Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A few pounds

 

I have been debating about if I wanted to write about this or not, but then I realized this is my blog and I want to write about it, so I will! Haha but I don’t want to sound braggy, I just want to share what I have learned and some success I have had losing some weight lately! In about two months, I have lost 12 pounds! I have also lost several inches (haven’t measured for a few weeks) and I have gone down one full pant size!

I have always been active and even after graduating high school and college, I always worked out pretty regularly. But my body has changed and my lifestyle is not super active (sitting at a computer all day-boo!), and I have gained some weight over the past few years. It has not been a huge deal to me and I’ve always felt pretty comfortable with my body and even with a few pounds, I wasn’t usually too upset about it. But I kept working out and nothing really changed. I even ran a lot last year with the Ragnar and Half Marathon, and even though I was healthy and felt good, I didn’t really lose any weight.

So finally I just decided I wanted to try something different and change my eating as well (novel idea right?!). I always knew my diet has the most affect on my weight, and even though I didn’t eat tons of junk or terrible food, I was just eating too much and still having a lot of treats! So right before Christmas I decided to buy the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and I started tracking every single thing I ate at Livestrong.com. jillian-michaesl-30-day-shred-review First of all, Jillian’s work out is awesome. And by awesome, I mean really really hard. I am literally dripping with sweat after I do it, but I love it! Dan has done it with me and he couldn’t believe how hard the “girl workout” is! I also love that it’s only 20 minutes because I think I can do just about anything for 20 minutes and it’s over really quickly. The moves are awesome and I absolutely love doing this workout.

So I started doing Jillian and tracking my calories and I quickly realized how many calories I was eating. I love that Livestrong will automatically adjust your daily calorie goals based on your weight and you can get more calories if you burn more calories! I have used Livestrong to track my calories, workouts, and weight. It is really easy to look up calories and if I go to a restaurant, I have been able to find the nutritional information online most of the time. Since becoming aware of the calories in the foods that I eat, I have really changed my eating habits for the better. I have spread out snacks and eating throughout the day and I don’t usually eat sweets during the week. I still have had plenty of treats, just a lot less at a time and only once a week or so. And it has gotten so much easier to say no to a treat than it used to be! Now I’m eating tons of fruits and vegetables and a lot of fish. I’m amazed at how few calories fruits and especially vegetables have! A huge helping of zucchini has somewhere around 15 calories! I usually add some extra virgin olive oil, garlic and a little salt and cook up the veggies and it’s awesome. We are going to plant a small garden this Spring and we may join a local CSA (where you get local food from farms near you for a good price). I have become really aware of everything that I’m eating and I think twice about if it’s worth the calories before I eat it!

vegetables3.jpg.rbI have really noticed drastic changes since I have started changing my eating and doing some new work outs. I have noticed that I have firmed up a lot, my stomach is flatter and my legs and arms are much stronger and more toned. I also feel great and I look forward to working out after work. We have a little home gym in our basement and we have used it so much. Dan has a weight set, we have a treadmill, elliptical and some weights. I have been doing the 30 day shred for 20 minutes, then usually running or doing the elliptical for 15 or 20 minutes. I have also started doing the ab ripper section of the P90x workout (holy hard). I’ve come to realize that it’s so true that diet is 80% and exercise is 20% if you want to lose weight. I probably would have lost most of the weight without exercise, but it is so important for your health and your well being to exercise every day. I feel awesome and I love that I’m getting stronger.

fruits.jpg.rbOne other thing I have done is to try to spread out what I eat throughout the day so I don’t stuff my face when it’s time for a meal. Here is what I would eat during a typical work day:

  • 6am breakfast: english muffin with 1% milk (I also eat my fave cereal-Frosted Flakes or Honey Bunches sometimes)
  • 8am at work: hard boiled egg or banana
  • 10am: light yogurt, goldfish, crackers, etc
  • 12 lunch: lean cuisine, smart ones, great value lean cuisine meals, progresso soup, or subway sandwich
  • 3pm: bowl of fruit, can of peaches
  • 5pm: work out
  • 6ish dinner: grilled salmon, with tons of asparagus/other veggie and a small portion of herb and butter rice with 1% milk

I have been drinking a lot of water but I still have milk even though it has calories, I think it’s important to keep drinking milk for all the benefits it provides. And of course I’m still drinking my Diet Coke! But drinking tons of water has helped me feel really good.

Sorry for the hugely long post, but I wanted to share some things I’ve learned lately and maybe it will help someone else! I still have a few more pounds to get to my goal weight/pant size, but I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made and more importantly, I’m happy with how I feel. I’m actually looking forward to wearing my swim suit in Puerto Rico!

9 comments:

Amanda said...

That is awesome! Congratulations. I'll have to try that Jillian Michael's shred.

Nicole S. said...

I love that you shared this. You're right, it is your blog! Isn't it amazing what changing your eating habits can do for your WHOLE body?!?!?! Good for you!!!!!

The Millers said...

You are awesome. You are great about putting your mind to something and doing it, I admire that about you! I love the 30 day shred, it is effective and best of all quick!

Have fun on your trip, I am sure you will have a great time and look fantastic!!!

Shell said...

Good work, Hay! I have been keeping track of all my calories with the MyFitnessPal app and it has made a total difference! I think twice about eating certain sweets and decide if something is really worth it before I put in my mouth...diet really is 80% of losing weight and for me it is so much harder than working out! I'm glad you love Jillian, cuz it's one of my favorites too! Keep up the good work and hopefully I will catch up to you soon!

Courtana said...

Hey, that is awesome, brag away!!!

laneasampson said...

Hey baby girl-you know those 12 pounds you lost? I think I found them! Do you want them back?? (aren't I clever?) Congratulations and have fun in Puerto Rico. Love you!

Brigitte said...

Haley, this is so awesome! I have never kept track of my calories, and Shell told me about the Myfitnesspal app, It's crazy how big of a difference it makes! Great job!

Julie P. said...

Congrats! That is a big accomplishment and you look great. Just don't cut back on the cookie making. You don't need to eat them, but being prego, I need them:)

Nicole S. said...

Haley, I don't know where else to put this that you'll see it, so hopefully this works.

In response to your question about the garden. We shared a garden with some friend's last year and we learned a lot of to do's and not to do's. When we bought our house they had a huge garden area in the back that was just a mess so we've been working on that to get it how we want so that it is ready for planting. I know for sure that we are only going to plant 2 zucchini and 2 yellow squash plants because last year we had WAY too much between all of us. We'll of course plant tomatoes, carrots, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, onions, and some other things and I think we are going to try red leaf lettuce. We're also going to plant a blackberry and raspberry plant to see how they do, since we eat so much of those all year long! I think it will still be a trial and error since it will be in our own yard this year, but we know that we need to plant some things earlier than we did last year if we want to get anything from them. Last year we found a store in Bountiful called J and L garden center and they are SO helpful in knowing what can grow in Utah. They also gave us some paperwork that shows when you should plant each plant, so that is nice!

Good luck! I'll have to check out that blog you told me about.