May 22, 2018

Weight Loss


I want to be honest and transparent in my writing. Even though this is embarrassing to admit, I weigh over 200lbs. I'm not confident to reveal my actual weight, but a few weeks ago, I was the heaviest I have ever been. (not including pregnancy weight) 

Of course, this weight gain didn't happen overnight. It's taken me 13yrs, 6 pregnancies, a miscarriage, a stillborn, losing my mom and sister, and lots of depression to get here. Naturally, I can't expect the weight to come off overnight. I know it's going to take a lot of hard work and I am finally prepared for it.

I started to lose weight in April. That is when I finally got serious about this. It's May now and I am still sticking with it. I am very proud of myself! I have been sharing my weight loss journey on Instagram and have gotten messages asking what I am doing. So, let's dive into that question.

I am not following a program, taking supplements, or following a specific workout routine. I am doing things slowly and changing my lifestyle so things will stick and become a habit. I am still breastfeeding, so I am carefully making sure that what I do does not affect my milk supply. I'm ready for a change, and so far it is working.

I try to eat a low carb diet. I limit sugary foods and eat smaller portions of food. I don't want to remove foods that I love from my diet like brownies or ice cream. I do limit how often I can have those and eat small portions of them. This has been working out very well for me so far. I enjoy eating healthy foods like salads, but I do not like fruit. I've been finding lots of new ways to enjoy old recipes by taking out carbs and replacing them with things like spaghetti squash.
(I share a lot of the foods I am eating on my Instagram stories, follow me here)

As far as working out goes, I've stayed very consistent. In April, I focused a lot on changing my eating habits. I knew I needed to start there before I added anything else. Since the beginning of May, I have been walking 1 to 2 miles a day. I also started to add in climbing stairs once a week. There's a place in town that has 500 stairs to climb. It's a killer workout but it feels good to be able to complete something so hard. I will continue doing this through May. In June, I would like to add in lifting weights.

My goal here is to feel better and be healthy. As a family, we try and eat organic foods and don't eat a lot of processed stuff. We have also been limiting meals with meat and adding in replacements like Quinoa. I want to feel better emotionally and physically. I also want my kids to learn from me that our physical health is important and we should make efforts to be healthy.  

If you'd like to follow along on this journey with me, follow me on Instagram. I look forward to updating my weight loss in the months to come.
What are some things that you do to stay healthy or lose weight? I'd love to hear from you, leave me a comment below.