there, I mean a comfortable weight between 115-120.

• Eating around 1200 calories a day. I know some of you may think that is too low, but hear me out: I’m a 5’1″ stay-at-home mama, not a 6-foot athlete. When I do make it to the gym, I walk on a treadmill or moderately cycle. I’ve done a lot of research, and this is plenty for me. As I become more active, I will probably adjust this as my body tells me to. Currently, I feel great. I don’t feel that I’m depriving myself, but I am much more mindful of what I eat. I don’t have a weekly allowance to fall back on like with WW, but I will indulge occasionally.
• Trying to leave processed foods behind. I’m not saying I will never eat processed foods, but I’m really trying to cut them out as much as possible. I’m also trying to buy more organic foods. Not only is this better for my husband and me, but C is now eating the same foods we do 100% of the time, and I feel that he deserves the best we can give him.
• Drinking lots of water. I’ve always drunk a lot of liquids throughout the day, but hadn’t been drinking much water since I was consuming copious amounts of Diet coke. Since I’ve pretty much cut out Diet Coke, I’ve been drinking a whole lotta water. Like 144 ounces a day, y’all. I’m not forcing myself to, it just feels natural. Whether this helps with weight loss or not, it makes my body feel good. I will still drink the occasional Diet Coke, because hello!
• Being more active. I’ve been trying to get in the gym a few days a week, doing moderate cardio on the treadmill or stationary bike. The hubs and I both will be seeing a trainer for weekly sessions starting in the next few weeks. I’m not trying to be super muscular (though there’s nothing wrong with that), but I would like to tone up and generally become stronger.

So, there you have it! That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it! 😉 Be sure to check back on Wednesday for my Weekly Weigh-In! I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

I’m Back!

Well, hello there!

First, I want to apologize to you all for the sudden and unexplained hiatus from this blog, and the corresponding Instagram and Facebook pages. Life got a bit busier than usual, and I think I burned myself out a little bit with trying to post basically every day.

I’m still sticking to my healthier lifestyle, but I did let myself slip a little over the holidays. Still, I don’t really regret this, since I’m still within my Weight Watchers goal range. Speaking of WW, I have made a few changes in that department– mainly that I cancelled my membership. I know this probably seems silly since I’d just achieved lifetime, but I found it harder to remember to go weigh in monthly, put in my code for free e-tools, et cetera.

I’m hoping to move forward with a WW mindset, but not necessarily sticking to a strict WW plan. I want to get comfortable keeping myself accountable and focusing on removing more processed foods from my diet. I figure, if this approach doesn’t work for me, I can always return to WW!

I’m currently weighing in at around 132. I’d actually gotten down to about 127 in the fall, so I packed on 5 pounds over the holidays. My goal is still to get down to 120, ideally by May/June of this year. Shortly, I will be starting weekly sessions with a trainer to focus more on toning. I’m hoping this will inspire me to incorporate more activity on my non-training days as well.

Like I said, I’m planning on somewhat tracking WW points still, but I’m also trying to eat a more natural diet. This means finally cutting Diet Coke out if my life, which, if you know me, is going to be incredibly hard! But I’m tired of doing daily damage to my body by drinking it in excess. I’m currently trying to phase it out and finishing what we have in our fridge. I’m switching to Lipton’s “Natural Energy” black tea and sweetening it with Stevia. I’ve also started taking a B-12 supplement for added energy, since caffeine is the main reason I drink Diet Coke (I can’t stand coffee).

So, if you’re still here with me, I’m happy you’re here! I’m ready to tackle this year head-on and keep working toward my goal.

My Weekly Weigh-In

Hi! First off, sorry for my little week-long hiatus from blogging! As I’ve mentioned before, this month has just been pretty hectic (in a good way) for our little family.

However, while I took a little break from blogging, I didn’t take a break from making healthier choices–

I lost 2 pounds this week!

I actually weighed in this morning (Thursday) rather than my usual Friday weigh-in, due to travel plans. I was SO pleased to see a loss this week after last week’s gain. I really stuck to my plan this week of really trying to stay within my daily points. While I did use some of my weeklies, I didn’t use nearly as many as I normally do. This puts me at 130.2, with a total loss of 36.6 pounds! Woo hoo! The 120s are so close, I can smell ’em!

Another exciting thing this week was that I started Bikini Bod Bootcamp! The original BBB meets in my hometown, but I got a few girls together at home and we rocked it out! C and I are in my hometown now for a few days, so I’m excited to go to a session here bright and early tomorrow morning! I’m hoping to write a blog post all about my BBB experience tomorrow.

So, how did you do this week?

My Weekly Weigh-In

Had my biggest gain this week, which is my first week on maintenance. It’s funny, because my only other gain was 0.2 in June, and I was SO discouraged. This time, although I’m obviously a little disappointed, I know that it’s not the end of the world. It is a bigger gain than I was anticipated, but I’m not all that surprised, and I’ll go into why in a second. I’m still within the 2 pounds of my goal (132) as required for maintenance, and I’m confident I’ll lose some or all of this 1.2 next week.

A few reasons why I’m not surprised I gained this week:

• My daily points increased, and I used those extra points, plus some of my weekly points. Once I hit goal, my daily allowance went from 26 points to 30. I told myself I was going to ignore those extra points (as I’m still trying to lose, not just maintain), but I didn’t. I told myself I “deserved” extra points, but expected to still lose. When I hit my WW goal, my metabolism did not magically get faster, so… Not really sure what kind of crazy rationalization I was using with myself here!
• I ate more processed foods this week, out of convenience. It’s been a bit busier around our house than normal, so I relied on frozen meals and healthier “grab and go” foods. While those may still be lower in points, they’re still loaded with sodium, which can lead to bloating and related weight gain. No surprise here. Also, continuing my streak of genius this week, I ate pre-made, processed foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner yesterday, the day before my weigh-in. Come on, Alli! Really?! I know better.
• Finally, I went to the gym a lot this week. While this is an awesome things, I can’t help but think maybe a teeny tiny part of that gain is muscle. Wishful thinking? Maybe.

So, to recap: bummed I gained, but I’m not going to cry about it. Moving forward, this week I plan to be a bit more strict with my points to get rid of that gain. I’m going to try to stick within my old daily allowance of 26 and not use any weeklies, just until I get back to 131. At that point, I will resume using about half of my weekly points while staying at a daily allowance of 26. Keep in mind, although I’m on maintenance, I’m still working toward my personal goal of 120.

So, how was your week?

Happy Hump Day!

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday– I’ve been a bit busy lately! Wanted to share this quote, though. It’s posted on the wall in my gym, and I think it’s great motivation for life in general.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the results of my weekly weigh-in!

Transformation Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! It’s crazy looking at photos from just a few months ago compared to now.

The photo on the left is from April of this year, when I was about 3 weeks into Weight Watchers. I’d lost about 5 pounds, putting me at around 163. My friend posted this picture to Facebook, and I made her un-tag me because I was so embarrassed of the way I looked.

On the right, a photo from a couple weeks ago! I’d say I’m about 133-134 there, so just about 30 pounds difference between the two! I feel like I can see the weight loss everywhere: my face, my belly, my arms, my hips… I definitely was carrying a ton of extra weight in the first picture!

I always feel inspired looking at before and after (or during) photos of others, especially when it shows how much of a difference can be made in a relatively short period of time– with a lot of hard work. I hope somebody out there finds that kind of motivation here!

How have you changed in the past four months?

Making Time for Fitness

I’ll admit, up until the last few weeks, the fitness aspect of my health hasn’t been a huge priority. I’m a huge believer that weight loss is almost entirely related to what you eat. I do believe that exercise can definitely increase fat loss and is great for your overall health, though. So, recently I’ve been making an effort to get more exercise, both through cardio and some light toning exercises.

One of the biggest struggles I’ve had with this aspect of fitness is really figuring out just how to make it happen, both for myself and my husband. I’m lucky enough to stay at home with our son, but it can be tricky working out a trip to the gym while caring for him. As for my husband, his job is technically 8 to 5, but he’s often stuck at the office late tying up loose ends, and he often doesn’t get home until 7 pm. We’ve had to figure out how to squeeze exercise in without sacrificing much family time.

I’ve had to get over my apprehension about leaving C in the Kids’ Club at the gym. I’m lucky to be a member of a gym that has three locations, all of which provide really great childcare for no additional cost. As a first-time mom, though, I’ve worried about leaving him in the care of someone who’s not family. I’ve finally gotten over that fear, and now I truly look forward to my “alone time” at the gym. It’s also good for C to be around other kids, and other adults in a safe setting.

It’s been a little trickier to figure out the hubs’ gym schedule. He’s already pretty lean, so he’s mostly focusing on strength training and some very light cardio. We’re still in the process of finding an ideal routine for his trips to the gym, but he mostly goes at night. This week, he’s going to try leaving his office a bit earlier, stopping at the gym on his way home, and hopefully getting home around 7-7:30 for our family dinner. This will mean taking a couple days a month to stay pretty late and catch up, but it’s what he has to do. On the weekends, he will often help get C ready for bed like he usually does, then head to the gym while I feed C and put him to bed.

I’m telling you all this, because up until recently, we were a couple who thought we were just too busy to work out. But we’ve made it work for our schedule, without sacrificing much of our time together. And, as a result, we both feel a lot better, and have a lot more energy (and we need all the energy we can get!)

So, how do you make time for fitness?

Checking In: September Goals

Time to see how my progress is going with my September goals!

1. Continue going to the gym three times a week. So far, so good with this one! Really starting to get into a good fitness routine.
2. Drop five pounds. I lost 1.2 pounds last week– and met my WW goal! I have 4 more weigh ins left this month, and 3.8 pounds to go. I think I can do this! Just need to stay focused.
3. Cut back to three Diet Cokes a day. Yeah, about this… It’s not going great. I feel like an addict who’s really not ready to quit, or cut back, in this case. We’ll see!

Has your month gotten off to a good start, or a shaky one?

Happy Saturday!

Just a quick note to let you guys know how much I appreciate your support on here, Instagram, and Facebook! I’m really excited to have reached my first major goal, and am happy to be working towards the next. The accountability and motivation I’ve received through social media has been incredible… So thank you!

I’m going to be doing a lot of “chores” today: menu planning for next week, grocery shopping, some gym time, and tying together loose ends for C’s birthday party later this month. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how my September goals are going!

Do you have any fun plans this weekend?