Time to Shape Up!

 

Update Week 2

Weight 120.2 pounds.  1.8 pounds in two weeks.  I can feel my posture changing as my core becomes stronger.  My upper back feels more toned this week, and I don't have the bulky feeling like I did last week.

This week at the grocery store I switched to organic foods.  I also tried Coconut Milk which I will not say I am a fan of.  I will return to the 45 calorie Almond Milk- vanilla flavor because I like the taste much better.  I drink Almond Milk because I'm lactose intolerant, and it doesn't make me tired the way milk does, even the lactose free kind.  Thankfully yogurt and cheeses are processed to a point where there is very little lactose in them, so I can still enjoy many dairy products.  I also started buying Greek yogurt which I love!  It has a creamy texture that works great in smoothies.  I've been drinking green smoothies since Jack was born, but this week I drank several peanut butter smoothies, too.  

For recipe link -> Peanut Butter smoothie

Update Week 1

Weight 121 pounds.  One pound lost.  Not drastic changes, but one pound is one pound closer to my goal!  I feel bulkier this week.  My muscles feel tighter but I feel like I am putting muscle on under my fat, so I actually feel bigger.  The front of my stomach slimmed slightly, but my arms feel bigger. 

The biggest adjustment I had this week was cutting sugar out of my coffee.  This took away about 350 calories from my daily intake.  I usually use about 4 tablespoons (yes I said tablespoons, not teaspoons) of sugar per one cup of coffee, and I drink two cups every morning.  This week I went cold turkey on the sugar.  I also cut my creamer intake in half.    After the initial shock of the coffee, I am now used to it, and like it just as much as the "candy coffee" I drank before.  Cutting out the sugar also keeps Arden from drinking my coffee, something she really loves to do.  She told me, "Mommy, your coffee is nasty.  There's no sugar in it!"  I am going to shy away from the artificial sweeteners since they aren't any better for you.  I will say I did cheat yesterday morning at church and put a SweetnLow in it.  :)

Even though I eliminated the sugar, I didn't eliminate the calories completely.  Instead I replaced them with more of the 12 power foods from the Abs Diet.  Rather than the sugar's empty calories, I am consuming highly packed nutritional calories from nuts, spinach, etc.    

Because of some recent requests from a few friends, this post is about reaching my fitness goals.  Since it's the new year, and everyone is all about fitness right now, I thought I would motivate myself and maybe others to meet their goals.  I will feel accountable for reaching my goal if I put it out here for everyone to see.  Truthfully I feel very out of my comfort zone disclosing this personal information, but I really want the accountability and throwing it out here so I can't back out.  After three kids, I'm finding that it's very challenging to return to my pre-baby weight.  This is not about losing a bunch of weight, but about getting healthier and getting toned.    It's about reaching pre-baby fitness and liking how I look in my clothes.  It's about not giving up and just letting myself "go."  It's about feeling strong.  It's about having energy.  It's about not being embarrassed to wear a bikini. 

 This is me July 2011, only six weeks pregnant with Jack, my third child. I had finally reached my fitness and weight goals, was in the best shape of my life, and was discouraged because I knew all my hard work was going to disappear.  I tried to stay in good shape while pregnant, but let's face it... when your back aches and you're moody chocolate is VERY comforting.  Since I was about to get chunky again, I asked my good friend and neighbor, Jess, to snap a pic of me so that I would be able to motivate myself post-baby to get back in shape. So this is the picture she took at her daughter's pool party.   At this point I was 115 pounds and had 10.2% body fat.

The day I had Jack I weighed 154 pounds for a total weight gain of 45 pounds (The Spring before I got pregnant I weighed 109 pounds.)  But at least that's better than the 55 pounds I gained with Arden!

post baby

However I dropped the weight faster with Arden.  Jack is now ten months old  and I have been plateued at this current point for six months now.

I am finding that the older I get and the more kids I have the harder it is to get back in shape.  But that doesn't make it impossible.  I just have to try harder.  Once I reach my goals, I won't stop.  Those of you that know me know that I am a workout freak.  This is a lifetime deal for me, and I will continue to work to maintain because I enjoy how I feel and I love the results.

My goal is not necessarily in weight loss, but in fat loss.  Although I'm only seven pounds heavier than in the bikini picture I have more than double the body fat.  My body fat percentage is now 24 percent.

So these are my goals:

drop body fat percentage by at least 10 percent.

lose seven pounds

achieve this by Jack's first birthday, two months from now.

I deliberately wore tight clothes in these pictures below so that I am able to see my problem spots.  It will be easier for me to visually gauge my progress.  So here are some of the visual cues I will also be looking for:  my muffin top shrinking, my shoulders becoming more defined, leanness in my inner thighs, and my bra not cutting into my back fat.  I don't have a lot of weight to lose, but I could definitely use some toning up.

   

I seriously felt like I'm taking a mug shot

and for everyone that didn't know I had a tattoo, well there you have it.  19 year-olds aren't very smart

These are the steps I'm going to take toward my goal.  

1. Go on the abs diet.  (I chose this diet because it makes the most sense to me and is not very restricting.  I didn't use a specific diet per se to lose my weight after number two, but this diet is very close to how I ate back then.  I also choose it because of my body shape.  I gather my weight in my torso which this diet targets;  My body shape, my naturally high cholesterol, and my strong family history of heart disease puts me at risk in the future.  Therefore this diet makes sense to me.  Plus I want a six pack.  :) 

2. Drink sixty ounces of water a day

3. Perform cardio at least three times a week for at least thirty minutes

4. Weight training at least four times a week for at least an hour

5. Take multi vitamins (something I'm really bad at remembering to do)

I've already been hitting the gym several times a week since Jack was a month old so I have a good start.  This last stretch is the toughest which is why I feel compelled to write about it.  

I will take a picture every week for the next two months.  I will update my progress every few weeks. 

 My hope in posting this is I might motivate others to meet their goals, and that I am motivated to meet mine.  Your goal may be to tone up like me, or maybe it's to lose a significant amount of weight.  Maybe it's to run in a race or go to the gym.  Maybe it's to stop eating potato chips or drinking cokes.  Maybe it's to add a green vegetable into every meal.  Whatever the goal is it takes encouragement and determination.  I welcome any encouraging words or success stories of your own! Good luck to you!