Where did we leave off with this whole weight loss post baby #2 business?
Oh yeah,
here.
That was November.
I was feeling pretty good, or so I thought, at the time. The weight had fallen off faster than it did with Kendall but not as fast as I had hoped. It was really my own fault though. See the crazy/frustrating/funny part about having a baby is that the weight comes off super quick in the beginning. Before you're six week post-partum visit you have already lost 20lbs and you are feeling tthhiinn. And then you hit a wall. You stay at the same weight for three months, fluctuating between three measly pounds.
Just me?
I digress.
So the holidays SUCK for losing weight. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years I lost nothing. Nothing. Talk about a total bummer. But
I vowed that I would get my butt in gear for 2014 and really buckle down.
Remember my goal this month was to fit into
those jeans? Well I'm happy to report that I slipped those bad boys on this past Friday and they fit! They zipped and buttoned with ease. No laying down on the bed to zip them up.
Now there's a little bit of muffin top going on here, I am aware of that, but I can wear these jeans comfortably and that's more than I could say 4 weeks go. And then Saturday, to my surprise, I woke up and hopped on the scale to see that I am officially down 40lbs since having James. Which means I am back to my pre-preg weight.
Now that's not to say I'm back to where I was because clearly I am not. When I
hit my goal back in 2011 I hit 135lbs and was comfortable. Unfortunately by the time I got pregnant with James I had gained a few of those pounds back so I still have about 20lbs to lose to get to my
new goal weight. I'm not sharing a number because last time I had set my goal at 130lbs and when I hit 135lbs I felt great and decided to not try to lose anymore. I think the lowest number I ever saw on the scale was 133lbs. But this time I'm going to try to push myself a little further and see just what I'm capable of.
I posted all of these pictures on IG over the weekend and got a few questions about what I'm doing. It's simple. I'm using My Fitness Pal again, tracking my calories, trying to eat as clean as possible and trying to get in some sort of exercise more days of the week than not. I have my calories set at 1200 again, just like last time. Most of the time, when I exercise, I add those calories back to my daily allowance {meaning I get to eat more}. Sometimes I don't though, just depends on the day. As for my exercising goes, I mostly do my yoga DVDs, walk on the treadmill or lately I've been enjoying the
PopSugar workouts {they're free, the trainers aren't annoying, and they are a total body workout}.
One thing that I really think helped kick my weight loss into high gear this month is alcohol. Or lack of it. With the holidays comes lots of fancy holiday drinks and toasts and eggnog, which is a lot of empty calories. I have cut out the alcohol {for the most part} and I cannot believe how much better I feel. I had a couple of beers at dinner a couple of nights ago and I wasn't drunk {at all} but I woke up and just felt blah. Something I'm not used to feeling anymore.
Gosh, this makes me sound like a lush. I promise I'm not.
And remember how I said that working out makes me feel sane {
here}? Well it's true. I've been bitten by the workout bug. I literally find any way to get in some kind of calorie burn every day. Whether that's a 10 minute arm exercise or a full on 40 minute incline walk, I have to do something each day or else I just feel worthless. I like it though. I like the changes my body is making and working hard to be the best me I can be. It's invigorating.
I've been thinking about what my goal for February {my birthday month} should be...I think it's time for another challenge. I found this 30 day plank challenge on Pinterest a while back and I thought I'd try it. I started a few days ago {since there are only 28 days in the month} and so far, so good.
I've taken my before pictures {they are not pretty} but if all goes well during the month, I'll share them at the end of the challenge. I'm not expecting any major results but maybe a little?