Fishing with Grandpa!

40 lbs GONE!

Shortly after Christmas, I made the decision that 2011 was going to be the year that I got healthy, and started making some better choices regarding my health. For some reason, I have always had a difficult time losing baby weight. Breastfeeding seemed to constantly work against me: instead of the calories being used, I starved and had to eat, eat, eat to keep my milk supply.

Addison started to cut back from 6+ feedings a day, to 3 nursings a day around her first birthday. I decided to use this transition as a starting point for me to start working on weight loss and muscle building. I made "January 1st" D-Day, and started there...I began using the old Weight watchers points system, which worked wonderfully before. But, I quickly realized that I wanted a system that was more precise and exact that just rounding things up to a 1 point or 2 points. A good friend suggested using the website www.myfitnesspal.com, as well as getting a good weighing scale and food scale. Using these tools, I found the weight starting to melt off. I was rarely hungry, and my milk supply hasn't suffered at all!

When I started, I had no clue that I would actually go anywhere with the loss. I started piecing together pictures, and found that I had a pretty good "Before and After" collage going! Here are some pics, beginning the picture that started it all. I saw this and nearly cried:

New Years Day (Addison's Birthday) Size 14, but really should have been wearing a 16 because the pants were so tight! LOL Weighed in at 178lbs, which was WAY higher than on the day I gave birth to Addison. It wasn't the pregnancy that caused me to gain, but the starvation I experienced during nursing


Older pic: Addison was about 3 or 4 months old, but I was smaller than the day she turned one.
Starting to see a difference: This was at the 25lb lost mark!
27.8 lbs lost: weighing 150lbs
145ish...really starting to tell in my face :)

A recent pic: 40 lbs lost exactly. The jogging pants that swallow me used to be so tight that I didn't need to use the drawstring. Very excited :) 138lbs and holding..Size 6 pants
So-what now? I am not at my goal yet, but I know that slow and steady is better than it melting off and coming back on quickly. My ultimate goal was set at 135 (which is 3.5 lbs away), but I am going to try to lose an additional 10lbs over the summer which would put me at 125 lbs (or a 58lb loss total) I've also gone from a 14/16, to a size 6. I feel I will ultimately be a size 4 again.

I am even more proud to say that I have made it this far the HARD way! Good ol' fashioned diet and exercise. I have made a total change in our eating habits (the whole family, not just me) I still eat the things I love, but few/far between and watch the portion size. Fruit, vegetable, Larabars, lean meats, and fiber rich foods are some things that have really helped!
I have begun running/walking/jogging again, and splurged on a treadmill this spring. Hand weights and zumba have also helped when I need to slip in an easy workout and i'm running low on time :)

Thanks for reading!!!

Kindergarten Graduate!!!

Taylor graduated from kindergarten this month! We were so proud to see her get the Accelerated Reading award for her class (she read and obtained more AR points than any other student in her class!)

Here are a few pics:

Blogging Failure

Soooo....my last post was November....of last year. Where have we been? What have we been doing?!

Well, for starters, this school year is kicking my butt. We have just had so many ordeals (from behavior problems, to parents, to losing several teachers...) I'm definitely ready for summer, and ready to start fresh next fall.

Updates to start back up SOON! PROMISE :)