Weight Loss Update
Then, in August, after having the summer off, going back to work hit me hard. I ran once or twice and ate fairly healthy meals for awhile…then just stopped. Surprisingly, the weight kept coming off for a few months, even though I’d completely stopped exercising and my eating was slowly getting worse and worse. I give full credit to the lasting effects of running for that one!
Then, November hit and we were trying to buy a house. We started eating out almost every night. I still wasn’t exercising at all. So, the weight started slowly creeping back up and I ended up gaining about 7 pounds back by the end of the year.
I started 2012 weighing 194 pounds and am starting off 2013 at 171, a 23 pound difference.
Last year, I just wanted to lose weight in general. This year, I want to be healthy. 171 puts me (just barely) in the healthy BMI range. My goal weight is 150 and that would put me just about smack dab in the middle of the healthy BMI range.
I’ve re-started a couch to 5k running plan (I’m currently on week 4/day 2, because I started on week 2) and it’s hard and not really very pleasant, but I remember how great I was feeling last year after I’d stuck with it and it’s motivating me to just keep going, through the cold and wind and darkness and side cramps and soreness.
We’ve also started following Alton Brown’s “lists” diet lifestyle. We’re giving ourselves a bit of wiggle room, because we don’t want to become legalistic about this. We want to incorporate more healthy foods and lessen the amount of unhealthy foods, but we want this to be something we stick with, not just a fad diet.
Already, we’ve been eating a ton of baby spinach, sweet potatoes, and whole grains and have really cut down on the junk food. Daniel is having a harder time adjusting, because he loves soda and is addicted to fast food, but he’s been doing a great job and has made a lot of big changes so far! He’s trying a lot of new (healthy) foods and has really lessened the amount of soda and fast food in his life. His tastes are definitely changing and he’s already telling me that when he occasionally does give in and eat fast food, he just feels “gross.”
These are Alton’s lists that we try to follow:
Foods to Eat Everyday
-dark, leafy greens
-nuts
-carrots
-green tea
-whole grains
-fruit
Foods to Eat 3x A Week
-yogurt
-cauliflower
-broccoli
-sweet potato
-avocado
-oily fish
-tofu
Foods to Eat Once A Week
-red meat
-white starch
-desserts
-alcohol
Foods to Avoid Altogether
-fast food
-processed food
-canned soups
-soda
-”diet” anything
I’ve added a Weight Loss Journey page button at the top of the site if anyone is interested in reading more in depth about how my weight has affected my life.