1. Last September, my work offered a free health screening and they told me that my BMI was too high and I had high cholesterol.
2. I felt bad.
3. Lots of people say that the older you get, the harder it gets to lose weight.
4. I've never been "skinny" and I have never tried to lose weight.
5. My clothes didn't fit.
6. I didn't like they way I looked.
7. I believed I could do it.
8. I read this blog post from kevinandamanda.com and realized that it was possible.
First, I figured out how many calories my body burned just existing. My resting caloric burn was around 1500 calories. So, in order to lose weight, I only took in 1200 calories a day. Some days I fudged a little and would eat more, but I rarely take in more that 1500 calories. I tried to eat 5 smaller meals a day. Being a teacher made it easy because I can eat my cereal on the way to work, have a yogurt at 9:30, eat lunch at 11:15, have a piece of fruit after school at 3:00, then eat dinner at 6 or 7.
I followed Amanda's food plan almost exactly as she described it.
Breakfast- 200 calories - Cereal and skim milk, or oatmeal. This didn't change, except I started using a measuring cup so I knew exactly how many calories I took in.
Lunch- 300-400 calories - Lean Cuisine. I really like some of the options, so unless I had leftovers from the night before.... frozen lunch it was.
Dinner- 400-600 calories - Dinner was hard because Rowe wasn't dieting with me. He was however super supportive of my trying to lose weight. Sometimes I would look for low calorie meals online, but otherwise, I just swapped a healthier option in my normal recipes. There is a recipe analysis at CalorieCount.com. Amanda recommended it on her blog, so I used (still use) it.
Desserts/Snack- 200 calories: This included the yogurt and fruit I had as my other 2 meals. Sometimes I even had enough left over to have a little snack after dinner.
The first 3 months, I tracked everything I ate on Sparkpeople.com. The offer lots of good options for people trying to count calories. Now, I have a pretty good idea of how many calories are in something, and I can edit throughout the day.
I have also decided that this is my new normal, I have no intentions of going back, so I will eat what I want. If I want an Oreo milkshake after a hard day, I go get one. But the next day, I eat more veggies to counter balance.
I also started running. Any time I ran, those were bonus calories burned. I didn't reward myself and go eat after I ran. I learned that I am not a dog, and my body is not a trash can. Best of all, I feel good.
So far, since October 2, 2011, I have lost 42 pounds. I went from a size 14/16 to an 8/10.
Here are some pretty telling before pictures:
Family Vacation to Georgia Aquarium 2011
Friends wedding June 2011
My Birthday June 2011
Thanksgiving 2010
And here are the afters!!! YAY!
Venice June 2012
London May 2012
Venice June 2012
Amsterdam June 2012
Little Brother's wedding August 2012
You are beautiful! It has been amazing watching you transform. Love you!
ReplyDeleteI don't care what size you are, because you are so stunning inside and out. I am, however, in awe of your determination to feel better and live healthier. You are an inspiration for this success and so many other facets of your beautiful self!
ReplyDeleteYou have never ever looked "bad", as you have always carried yourself with confidence. But I do have to say that now you look FABULOUS and look like you feel that way too. I am proud of you, Hanna-Hay!
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