On losing weight

Last night, when updating IG with the day's progress on the #jmdvdchallenge I alluded to the fact that I would be SO much skinnier if I were a stay/work at home mom. And I was only half kidding. Y'all, I think my job is making me fat.

First I'm gonna back up a little bit as to why I need to lose weight and what my goal is.

Stepping on the scale on Jan. 2 and seeing the biggest number non-pregnant was a wake up call. Especially since my pants were fitting a big snug and with having a California trip in April. I decided then and there I not only wanted to lose the 10 lbs. I put on in the past year (approximately 5 betwen November and Jan. 2) but drop another 10 as well that I've been trying to get rid of for good four about four years. After that, we'll re-evaluate.

Thankfully, when I was needing motivation and encouragement, two wonderful things came my way. First, I caught whiff of a #jmdvdchallenge on Instagram. The premise is to do ANY Jillian Michaels DVD every day from Jan. 2 through Feb. 2. That's actually 32 days so it builds in two rest days. I've completed 18 days so far, some days adding in treadmill time as well. This is an amazing community of so many encouraging women, so I'm glad I've linked up. It keeps me motivated. About a week into the challenge, an IRL friend posted on Facebook about doing the Shred. She had so much interest, she formed a Facebook group for us girls, and it serves the same purpose. We are talking about, when the weather gets warming, meeting up for runs on weekends and doing a Color Run or something in our community together.

Back to the job making me fat part ... once I saw that number staring back at me two weeks ago, I asked "how did I get here?" And I realized it was a lot of little things. The sodas. The snacks. The catered or lunches on the run. I could go on and on and on. Unfortunately during part of break that carried over - I found myself eating iced sugar cookies for breakfast one day. Who does that?

I can actually tell you who does that. The woman who birthed a toddler and was back to pre-pregnancy weight one week postpartum. Who nursed for a full year and was able to eat two breakfasts and dinners the same size as her 200 lb. husband and still managed to take off another 5 lbs. Then she weaned and didn't adjust her food intake accordingly. Whoops.

My boys give great encouragement :)

So that's where I am. Since I opened my eyes while I was home, I made some big changes. Healthy breakfast, healthy lunch, and whatever I wanted for supper, as long as it was done in moderation. I had five days to do this. The great blessing of being home was that I didn't get "bored" of sitting at a desk and just automatically reach for a snack.

Since returning to work, I've had some temptations, but done pretty well overall, I believe. It's mostly about the prep work. I like to do oatmeal in the morning, but I am a slow eater and oatmeal takes forever. So I pour the oatmeal and sprinkle cinnamon in a container at night and add milk in the morning. Easy enough.

I've been sticking with protein-packed salads for lunch. I buy the bagged salad over the weekend, and also cook up a 3 lb. package of chicken in the crock pot and boil eggs. I go ahead and peel and wrap the eggs individually, so all I have to do the night before is put the egg and a chicken breast in a container, and dump the salad in another. Easy peasy. But I am getting a bit bored, so very open to ANY suggetions y'all have. Considering trying tuna on top of the salad instead.

Boiled eggs, peeled and wrapped up, ready for lunches!

For snacks, I'm keeping fruit on hand, and have oranges in my fridge at work. If I think I need a snack, I chug some water and walk to the front office or around the building for a bit before I give in. And like I said, I'm not really limiting my dinner because I don't want the boys to "suffer" from my weight loss nor do I want to feel really deprived, so I just try to include more healthy options and veggies and REALLY watch my portions.

Also, I'm chugging plenty of water. This week, I've been trying an infused water and love it. It's a lemon, lime, and half a cucumber mixed with water. I've been finishing off a gallon container each day and not only is it tasty, there are good benefits to having each type of fruit. The best part is that I'm doing all this at home and it costs me less than $1 - which I was surely spending on bottled water I consumed while at the office.

I finish off this gallon jug (sometimes more!) daily

I considered Friday a HUGE win. I had to be over in PB for a 7 a.m. mtg., which meant leaving the house at 5:30 a.m. We always have breakfast at the meeting, but it's not too healthy - so I mixed up a protein shake for the drive, then had fruit at the meeting. Yummy and healthy.

For workouts, I'm doing a JM DVD daily, and hubby and I are doing a squat challenge and 30 day challenge, both from Pinterest. Some days (like when I was still at home) I will throw in a walk on the treadmill as well.

So far, I'm down about 6 lbs. and thrilled. I'd love to see more than that, but I do see the difference in how my clothes fit (that muffin top is a lot smaller) and in my tone. My belly pooch is still there but A LOT smaller. It's rounding out and the stretch marks are even fading! I keep reminding myself muscle weighs more than fat.

A yummy salad with tomatoes, tuna fish and boiled egg white.

As opposed to year's past, I'm not going to do weekly check ins, just throughout. I did do before pictures for the JM DVD challenge and am considering posting them after. Maybe. We'll see. I'm still a tiny bit embarassed.

Now I want you to "weigh in" on your advice! What are some easy, healthy lunches? Ways to make healthier suppers without making the rest of the family feel deprived? How do you keep motivated? And what should my next workout/challenge be?



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