You guys. Look at the new State of the Weight banner. Please. And thank you.
THREE POUNDS. Three pounds.
I’ve officially hit my first weight loss-related goal of 10 total pounds! Officially, in about 6 weeks, maybe 7?, I’ve lost 12.5 pounds.
I’m pretty pumped right now and I don’t care who knows it.
I tracked nearly everything I put in my mouth for the second week in a row and really focused on how I disbursed my calories throughout the day. My goal is roughly 350-375 calories per meal with about the same amount for snacks throughout the day. If I work out, I do eat back some of my calories, but not all. Never all.
It’s been difficult some days to stay under the daily calorie allotment. Some days I feel like I’m starving from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep. But then other days I eat three meals and snacks and get to the end of the day and find I’m still under goal. I’m trying to look at it as a whole week instead of individual days.
Saturday I pulled my Gap Skinnies out of the dryer and put them on to run some errands. THEY WERE LOOSE. Normally when I first put them on, they’re a little snug and they loosen up over the course of me wearing them. But not this time. This time they just zipped right up with no weird sucking in or resistance at all.
And my shorts are looser too. The ones I bought last summer in a size larger than I was/had ever been because my mom-belly took up so much room I had to buy bigger clothes to squish it in. They’re looser now.
The mom-belly, “mother’s apron,” extra skin and flab that stretched beyond its limits while housing children on two occasions? It’s smaller. I can feel that it’s smaller.
I never thought I would feel that.
Ahhhhh!! 12.5 pounds! It’s time to buy a bra, I guess!
As for working out and adding weights, which is still something that plagues me, here’s what I decided to do.
My gym gives one free personal training session, but having worked out with a personal trainer in the past, I know that once isn’t really enough for me to feel comfortable on the weight floor. I would just do the same thing every time and that wouldn’t really be helpful in the long term.
Thanks to some great links and helpful comments last week, I’m going to do some weight/resistance exercises at home to start. I have some 3 lb weights and some walls and chairs for resistance. There’s a small step on our back patio I can use if I need to and a higher one on the back deck. All the tools I need for muscle building and toning I have at home already.
To figure out what to do, I turned to Pinterest and created a State of the Weight board to keep various arm, back, core, butt, and leg exercises in one place. This way, I can try out new routines and exercises in my living room where the only people who will laugh at me are those I birthed or the one who swore to love me for better or for worse.
Once I’ve got a system down and exercises I’m comfortable with, and perhaps start to see some improvements, I’ll move to the weight floor at the gym where there is advanced equipment. I feel like that makes sense for where I am right now.
State of the Weight is about small, sustainable changes.
I’m making changes and I’m seeing the results of those changes. It feels good. I like it.
Weekly goal: Do 5 at-home exercise routines
Weight goal: Lose another 10 total pounds, bringing the total to 22.5 pounds lost.
My reward when I lose another 10 pounds will either be a heartrate monitor or new shoes. My current ones are probably 5 years old, minimum, and while they’re not worn out (because, Hi, I didn’t work out for 5 years) they probably aren’t as supportive as they should be or supportive in the right places. Heartrate monitor or shoes? What would you choose?
Are you joining in on State of the Weight? What was your success this week? What’s your goal for next?
If you’re blogging this journey, link up below so we can support each other!
WAY TO GO!
Thanks!
That is AWESOME progress. Great job! I would get shoes first. A heart rate monitor is awesome, but if you have bad shoes, you could injure yourself. So go with that first and then go heart rate monitor. Girl, you are rockin’ this!
The shoes I have aren’t in bad shape at all. They’re barely worn. I just want to make sure I’m wearing a pair with support in the right places since I used to wear them as part of an outfit, you know?
Thanks 🙂
If the shoes aren’t worn out, I’d go with the heart rate monitor, just because it’s a little bit of instant-feedback . . . how hard am I going, right at this second? Oh, my heart is pumping almost 3 beats per second, that is hard!
But I’ll admit that there seems to be a universal female fascination with shoes that I am, unlikely, to ever understand.
Congrats on hitting your first goal – but more than that, congrats on having things fit better. Seriously, if the scale never moved an ounce, but my clothing started falling off of me, I’d be equally ecstatic. There are few better feelings in the world.
But, I’m so damn frugal that, despite clothes that fall off of me, I don’t buy new until I’m “where I want to be.” You’re smarter than that. Which is good.
I’m quite eager to hear how the workouts go once you’re adding weight.
I’m really, really intrigued by the idea of a heartrate monitor. Really. But shoes!!!
I’m with you to an extent. If the scale didn’t move but my clothes size got smaller, I could live with that.
Woo Hoo!!! Congratulations on making it to your first goal!
I say make your next reward a pair of shoes. It’s so important to take care of your feet. If you’re not wearing supportive shoes you could actually injure yourself and an injury could push back all the progress you make.
I love to work out at home. 1.) It’s cheaper and 2.) I don’t feel nearly as self-conscious as I do when in a group of people. You’re right…all the equipment you need to set yourself up with some resistance is easily found in your house.
I’m glad you touched on the amount of calories each of your meals are. I’ve been struggling with trying to find a decent number. 350-375 is a reasonable number to meet…I just need to work on making the most of those calories.
What are you eating for snacks? That’s my biggest pitfall right now…all I want is cheese, sweets, and crunchy carbs.
Thanks!
I guess I don’t know HOW supportive my current shoes are, or if they’re supporting me in the right places. They’re not worn out at all. They’re just older.
I definitely don’t mind working out at home. Mostly so no one can see me.
For snacks, I have fruit, or a Luna bar, or a Light Mini Babybel and some triscuits. It really just depends on what I have in the house and decide I want that day. I have a serious sweet tooth when I’m nursing (so, I still have a sweet tooth) so I try to satisfy it with fruit. And do remember that you’ve got an extra 500ish calories a day because of breastfeeding, so you could bump your meals up to 475 and your snacks, too.
When it comes to breastfeeding and cravings, I try to think about how breastmilk works. If I’m craving a particular thing, perhaps my body needs a certain nutrient for my milk. So I try to satisfy the craving without overindulging.
This is great! Congrats.
Thanks!
Congrats! Okay – obviously new shoes! Maybe some cute beaded sandals? Oh you meant sneakers?
I lost 4 pounds on one week of no carbs (or at least very few!) That makes me 1 pound away from my #2 pregnancy weight. But then AF so who knows what that will bring. And blowout first birthday party and I will eat cake! But… It feels good to be trying again. I love the low carb. The whole dieting thing is a mind game anyway. I love that it isn’t about portion control – I can eat as much as I want of the things I can have and I just have to cut out the bad stuff.
Yay you and the 4 pounds lost!! That’s awesome! My rule for dieting is everything in moderation. I can have a slice of cake. I can’t have the entire cake. I find that when I try to eliminate all of something or I’m constantly telling myself no, I fall off the wagon.
Way to go Miranda! I’m following your journey as I’m right there with you. Keep it up, you are doing great!
Thanks!!
Congrats, that’s so exciting!! 🙂
Thanks! I’m quite pleased with the week’s progress!