Weight Loss Update - 1 year mark!

If you've been following these posts then you might be wondering how it's been a year already.  Well I originally posted about the starting point for my weight loss journey back in September, but I had actually been working on losing weight since March 2014.  It's a little mind blowing to think I've already been at this for a year and how far I've come, and how far I still want to go.  But I'll get into all of that in this post!

Back in March I decided to join a "Biggest Loser" group through one of my mommy Facebook groups.  I had no idea that this little challenge was going to turn out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.  To be completely honest I didn't think it was actually going to work.  I figured I'd lose a few pounds and end up leaving the group out of sheer embarrassment haha.  How wrong I was!  Turns out my competitiveness isn't just limited to Mario Kart!

This past month was a bit of a tough one for me.  I was trying to come down off my Christmas food coma which was harder than I thought.  When you get used to just eating, eating, eating, and all of a sudden you try to stop, it can be such a shock to the system.  You know you don't need that cookie but the little devil on your shoulder says "but we always have a cookie at 3pm!!!!"  I spent most of the month bouncing around 165-163 and was really getting frustrated with myself.  I knew what I was doing wrong but just couldn't kick it.  I finally managed too after a couple days of desperately wanting to eat junk.  If you're having problems cutting out the 3pm cookie, the first two days are the hardest, but after that it's so much easier. 

How much easier?  Kicking that bad habit to the curb I managed to lose 5.4 pounds in 3 weeks and 3 pounds of that was in just one week!  I can't take all the credit though.  During that week I attended the most grueling DanceFit class I have ever been too.  I don't know if the instructor thought we were way more advanced than we were but she gave us a beating.  There was a point in the 50 minute class, about 3/4 the way through, where all you could hear in the room was panting.  I was quite convinced I was going to die.  The instructor actually had to yell at us to get us to keep squatting because we were all on the verge of giving up.  Remember the steaming car window scene from Titanic?  That is exactly what the windows of the studio look like half way through that class.  You know you're getting your butt kicked when the body heat in the room steams up the windows.  It was really a miracle I made it down the stairs from the studio, and even when I got to my car I had to sit for a minute because I was a little light headed.  Now that might sound like the cruelest form of torture to some, but it was pure bliss for me.  Why?  Because I survived!  The instructor tried to kill me and I not only survived but I kept up and didn't quit!  I've noticed in the last few dance classes that I'm starting to get quicker on my feet, my balance is better, and I can dance like I did when I was a competitive dancer in elementary school!

There is one downside to all this weight loss though, I never seem to have pants that fit!  Yes I can hear your eyes rolling from here, and yes I'm aware this is a good problem to have, but it's a problem none the less.  People always say losing weight is expensive because fresh food is expensive.  I disagree, weight loss is expensive because you have to keep buying clothes every couple of months.  In my last update I mentioned that I could finally fit into Old Navy clothes (size 14 jeans and large shirts).  Well those same jeans are now constantly falling down and come right off without even undoing the zipper, and those shirts are so baggy that Roman has recently learnt the word "boobs" because he's constantly seeing them.  I did purchase some tighter fitting white t-shirts a few weeks back in the hopes that they'll last me a little longer, but I have to wear a cami under them because they are fairly sheer.  So I pulled out a cami from Ricki's that I've had for a couple years.  No word of a lie it could pass for a night gown now.  Not only is it too baggy but it's now so long that it hits me mid thigh.  Who knew losing weight made your shirts longer?

People often ask me what diet or plan I'm on and, as I've said before, I'm still eating anything and everything I want, just maybe not all at once haha.  I use the My Fitness Pal app on my phone and I love it.  If it fits in my allotted calories for the day you can bet it's going in my mouth.  If I want a Double Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard for lunch I'm going to have one.  Granted that means that's all I've having for lunch and it's going to be a small, smart supper, but I can still have it.  I have fewer days where I feel like I'm doing to die if I can't have something to eat, and I've actually had days where I ate a popsicle at 8pm because I needed those extra 40 calories to get me into the "safe" zone for the day (if you use the MFP app you'll understand what I'm talking about).  I hate that people think they should learn to survive on lettuce and soup if they want to lose weight.  If you love lettuce and soup be my guest but I just can't do that.  I LOVE food!  The way it tastes, smells, cooking it, going out for it and sharing it with people.  You don't have to give up everything to be healthy.  The best quote I've heard when it comes to eating smart is "You can have it all, just not all at once".

Now for the cold hard numbers.  When I posted my starting weight it was a little nerve wracking to say that I weighed 195 pounds.  It has become easier as the posts go on, but this time is different.  This time I want to scream my weight from the rooftops.  Why in the world would I want to do that?  Because I have never in my memory weighed what I do right now.  I now weigh 154.6 pounds!  When I left the 180s I thought it was amazing, but leaving the 160s is just shocking to me.  That makes a total weight loss of 40.4 pounds!  Now I don't normally pay attention to BMI numbers mostly because I've always felt they weren't totally accurate, but I check mine the other day and I am .62 away from being in the normal weight category.  Considering I've spent most of my life in the obese category I was a little surprised when I checked it.  I had always thought my ideal weight would be 160 pounds and that I didn't want to lose any more weight than that.  Turns out I'm not done at 160 and am going to keep this weight loss train humming down the tracks!