In high school, I was relatively skinny. I have never been a stick. Not that there's anything wrong with having a high metabolism and being relatively curve-less. However, I am not one of those lucky people that can eat a ton of food and not gain weight. Or can skip a workout and not gain weight. Or can basically sit on the couch all the time and not gain weight.
Since high school, I have gained approximately 35 pounds. In 8 years I have gained 35 pounds. I am at my heaviest weight I have ever been.
Now, my weight does not necessarily mean I am unhappy. I am happy. I love my husband and my family and friends. I love God and knowing my relationship with him is so important. I have my (pretty good) health. I can walk and talk and go to work and come home and be with my people. But I can't run a half marathon. Or a 5K for that matter. I can't lift 50 pounds easily. And you could say Jess, what does that matter? What does it matter if you can't run a bunch of miles in succession or lift dumbbells? And it doesn't matter. But what does matter is I can barely lift my 5 year old niece without grunting. And I can barely run up and down the stairs in my house to do laundry on the weekends without feeling out of breath.
I'm just being honest here people.
So, I am committing to losing weight. I have tried to lose weight a bunch of times over the last 8 years and nothing has ever stuck. But this time, I have a goal. And a deadline. We are leaving for the beach at the end of May and I would like to lose 20 pounds before then. I realize this is probably pushing it. 20 pounds in 8 weeks. However, I can do this. I can commit to eating healthier and exercising regularly.
Here is how I will do it:
- Cut out processed sugars: I eat far too many sweet things. And did you know there is sugar in EVERYTHING we eat? It's sick really. So my goal is to cut out and cut down as much sugar as I can. I'll still eat fruit and vegetables of course, but I am really going to try to stop eating desserts, creamer in my coffee, and sweet fruit juices for breakfast.
- Exercise regularly: Jesse gave me a Fitbit for Christmas. I love this thing. Usually, after I get up and go to work and come home, 9 hours of my day is gone. And I have walked approximately 2,500 steps. SAD. So, my goal is to get at least 6,000 steps a day. I'll do this by taking walks at night after work. I have also started a squat challenge. Holy Cannoli it is difficult. But if I can do it, I will have a tighter butt, defined abs, and will overall, feel so much better.
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| Squat challenge sent to me by my sister-in-law who has had two babies and looks so good! |
- Reduce my caloric intake: I use an app called myfitnesspal.com which I have used many times before and it really does work. You simply add your foods and it calculates how many calories, grams of sodium, and sugar, and carbohydrates you take in each day. It also puts a limit on these. So that if you are trying to lose weight, you have a limit to how many cookies you can eat. Just kidding, don't eat cookies! Also, it links to my Fitbit, so it tracks how many calories I am expelling each day and translates that to "fitness" calories. That way it tracks my exercise without me ever having to do anything!
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| This was a pretty good day! And yes, I do sleep super well. |
I am not perfect, nor will I ever be. But I can be 20 pounds lighter by May and 35 pounds lighter by July!
<P.S.> I weighed 157.1 at the doctors office on 3/16/15. Today, 3/25/15, I weighed myself and I am 150.8. Yay for progress!
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