Friday, December 12, 2008
It's Working
Taking care of me seems to be the key to losing some weight. Since I've started making a point to take time for me I've lost 6 or 7 lbs! I'm not as hungry and I'm not snacking all the time. Who knew something so simple could make a difference.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Taking Care of Myself
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine. We were commiserating about being to a point in our lives where all of our "nice" clothes were 10 years old and either no longer fit or were completely out of style. We both used to feel like we had a decent style and were pretty with it. Now we just felt frumpy. We both decided we wanted to find that fun, hip, stylish person we were and translate her in a fun, hip, stylish person now.
What happened? How did we get here? Well let's see. In the last 10 years I have been pregnant four times. I have nursed for over two years and in the times when I wasn't trying to get pregnant, pregnant or nursing I was trying to get back to a size I could live with. I've spent the majority of the last 10 years letting pregnancy and nursing dictate my wardrobe. I no longer remember that shirts are meant to be tucked in - at least occasionally, and that belts exist! Add to that the drain having four children put on the budget and at the end of the day there is not a lot of time or money to put toward taking care of me. And then there is the guilt I feel when I do actually spend time and money on myself all the while thinking of the hundreds of other ways the resources could have been used.
During our conversation, I realized another problem too. I kept telling myself that I would spend money on better clothing when I lost all the weight. Or that I would get a new hairstyle/whiten my teeth/get a pedicure as a reward for losing a certain amount of weight. What became crystal clear in this conversation was that waiting on all those things hadn't motivated me to lose weight! So now instead of just being fat, I was now fat, unstylish and a slob! My friend pointed out that maybe if I started doing other things to take care of myself that the weight loss would follow!
What a novel concept! If I have a good self image I might be more motivated to lose weight! I decided she had the right idea. To that end we arranged a Saturday morning to go buy a few new things for ourselves. We also are holding each other accountable to self care. Meaning we compliment each other when we notice stylish clothing or stlyed hair or make up. And we offer gentle reminders when none of those things are present. Since this epiphany I have showered more frequently, styled my hair regularly, put on make up almost every single day and put some thought in to what I wear most days. I feel good! I feel much more like me.
And you know what? I haven't eaten quite as much these last few weeks. Wonder what the scale will say on Tuesday? Will I be up or down? I don't know, but either way I'm feeling better about me!
What happened? How did we get here? Well let's see. In the last 10 years I have been pregnant four times. I have nursed for over two years and in the times when I wasn't trying to get pregnant, pregnant or nursing I was trying to get back to a size I could live with. I've spent the majority of the last 10 years letting pregnancy and nursing dictate my wardrobe. I no longer remember that shirts are meant to be tucked in - at least occasionally, and that belts exist! Add to that the drain having four children put on the budget and at the end of the day there is not a lot of time or money to put toward taking care of me. And then there is the guilt I feel when I do actually spend time and money on myself all the while thinking of the hundreds of other ways the resources could have been used.
During our conversation, I realized another problem too. I kept telling myself that I would spend money on better clothing when I lost all the weight. Or that I would get a new hairstyle/whiten my teeth/get a pedicure as a reward for losing a certain amount of weight. What became crystal clear in this conversation was that waiting on all those things hadn't motivated me to lose weight! So now instead of just being fat, I was now fat, unstylish and a slob! My friend pointed out that maybe if I started doing other things to take care of myself that the weight loss would follow!
What a novel concept! If I have a good self image I might be more motivated to lose weight! I decided she had the right idea. To that end we arranged a Saturday morning to go buy a few new things for ourselves. We also are holding each other accountable to self care. Meaning we compliment each other when we notice stylish clothing or stlyed hair or make up. And we offer gentle reminders when none of those things are present. Since this epiphany I have showered more frequently, styled my hair regularly, put on make up almost every single day and put some thought in to what I wear most days. I feel good! I feel much more like me.
And you know what? I haven't eaten quite as much these last few weeks. Wonder what the scale will say on Tuesday? Will I be up or down? I don't know, but either way I'm feeling better about me!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Decent Eating Day Today
I feel like I did OK. I didn't eat enough fruits or vegetables, but then I never do. I intended to at least have a salad for dinner but hubby decided he wanted only salad for dinner and there wasn't time to clean and tear up more - too many hungry children. Oh well, I did OK and that is what matters at the end of the day. Weigh in on Monday. Wonder how it will go...
Finally going to do something with this
I've decided it is finally time to start doing something with this blog. It has been sitting here doing nothing for the better part of two years so I think it is time.
I've found that I need a place to write about an ongoing struggle in my life: My weight! Before getting pregnant with twins I had lost a significant amount of weight following my third pregnancy, was working out regularly, and loved how I looked and felt. My doctor insisted that I quit working out completely for the duration of the twin pregnancy. Given my history I was happy to oblige. I gained 75ish pounds while pregnant and successfully delivered full term, healthy, twin girls.
Since their birth my body has fallen apart. I think part of it was due to the stress the twin pregnancy put on my body and part has been from the craziness that is life with four kids. I've had a lot more random sinus infections and strep throat occurances but also recurrences of erythem nodesem and costachondritists (tietze syndrome) and developed anemia to boot. I've lost 45 lbs. of the weight but can't seem to get further. In fact in the last 3 months I've started gaining again and really don't know why. Nothing in my diet has really changed.
For the last two and a half years I've used my health, my busyness, my kids, my work as the reasons I can't focus on my losing weight. It seems I'll lose about five pounds and then it stops. About three months ago I saw a new low - which put me at a total loss of 6 lbs for the year. Currently I'm up 10 from that low! I dont' like the numbers I'm seeing on the scale and know something has to change.
I've used Weight Watchers in the past with much success. I tried it about a year or so ago. No luck this time. It took way to much time, effort and mental energy. I find when I do WW I am obessed with when I can eat, what I can eat and every thought is about food. I don't have the time or mental energy to be so food focused now. I've decided I just need to eat smaller portions and find some way to add some light exercise. The smaller portions are easily doable the excersize is much harder.
I've decided to take the Fly Lady approach and start with baby steps. My first step is using this blog as a place to be real about my weight loss journey. A place where I can admit to the good, the bad and the ugly.
If you are fighting this battle too please join me if figuring out a way to beat this problem once and for all.
Jenn
I've found that I need a place to write about an ongoing struggle in my life: My weight! Before getting pregnant with twins I had lost a significant amount of weight following my third pregnancy, was working out regularly, and loved how I looked and felt. My doctor insisted that I quit working out completely for the duration of the twin pregnancy. Given my history I was happy to oblige. I gained 75ish pounds while pregnant and successfully delivered full term, healthy, twin girls.
Since their birth my body has fallen apart. I think part of it was due to the stress the twin pregnancy put on my body and part has been from the craziness that is life with four kids. I've had a lot more random sinus infections and strep throat occurances but also recurrences of erythem nodesem and costachondritists (tietze syndrome) and developed anemia to boot. I've lost 45 lbs. of the weight but can't seem to get further. In fact in the last 3 months I've started gaining again and really don't know why. Nothing in my diet has really changed.
For the last two and a half years I've used my health, my busyness, my kids, my work as the reasons I can't focus on my losing weight. It seems I'll lose about five pounds and then it stops. About three months ago I saw a new low - which put me at a total loss of 6 lbs for the year. Currently I'm up 10 from that low! I dont' like the numbers I'm seeing on the scale and know something has to change.
I've used Weight Watchers in the past with much success. I tried it about a year or so ago. No luck this time. It took way to much time, effort and mental energy. I find when I do WW I am obessed with when I can eat, what I can eat and every thought is about food. I don't have the time or mental energy to be so food focused now. I've decided I just need to eat smaller portions and find some way to add some light exercise. The smaller portions are easily doable the excersize is much harder.
I've decided to take the Fly Lady approach and start with baby steps. My first step is using this blog as a place to be real about my weight loss journey. A place where I can admit to the good, the bad and the ugly.
If you are fighting this battle too please join me if figuring out a way to beat this problem once and for all.
Jenn
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