Over the past year, I have gone through an amazing journey... accomplishing something that I didn't have faith to do before.
To some people, losing weight is easy. I remember in high school, my weight fluctuated quite a bit. At some point after that, my metabolism seemed to slow down. When I graduated high school, I weight approximately 125lbs. and a size 6 pant(a little larger than I would have liked for my height, but still relatively thin... I had some curves, which was great!) However, when I finally made the mental decision to lose weight, I weighed 156lbs. and teetered between a size 12 and 14, depending on the pant style. Also keep in mind, I am not even 5' tall. I'm a short little thang!
Here is my before picture from Christmas last year. I had lost approximately 5lbs. when this picture was taken.
I loved this picture at the time, because it was the best picture taken of my love & I... and because I thought I looked better in this picture than I did many other pictures. But I knew I could have done better.
Here is my after picture, which was taken Fourth of July weekend this past summer. It's not the best picture of my progress, but the best I could find for you.
When this picture was taken, I weighed approximately 135lbs., which is my current weight. However, I am hoping to lose more. (And obviously the beer can in my hand isn't helping much. Don't judge)
Here is what I did:
I contribute most of my success to a Droid app called Lose It. I found this app easiest to record my food intake. It was also most accurate. Most apps that I had used before said that I needed at least 1,200 calories (the minimum healthy caloric intake). However, this was just too high for me. I had used other apps that had my minimum caloric intake at 1,200 and I was not able to lose weight. I think Lose It had me start at 1,100 and it adjusts according to your weight loss/gain. Now, when I log in, it has me at just over 1,000 calories for weight loss.
When I first started, I was more regimen about exercising... however, the further into my weight loss I got, the more relaxed I got. This is not because I thought I didn't need it, but because I have managed to accumulate so many more responsibilities. We bought the house a couple months before I reached my goal of 135lbs.
When I did exercise, I would work out in the fitness center at my college. (I take night & weekend classes). I would usually warm up on the elliptical for about 15 minutes (burning about 100 calories). Then I would move to the treadmill and spend about 35 minutes there. Most days, I would attempt to jog a mile and then do intervals for the remaining time. My endurance was horrible, so this really pushed me. If I felt like an over achiever, I might have spent another 20 minutes on the stationary bike. Then, I would usually do the ab circuit because that is my trouble zone.
I never once restricted my diet. I would eat what I wanted, but I would recognize that I should make healthier options and if I ate a larger meal at one point, that meant I would eat smaller meals the rest of the day. Its all about portion control.
I did have one factor that I feel really helped. I have mentioned before that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which can affect your blood sugar levels. My doctor had prescribed Metformin, which is a common diabetic medication. By regulating my blood sugar, this also helped in my weight loss. But, if I hadn't made the other changes, Metformin would not have helped in weight loss. It wasn't a magic drug. It just gave me the ability to do something by body wouldn't have actually been able to do... does that make sense? I'm not really sure how better to explain it.
One final change that I made was my Green Tea addiction. I drink at least one cup of green tea during the week. My addiction has gotten worse, and sometimes I drink up to four cups before I even eat lunch... but I don't think this is a bad thing.
I recognize that I am not a nutritionist, and have no real opinion in the matter. But, my weight loss thus far has been a huge accomplishment for me and I thought it might help to inspire other people. I know that for years, I had kept saying how I wished I could lose weight... but one day I woke up and actually did it. It was because I told myself I could do it and quit wishing. Once you are ready to make the changes in your life, you will be able to do it.
I really believe that calorie counting is the best tool you can use in doing so. All of the smartphone apps out there make it super easy... There are usually large databases of foods that other people have stored that you have access to (including namebrand and resturaunt foods). If you can't find one you're looking for, most apps have a barcode scanner that will automatically load the information you need. There have been very few times that I have needed to manually add foods.
Lose It has been one of my favorites. I just started using My Fitness Pal because I have heard such great things about it.
I wish you luck on your journey, if you need it. Otherwise, ,I thank you for taking the time to read mine!
