A long haul.

Well, after over a year I am 70 pounds down from when I started. I few of you have asked how I did it, so I thought I would share. It's been a long haul, and it's not over yet, but I'm still trying my best.

When I got home from the hospital after having Claire, I weighed 250 pounds. And for one of the few times in my life I didn't care how much I weighed. After a scary delivery, it was the furthest thing from my mind. I was so happy to be home with a healthy, happy baby. The few weeks following that my varicose veins were killing me and my c-section incision was still tender, and although I had the desire to finally do something permanent about my weight, my body wasn't ready. After about 8 weeks, I was ready to do it.

And I think that is huge, making the decision that the time is right to lose weight. I was done having babies, and I wanted to be the fit mom I always wanted to be for my kids. There were many other times in my life I had tried and failed to lose weight. I was over 200 pounds from the time I was 14 years old (a couple months ago when I was finally weighed one hundred and something pounds I was ecstatic  I hadn't been in the "ones" in almost 16 years) but never had anything but short-lived success with my weight loss goals, and for whatever reason I couldn't get my head around it.

So I started my journey. And I didn't start doing anything complicated. I just started to sweat. 5 days a week, no matter what. Come hell or high water I got on that treadmill. I run about 3 km, then do 100 sit-ups, and squats and arms with weights. For about 6 months I worked out at the church twice a week with some girls who had some really great work out routines too.

And I stopped eating so much. I have a deep, passionate, unhealthy love affair with food. I love it. It's pure joy for me. So I had get that under control. A stressful summer curbed my appetite and made it a little easier to manage my calories. but food is still the greatest struggle I have. I try and stay under 1400 calories a day. I eat a big breakfast, and I try to eat my carbs in the first half of the day. I drink about 1.5 liters of water a day. I eat the biggest meal of the day right after my workout,  and I rarely put anything in my mouth after 6pm. Except on Wednesdays when we go to my mother-in-law's for dinner. Then I break all the rules, because I still haven't mastered any self-control when it comes to her cooking. It's all so good and I can't say no to any of it. So every Wednesday, I run to there. Darryl drives the kids, and I run. It's a good 7 km  to their house, and so I feel very justified in eating her peanut butter brownies, lasagna, pies, cakes, homemade breads..... the list goes on.

One crucial part of reaching my weight loss goals has been stepping on the scale every single morning. I know some say this is a big no-no, but for me it works. It keeps me in check. If I'm down a pound, it motivates me to keep going, if I'm up a pound, I'll run a little longer that day. It's the first thing I do when I get out of bed.

So there ya have it. I hit 180 pounds this week, and I still have a ways to go. But even better than wearing medium size clothes and size 12 jeans, is how good I feel. I remember in June going to see Darryl and his brother finish their Ride for the Cure. We were running late, and we wanted to see them cross the finish line. My sister-law said to me, "Let's run" and I took my shoes off and we ran on the grass. I ran and I ran and I ran and I didn't feel tired, it was so good. Right up there with one of the happiest moments of my life.
                   Before                                                                          After

             

                         

So that's it. Nothing spectacular, but it;s working for me:)