Small Successes

I went to the second hole on my belt today.

Small success feel good when you are losing weight, and they should. This belt has not even fit since 2007 when I got pregnant with my son....so it felt damn good when it just fit. It feels even better to go to the second hold.

I went to the second hole on my belt today!!!

That's more like it.

Belly Contest

I'm joining a contest through Men's Health to lose some of my belly jiggle. I'd say after three kids my belly needs some work! The contest is simple, choose three "rules" to add to your current diet and do those along with exercise for 4 weeks. Simple. I need simple, it just works better for me.

Here are the three rules I've decided to follow:

Eat at least 3 servings per day of calcium-rich dairy products: cheese, yogurt or milk.

Eat a protein-rich breakfast daily. Choose milk, eggs, yogurt, quinoa, steel-cut oats, whole wheat toast, whole fruits and berries.

Graze on at least two pieces of fruit every day and at least 3 servings of vegetables, focusing on leafy greens like spinach, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

I take my before picture today, I'm pretty nervous of wearing a bikini and taking a picture of myself in a bikini! But I think seeing before and after will be great for my motivation and let's face it- losing weight is a game of motivation and self control.

We went out this weekend and I bought dairy products, fresh fruit and vegetables so I won't have the excuse of not having it so not eating it.

What I ate

Well today was a pretty good day I think, for breakfast I had half of an English Muffin- mainly because my two year stole the other half lol. I put half a tablespoon of butter on both pieces. And a 4oz glass of orange juice.

For lunch I had a PB&J and that was it.

Then we went grocery shopping, if you can't tell it was needed!

When we got home I had 8oz of chocolate milk for a snack.

For dinner I had 3/4 of a pork bratwurst with ketchup and onions and side of tomato and mozzarella salad. It was great!

I didn't do any type of a work out.

My story

Stats as of today:

Height: 5'8

Age: 30

Weight: 174.6

First goal: 160lbs by December 1st

Final goal: 150lbs by July 1st

I had my first child in 1998, I was 18 at the time and didn't gain too much while pregnant and was able to lose it all within a few years. Back then I didn't really pay attention to my weight loss or what size I was in.

Fast forward to 2007 and I found out I was expecting again, I weighed 144lbs and was a size 8. I've always had a more hourglass figure and loved it. I wasn't worried as I started to fill out and didn't pay attention to the scale at the doctors office, I didn't even own a scale at home. So I stuffed my face with whatever I wanted. Of course it included ice cream, cookies, french fries, cheeseburgers, processed junk galore.

I got pregnant in August, at my December appointment my OB told me I had gained 20lbs in one month. For some reason I still thought I'd be fine and made no changes in my habits. At my April appointment, one month before my son was due I saw something horrible.....the doctor moved the scale from the 150 to the 200. I thought they must be wrong but I delivered my son weighing between 210 and 215, I had stopped looking at the doctor's office.

I had never been even close to 200lbs so I was depressed about my weight. Yet I kept telling myself I would start to shed the weight with nursing and all will be fine. I was sure I'd fit back into my size 8's within the year.

Um, I was flat out kidding myself. I got to 185lbs and stopped, I never lost or gained a pound. I also wasn't doing anything to lose the weight. I kept eating like I was going to run out of food any day, and the worst things, lots of tacos, cheeseburgers, potato chips, dips, full fat sour cream, etc.

Well then I told myself that I was just holding onto weight while nursing and it would fall off when I stopped. I guess I just wanted to be the way I was before, before I ate what I wanted and did very little exercise but maintained my weight. Although, when I look back I didn't eat nearly as much. I may have had a cheeseburger but would only eat that, not a double cheeseburger with french fries and a milkshake, then later eat a row of Oreos.

In October of 2009 we got pregnant again, this time I only went from 185 to 206. I ate better and walked a lot more for that pregnancy.

I starting weighing myself and working out when my son was 6 weeks old. At that time I weighed 184lbs. I have lost 10lbs but I'm ready to lose more.

On Monday of this week I weighed 171 but today at 174.6 and I keep bouncing in the 170's and I want to break through and just lose instead of going up and down within 5lbs.

So here is my blog to get rid of my jiggle.