New Series: Diet Diary

I've decided to start a new series on my blog about my weight loss journey after having Ryan. I've lost what I gained with him plus more, but I still have more to lose. This is a journey, a lifestyle, a huge change and a constant battle so I'd like to share it to try and help anyone else on their journey!
I haven't decided how often that I'll post yet. It might be weekly, it might be monthly. But, today I'm going to start the series by catching up and sharing how I've lost the 42 lbs. so far!

I gained 30 lbs while pregnant with Ryan. Here I am the day before I had Ryan:

5/13/12 (+ 30 lbs.)

I assumed that when I left the hospital and got on my scale at home that I would have at least lost about 15 lbs... WRONG! I maybe lost about 10 lbs at best! I was shocked, depressed, discouraged and just plain mad that I had lost so little after birth! Here I am the day after giving birth:

5/15/12 (maybe -10 lbs.)

If you're a mom, then you know that coming home and adjusting is an absolute whirlwind! Your main focus, of course, is your newborn. Matt and I were busy learning to take care of Ryan and set some sort of crazy schedule! On top of all of this, your body is trying to heal! Although I was thinking and stressing about it, my last priority was weight loss. The first few weeks were very hard for me both physically and emotionally. Here's a picture of me when Ryan was 6 days old. You can tell I'm very swollen, tired and an exhausted new mom! I wasn't tracking my weight at this point, but I'm almost positive I gained some weight in the first 2 weeks. I never swelled up during the pregnancy, but for some reason I was swollen really bad after I delivered Ryan! Ugh it was so frustrating!

5/20/12 (-7 lbs)

I nursed Ryan for 7 weeks, so I naturally lost weight during those weeks. I don't know how much I lost because I wasn't keeping up with it at this point. I maybe lost another 5 lbs. or so. Here's a picture of me about 3 weeks later. At this point I was feeling and looking much better. My emotions had finally (somewhat) calmed down, my swelling had gone down, my body had healed, nursing was in full swing and going well, Matt went back to work and a new job, we were going out in public often and had just generally gotten back into the swing of things which felt so good!

6/3/12 (-12 lbs.)

I didn't start dieting until I was done nursing. It's important to eat enough calories while nursing, so I didn't bother starting anything until after those 7 weeks. Although, immediately after Matt and I did start on the Body by Vi program. You can check out that program for yourself, but overall I was happy with the program and we both lost weight on it. (note: you can buy the exact same shakes at GNC for cheaper plus they have more protein! Comment if you'd like more info and I can tell you which ones to buy and when! I wish I had known this back in July! I switched to GNC as soon as I checked out their prices for myself!) At this point I was starting to stress over my weight because my cousins were getting married on July 14th and I was in the wedding! (No pressure, right?!) So, I started the shakes and it was hard! I had been eating whatever I wanted for the past 10 months! It took me a little while to get going so my weight loss was pretty slow on the program. I also wasn't working out at this point either (besides the occasional zumba or walk around the neighborhood). Unfortunately, when it was time to go out of town for the wedding I wasn't where I wanted to be. Of course, Ryan was only 8 weeks but I was so impatient! Here's a picture of me at one of the wedding rehearsals and it's very obvious that I still hadn't lost any more weight.

7/13/12 (-12 lbs.)

The program was very slow and steady for me, but I stuck with it for about 5 months and lost about 20 lbs. I can't complain about that at all! But, it just seemed like a very long process to me and everyday was still a struggle. I did start working out during this period. I was using the elliptical a few times a week and trying to walk outside on the weekends. Each week varied and some weeks were better than others! During this time, I also started using the iPhone app My Fitness Pal.  I love this app! Try it out and see if it works for you. But, I love it (and still use it) because it tells you how many calories you need to eat everyday to obtain your goals. From July- present I'm eating no more than 1200 calories a day. Of course, I definitely have cheat days and sometime cheat weeks! (See Thanksgiving and Christmas) But, this app is so wonderful because it helps hold you accountable to what you're eating, how much you're working out and how much you weigh. I highly recommend this app for anyone trying to lose weight and stay on track with their caloric intake.

Sorry for the big jump in time, but here's a picture of me at Thanksgiving. Not much to report from August, September or October. I was just chugging along with the shakes, elliptical and Fitness Pal, nothing exciting!

11/23/12 (-30 lbs.)

 You can definitely tell the difference between the two photos, which is encouraging. (You can tell Matt is losing weight as well. He's lost about 8 lbs since this picture!) And I was encouraged because I had finally lost all that I gained during my pregnancy. But, I still had a lot of work to do! Once we got home from Thanksgiving in Mississippi I hit the diet hard! I ate awful that week and was ready to kick it in gear! I started doing the 3 Day Military Diet for a few weeks. You can research this on your own and make a decision for yourself, but it worked for me. I've done it off and on ever since and have seen significant progress. I lost 4 lbs. in the first week! When I'm not on the 3 Day Diet I try and eat as best as I can. I take some of the meals from that diet and make them into my own. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I lost another 10 lbs! I was trying to workout a lot more (mostly get outside to walk/run) and being more strict about my food habits! Here's a picture from Christmas:

12/25/12 (-40 lbs.)

Like Thanksgiving, Christmas was a "cheat week" haha! We were snowed in for 5 days and food options were limited so the diet was completely out the window! But, once we got power and everything was back to normal I got back into my routine. I've started running as much as I can on the weekends (I have more time and Matt can watch Ryan) and I really enjoy getting outside and having time to myself! Since Christmas I've lost another 2 lbs and the only thing I'm doing different is eating a LOT of eggs! I have 1-2 eggs for breakfast every morning with a slice of cheddar cheese (I also mix in a little skim milk and pepper). I've started to occasionally have oatmeal (mixed in skim milk, honey and a little cinnamon) as well for some variety. For lunch I make tuna a lot and like to add a hard-boiled egg to that as well. Still running a couple times on the weekend. Here's a picture of me from 2 weeks ago:

1/4/13 (-42 lbs)

And that brings us to today! By the grace of the good Lord above, I've lost 42 lbs! It feels great but I'm not done! Follow me as I continue on this journey to a healthier life!

with love,