After Jaybird was born, I lost 51 (or was it 52?) pounds in just over six months. Here's a picture of me on my 27th birthday, when Jaidan was seven months old:
And here is a picture taken just after Labor Day of 2007. I was pregnant, but didn't know it yet so I can't really blame any weight gain on my baby. It's not a full body picture because, well, I wasn't taking full body pictures at that time (for obvious reasons):
I weighed in on a Thursday morning in late April of '07 and found that I had met my goal. The very next day, I traveled to see my brother. Any hard work at all was totally and completely blown that weekend. I ate. And I ate. And I ate and I ate and I ate. I told myself I deserved it. And, maybe I did seeing as I had worked so hard from January to be at the size I was.
But, even when we got back from that trip I fell back full-fledged into eating crap. I was going to Sonic constantly for breakfast. And I wouldn't just stop at a burrito and tots. Oh no. I had to add a Route 44 Cherry Coke into the mix. I was drinking at least two bottled sodas a day and I'd also go through several 2-liters in a week. My low calorie lunches were replaced by going to Moe's with my coworkers for chicken nachos. Or asking one of the guys to bring me back a Bacon Cheeseburger when they went to the local greasy spoon. I fell back into my old eating habits. And I fell hard.
So how am I going to maintain this time around?
Honestly, I'm not sure what I am going to do but I know without a doubt what I'm not going to do. Sugary sodas are completely and totally off the horizon. No more. They're out of my life. We're divorced. ;) Even diet sodas, while not a complete no-no, will be used sparingly. I am a flavored water connoisseur and except for the occasional craving I get for a Sonic strawberry limeade, water is my beverage of choice. I'm not falling back into any food traps either. I know the 'diet' foods I like and I'll continue to eat those. I may not measure out my portion sizes completely as I have been doing. But I'm not going to switch from my weight-friendly version of chicken parmesan back to the fatty kind either. Fast food will still be eaten sparingly. And when we go to a sit-down place, I'll either order from their light menu or share my food with Jaybird. The serving sizes they give you are humongous.
Oh, and something I definitely do plan on doing: exercise!
I read this article on Yahoo a few weeks ago: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/capessa/3581/4-reasons-we-regain-weight
It's all about maintaining weight and lists four things you need to do in order to keep your trim figure. One of those is to exercise at least one hour a day. Once the weight is gone, I plan on working on toning up (hello! I'm 28 -- much too young to be sportin' this wing span). Exercise is not going to be that hard for me. If I can fit it in now, then it's only going to get easier from here. The older my baby gets, the more he'll sleep, play with his brother, etc, and the more time Mommy will have to get her work out on.
The article also points out that continuing to keep a food log aids in maintaining weight. So that's another thing I plan to do. I may not stick to it quite as much (heck, just being honest here) but I'll plan on doing my best. =)
So, that's the plan . . . or non-plan as best I can see it. I know there will be things that come up that will make me gain weight. Our trip to California, for one. But if a pound is gained, then hopefully a pound can just as easily be lossed by working my ass off the next week. The holidays might be a tough time for me, as well, since I absolutely l-o-v-e love to bake (and love to eat what I bake even more!) but I'm hoping since we're not going home this year and I'll only be cooking Christmas dinner for six (maybe eight) then it won't be quite as tough. Bridges will be crossed as they're come to. No complete backslides after indulging over vacation. And absolutely no letting the weight slowly but surely creep back up. I want a pair of size 10 jeans that can remain in my closet long after they've gone out of style but that I can pull on each day to prove . . . yeah, Mama's still got it.
Daily Menu for Sunday:
Breakfast:
Pancakes (Bisquick Heart Smart is the shizz, yo!)
Total Points: 4
Lunch:
Baked Potato w/ chili and cheese
Apple Slices w/ caramel
Total Points: 6
Snack:
100 Calorie Pack Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Pudding
Total Points: 3
Dinner
Chicken Stuffing Casserole (ohhhhh, my favorite!)
Green Beans
Bread
Total Points: 6
Snack:
2 Mini-Haystacks
Total Points: 1
Total Points: 20
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