I haven't updated the past few weeks of the healthy eating, don't worry though, I've been sticking to it, so much so that since I last updated you I have reached my target! Yay! My goal weight was to be 10 stone (140lbs) for my holiday next month, and I can't even believe i'm saying this but i'm down to 9 stone 4 (130lbs) and I am actually now 1lb below my pre-pregnancy weight which I wasn't expecting for a pretty long time! I am super super proud of myself and have now lost a total of 23lbs!
Ive been asked quite a bit how I lost the weight and what i've been doing fitness wise, so I wanted to share just that, i'm not one of those fitness fanatics, I haven't been going to the gym or anything, just been doing what I can with the time I have, just like most parents! If you've followed my first 2 weeks meal plan you'll know the sorts of food i've been eating, but if not, here they are for you to look at! Week 1 Week 2 As you may or may not know, I've been using MyFitnessPal, which I think is the key to this weight loss, it's not there to tell you to stop eating this, or stop eating that, it doesn't say cut out carbs or don't have caffeine, you can have whatever you want, as long as you stay under the targets it gives you, you'll lose weight! It's there to make you aware of exactly what you're eating, by tracking the intake of sugar, fat, protein, salt etc, the targets are sensible and manageable, you don't feel like you're restricted, it might feel that way at the beginning because your body has been used to eating a bit more, but within a week, just 7 days, you will start to feel so much better in yourself! My calories were set to 1330 in order to lose 2lbs per week, this was set by MFP and so far it has been right on the money in terms of how much i've lost, sometimes I lost 3 or even 4lbs a week, and on 2 occasions I lost just alb!
Exercise I'm actually really really happy with the weight loss i've achieved through 'little' exercise, I'm really not one of those people to exercise all day everyday, I'd much rather sit and watch a movie or spend quality time with my family! So what have I been doing? How have I found the time? It's easy..
For week 1 I literally just jogged on the spot for up to 15 minutes, as I hadn't exercised in a really really long time, my body needed to get used to it and I wasn't going to jump straight in and do weights and hour long jogs! So I gave Abbie the iPad for 15 minutes so I could jog, I did this everyday, I didn't have a break day, and still 30 days later i've only had ONE rest day! It's not as bad as it sounds, but after a few days of the jogging, I felt better in myself, I had more energy and I actually WANTED to do it! So for week 2 I upped it to 20 minutes and some time on the wii fit a few times as well, just step ups, boxing and hula hooping, not everyday, but when I felt like I had the energy and I was pumped up!
Week 3 I upped it another 3 minutes, this was the hardest transition, it's only 3 minutes but your body knows it's almost doubled it's original target so you start to feel a bit lethargic!
Then week 4 I pushed myself to 30 minutes, it was actually ok, I realised the times when I wanted to stop during the jog was only because I was bored as opposed to because I was tired, so I jogged up and down the living room and kitchen! This really helped and made Abbie giggle too! Ha. Don't believe when people tell you the wii fit doesn't help you lose weight, and you HAVE to go to the gym blah blah blah, it doesn't matter if you jog for 8 minutes a day, it ALL helps, do what you can, don't push yourself too hard,
I've actually now purchased the Zumba Fitness on Wii! Firstly, i've found out i have NO rhythm, but that's ok ha ha, it's really good fun and burns up to 300 calories in half an hour! So that chocolate bar you want? Have a 30 minute exercise on the Zumba workout and it's all yours!
I had a week off exercise when I was poorly and had a bad back, but I still lost 1.5lbs that week as I adjusted slightly what I was eating to compensate!
Treat Day
As it was Ben's birthday last Tuesday and I reached my goal, Ben chose for us to have a dominos as a treat and Oh holy deliciousness, it was amazing, I didn't feel guilty, even though I ate half a veggie pizza, garlic bread, chicken strippers, wedges, cheesy bites AND 2 doughnuts! What? I've worked my ass off for 8 weeks, I deserved that! Haha, don't listen to those people that tell you not to treat yourself every so often, I heard a lot of people say I was going to wake up and weigh more, I didn't, that I would want to eat it again straight away, I don't, and that I would feel guilty, I DEFINITELY don't!
I obviously don't recommend eating like that once a week but once a month will do absolutely nothing to your weight loss progress (although you might feel a little bloated like I am today!). Just get straight back on the diet the next day and you'll be absolutely fine! :). I actually still lost 2lbs that week so don't EVER feel like you're gonna gain weight after a treat, you won't :)
My aim now is to work super hard on my stomach, I have LOTS of toning to do and it's not going to happen overnight, but I will be sharing with you my exercise tips on that too, so wish me luck!
There is no magical way to lose weight, as much as that would be amazing, the first step comes from within yourself, when your head is in the right place to do something about it, then that's your starting point. We've all sat there and moaned about our bodies and how we want to lose weight, then had a pizza for dinner, but there will be a time when you'll say no and it'll be the start of your journey!
Goals
Don't set yourself up for a silly goal, if you want to lose 3 stone altogether, great, but put that to the back of your mind, first give yourself a smaller target to begin with, maybe go with 10-14lbs, and give yourself a date you'd like to reach it by, the most you should be losing a week is 2lbs, anything more than that is considered crash dieting and could result in you gaining it all back pretty quickly, as I said above, My Fitness Pal will set all the right targets for you!
At the moment I am working on losing another 4lbs but that's only so I can really enjoy myself on holiday and at Christmas, so I will be giving myself a good few pounds to gain over that period with yummy treats and foods!
I hope my little journey can inspire some of you to get healthy, I think i've proven that you don't have to go crazy at the gym or eat only salad, we're all busy, we all have things to do so just work with what you've got and you will see results :)
x
