Get Fit

Kendall was born August 2010.  When I was pregnant I gained 40ish lbs, more than my doctor or I wanted.  While I was pregnant I thought, "no big deal, I'll lose it" and never thought twice about the food I put in my mouth, just ask Jimmy.

After she was born I remember feeling "skinny".  I could see my toes again so that was HUGE! But in reality, I was still huge.  The funny thing is I had just thought, "oh well...this is just how I am now, I'm a mom".  What a terrible mindset.  So I really did nothing to change.  I didn't watch what I ate, didn't exercise, I was just complacent.  

That January, 2011, we went on a family vacation to Florida.  I remember I didn't even pack a bathing suit because I knew there was NO WAY I was getting into one, not even a one piece.  I had packed all of my non-maternity summer clothes and thought, "well of course they'll fit".  Do you see what a distorted body image I had?  When we got to Florida I was sadly mistaken.  Sure the dresses fit because they were loose and flowy but they sure as hell didn't look cute and as for pants?  I rocked the maternity ones, yes 5 months postpartum.  

When we got back I was sad.  I didn't even get to swim with my baby on her very first pool and beach trips because I was so unhappy with myself.  And then I saw this picture that my mother-in-law took of us at the beach.

I was mortified.  Sure I'm smiling but you can tell that is not a genuine smile, at all.  I was not happy.

When we got home I knew it was time for a change.  I had asked for a treadmill for Christmas that year, got it but never actually got on it {sad but true}.  For my birthday, in February, I asked for an iPhone.  I got it and one of the first aps I downloaded was MyFitnessPal.  I was watching The Today Show and they were talking about the best aps in 2011 {I think} and had mentioned this calorie counting ap and I thought, "well that sounds easy" and so I downloaded it.  Best decision I ever made.

With MyFitnessPal {let's call it MFP from here on out} you enter your height, weight, activity level, your goal weight and how many pounds you want to lose a week {2 being the most per week} and it will automatically calculate how many calories you should eat to reach your goal weight.

March 2011:

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 180

Activity Level: sedentary

Goal Weight: 130

Weight Loss Goal: 2 lbs per week

Net Calorie Goal: 1200

There it was.  In black and white.  This seemed easy enough.  And so my journey began.

The thing about MFP is it has the largest database.  I've yet to eat something that I cannot find in the look up, with the exception of some mom and pop restaurants.  Now there is even a handy little bar-code scanning feature so you can simply scan whatever it is you eat and adjust the servings and BAM, it's added, you're done.  You track your exercise too and, like any other weight loss program, when you exercise you get more calories.  Easy as pie, right?

For me counting calories was enough.  The only time I worked out was if I went over my calories and the extent of my working out was walking on the treadmill.  It worked for me though.  I was very strict about my calories and that alone dropped the pounds, sometimes I lost up to 4 lbs in one week, without exercise.  If we went out to dinner I would look up the menu ahead of time and plan out my meal before we even got there so there was no, "wonder if this 1800 calorie salad is good for me".  I knew before we stepped in there that the grilled chicken with a vegetable side was at least half the calories of that salad.

In September 2011 I reached my goal.  Less than 8 months after starting MFP.  I had originally set my goal weight to 130 but once I got to be around 137 I felt comfortable in my clothes, in my skin, so I adjusted my goal to 135.  On September 30 I weighed in at 133 and felt great!

The real shocker was when I tried on jeans that just a year ago were too tight to button.  These jeans were so tight on my thighs that I was certain I was going to rub a hole in them.  They were size 12s and I'm now, comfortably, in a 4.
I was actually able to save a lot of money from a high lipo cost since I didn't decide on a easy way out. It was a harder and longer path but it was all worth it.

Now that I had conquered that goal, probably the first goal I've ever reached, I had one more thing on my list.  I have always wanted to run a 5K.  The spring before we got married I was going to do one but I couldn't find anyone to do it with me {excuses, excuses} and so I walked the Breast Cancer 5K with my mom and mother-in-law.

In November, 2011, I started training for my first 5K.  I started with the Get Running Couch to 5K app for my iPhone.  It's a 9 week program that will take you from a couch potato to a runner with gradual increases in your running time each week.  It's pretty easy to do and if I can successfully run 3.1 miles without stopping anyone can do it, trust.  After my 9 week program I could run a 5K in about 28 minutes.  I signed up and ran my first 5K on St. Patty's day 2012.  I had some set backs though.  The week of I had gotten sick, terrible cough courtesy of The Toddler and the night before the race I was up for 3 hours coughing leaving me with just 4 hours of sleep. I ran the race in about 35 minutes, 11ish/min miles and, although I wasn't happy with my time, I finished!!
2011 was all about losing the weight, once and for all.  I succeeded at that and I'm pretty proud of myself {toot, toot!} for doing it in just 7 months.  But?  That left me skinny-fat.  Sure I was fitting into size 4s and 28s but I had extra skin, flab if you will, that was just...unsightly.  That is when I decided that 2012 will be all about firming up and getting fit.
 As usual, in true L.A.I.D. fashion I will document my success {hopefully} along the way.