Weight Loss Journey

It has been a longtime since I’ve written a weight loss update post.

While I secretly wished I’d somehow lose weight over Thanksgiving, Christmas, getting ready to move from state to state, taking a vacation to Disney World, actually making the move from Georgia back to Illinois, living with my mom for a month in Illinois while we searched for a new home to rent, and then actually moving into that home (my current situation)…it just didn’t happen.

But I didn’t really try. I just told friends the other day that I’ve eaten my fair share of chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas and mcdoubles. (Don’t judge me. :)) I forgot to tell them all about the Starbucks frappes, McDonald’s coffee, and my own homemade coffees with the always-available International Delight creamer that my mom keeps on hand. (Thanks, Mama!)

Plain and simple, my diet has been bad.

Okay, in my defense, we did try to regularly have healthy juices on hand. When my husband went out for groceries, I’d always try to remind him to buy some of the healthiest juices that particular store had to offer. Those were almost always the Bolthouse Farms green juices (seriously, delicious) and carrot juice.

During our move, our scale was packed away, so I pretty much judged my weight by how my clothes fit. After they started to feel more snug, I knew that wasn’t good.

The moment of truth

I was prepared to weigh 198 lbs. when I stepped on the scale today, but I was pleasantly surprised when I weighed 192.5 lbs.

That’s actually not terrible. At least not to me anyway. 😉

In my last update post at the end of October 2012, I weighed 190 lbs., so I’ve only gained 2.5 lbs. since then. Not bad.

I’m ready to start losing weight again

Starting next week, I’m going to do a partial juice fast for 5 days. I’m planning on drinking juice twice per day for five days (Monday through Friday), and I’m going to update here on the blog each day with what I ate and what types of juices I drank that day. I’ll be sure to take pictures of each juice and let you know what is included, because I’d love to encourage all of you, my dear readers, who are also on a journey to lose weight. You are not alone, and we’re in this together.

I would love to try a total juice fast, but because I’m breastfeeding Elisabeth, our 13-month-old baby girl, it’s not wise…at least from what I’ve read. So that’ll have to wait until she stops nursing. Both of my two youngest boys stopped nursing right after they turned two years old, and I’m thinking Elisabeth is going to follow in their footsteps. So maybe next year I’ll be able to do a total juice fast.

In the meantime, I’m excited to try a partial fast, and I’m ready to get back to healthy eating.

As far as my overall weight loss progress for 2012, here’s what that looks like:

Beginning weight (Mid-January 2012): 220 lbs.

Ending Weight (December 2012): 190 lbs.

Goal Weight for 2012: 170 lbs. — I didn’t get to my goal weight, but I’m thankful for every pound I did lose.

# of total pounds I wanted to lose in 2012: 50lbs.

Total # of pounds lost in 2012: 30 lbs. — Praise the Lord!

**I gave birth to Elisabeth in December of 2011, and I came home from the hospital weighing 248.5 lbs. I started my weight loss journey after I had lost most of the weight I’d gained being pregnant with Elisabeth, but during my journey, I would periodically update on how much weight I’d lost post-partum.

Here’s what my post-partum results look like:

Weight on the day I came home from the hospital (December 2011): 248.5

Weight 12 months post-partum (December 2012): 190 lbs.

Total weight loss one year after giving birth: 58.5 lbs. — I’m once again extremely thankful to have lost all of my pregnancy weight and more. Nothing is impossible with God.

Now for 2013, I have a goal to lose 40 lbs., and I believe that it can be done. I’m starting my journey fresh at 192.5 lbs., and I’m excited to get the ball rolling!

What about you? Are you working to lose weight and live healthier this year? I’d love to hear about it, because losing weight is a lot easier when we can encourage one another. You can do it!

P.S. My 2013 ‘before’ pictures will be posted soon!

Going out of town can hamper weight loss efforts.

I know this firsthand.

The last time I updated on my weight loss was about 5 weeks ago. In that span of time, I attended two blog conferences, went out of town for a separate blog event, didn’t juice much, and did not stock up on healthy vegetables.

At the conferences and the blog event, there was soooo much good food. Sometimes it was healthy, and I tried to fill my plate with vegetables. Other times, I just ate and enjoyed the deliciousness of the food on my plate.

And the food was good…just not always good for me.

I ended up coming home 2.5 lbs. heavier after the second blog conference. That was kind of disappointing, but not surprising.

Over the last few weeks, though, by God’s grace, I’ve managed to lose the extra pounds I came home with and lose two additional pounds.

That means my current weight is 190 pounds! (That’s a good thing if you’re a new reader here at The Sensible Mom :-)) I haven’t weighed 190 lbs. since I was pregnant with Nathan, my firstborn.

I ended my pregnancy with Nathan weighing over 250 lbs. So I’ve come a long way to finally, after 12 years, get back down to 190 lbs.

How am I feeling?

I’m loving it. I’m enjoying my size 14 clothing. I can fit into a newer pair of jean capris a whole lot better, and I have another pair of size 14 capris that are starting to fit me loose.

I’m feeling better, and while eating unhealthy foods is fun and enjoyable in the moment, I genuinely like eating healthy.

I like the way I feel when I eat healthy. I don’t like feeling bloated and uncomfortable when I eat unhealthy foods. Once in a while is okay, but because of all the busyness of the past 5 weeks, I ate unhealthy way too often.

Life is back to normal now. There are no conferences coming up, nothing planned really, and we aren’t going away for the holidays. We’re here, staying put, and getting ready to enjoy the holidays for the first time ever in Georgia.

We are going to get back on track with juicing next week and going to make a big shopping trip to load up on frozen vegetables from Trader Joes. Did you know that Trader Joes has the best frozen broccoli? Seriously. The other brands seem to be 75% broccoli STUMPS. But the Trader Joes brand actually tastes good, and it doesn’t feel like you’re eating all broccoli stumps.

Anyway, here’s what my weight loss progress looks like now:

Beginning weight: 220 lbs.

Current Weight: 190 lbs.

Goal Weight: 170 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2012: 50lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 20 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 30 lbs.

Total weight loss 10 months post-partum: 58.5 lbs.

We have right around two months left in 2012, and I’m not crazy…I know I won’t be losing 20 pounds in two months. If I can lose 5-8 lbs. in the next two months (with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner), I’ll be happy. And I’ll continue my journey to Lose the Baby Fat in 2013.

How’s your weight loss progress coming along? Share your struggles and successes in the comments! 🙂

I had my husband take some updated pictures of me this past weekend. I had put on some makeup (mineral makeup plus some eye concealer – still don’t love the mineral makeup, but it’s growing on me a little).

I also decided to break out my hair straightener. I used to straighten my hair regularly, but it seems like since I gave birth to Elisabeth (baby #5), time escapes me.

That or I go to bed too late and don’t wake up before the kids start asking for breakfast. Hmm…

Then who has time to straighten their hair? 🙂

Anyway, on Monday, I weighed 192 lbs. which means I’ve lost 1 lb. since last week’s update.

Weighing 192 lbs. is another milestone for me in this weight loss journey, because it’s the lowest weight I remember ever getting to after giving birth to Nathan (baby #1) 12 years ago, and before my weight started to go back UP instead of down.

I’m happy to be at this weight right now. I’m feeling better and noticing a difference in my body. It’s weird to look in the mirror and see a smaller ‘me.’

As I mentioned in my goals post, I’m still not getting on the treadmill, but I am moving more. I’m spending less time sitting in front of the computer (now that the book is done and my workload has been lighter), and more time moving with the kids and in the kitchen. I’m cooking more and cleaning more, which makes my husband happy. 🙂 Ruben has been doing a wonderful job of helping with meals and cleaning while I’ve been busy with the book and other work.

Here’s a look at what my progress looks like:

Beginning weight: 220 lbs.

Current Weight: 192 lbs.

Goal Weight: 170 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2012: 50lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 22 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 28 lbs.

Every now and then I share how much weight I’ve actually lost since I gave birth to Elisabeth, who is now 9 months old! When I got out of the hospital, I came how weighing 248.5 lbs., so I’ve lost a total of 56.5 lbs. in nine months.

Here’s what my post-partum results look like:

Weight on the day I came home from the hospital: 248.5 lbs.

Weight 9 months post-partum: 192 lbs.

Total weight loss post-partum: 56.5 lbs.

How’s your weight loss progress coming along? 

I’ll start by saying I know I said in my last weight loss post that I’d post pictures this time, but those are going to have to wait until next time. Sorry, guys! I don’t have a body picture that I like and in which I’m wearing makeup. Those are two requirements that I have for posting a picture of myself in these posts. 🙂

I think my makeup problem is that I’m trying a new mineral makeup for foundation, and it just isn’t really working for me. I don’t love it. I need to find a good, natural liquid foundation. I promise to post pictures as soon as I get some decent ones that show more than my face.

Anyway, I do have good news. I now weigh 193 pounds, and that means I’ve lost 3.5 pounds since my last update a month ago. Yay!

I’m also down to a size 14 in pants.

I haven’t bought any new clothes, but I can fit into clothes that I haven’t been able to fit into in years. I’m actually going to go clothes shopping this week, because I have a couple of blog conferences coming up. I’m planning on shopping at Target and Kohl’s and hoping to find some nice black slacks on clearance. We’ll see.

I think I probably could have lost a bit more weight had I actually exercised this past month. If you follow my goal’s posts, you know that I’m struggling in this area. Basically, I’m sitting a whole lot more than I want to, and I’ve been skipping fun outings with Ruben and the kids in order to have quiet time to work on stuff — again, while sitting.

I am eating three meals a day, so I am in NO WAY starving myself. I eat!

Ruben makes me breakfast every morning, and it is usually oatmeal with granola, coffee, and sometimes juice that he makes fresh in our juicer. For lunch and dinner, our whole family almost always gathers together around the table, and we eat. Our meals are normally meatless and contain plenty of veggies, which is why I’ve been losing weight. When you are eating a more whole foods, plant-based diet, it’s hard not to get to your body’s ideal weight.

I probably could cut back on the coffee and chai tea, but I’m just not right now. I love my coffee, and I love my tea. The End.

Just kidding.

Here’s an update of what my progress looks like:

Beginning weight: 220 lbs.

Current Weight: 193 lbs.

Goal Weight: 170 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2012: 50lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 23 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 27 lbs.

How are you doing on your weight loss journey?