I’ve not been happy with my weight in a long time. I was at my peek about four or five years ago before we started our family. Surprisingly, pregnancy has been good to my figure. It’s the side benefit to pregnancy migraines which leave you too nauseous to eat, I guess. In the in between times my weight has started to creep back up again. Christmas Eve I got on the scale again and was so sad at how quickly it was coming back.

So I’m making a change.

I decided to start watching what I eat. I downloaded the LoseIt app for my phone. On Christmas Eve. The day after making cinnamon rolls for the first time in five years, and the evening after baking cookies with Nicole. It was nearly impossible to stick to my calorie cap on Christmas. I felt impossibly hungry and cranky all day, and still ended up over by about 500 calories! Since then I’ve been better able to stick close to my calorie cap, and even been able to eat a few Cinnamon rolls.

The biggest discovery I’ve found with a calorie counter is that I’m incredibly bad at guessing which foods are “good”. Often the snack I’d reach for when trying to be good was worse than the sweet treat I actually wanted! A serving of pretzels can be over a 100 calories, whereas a candy cane is just 50. I was shocked I could still have my candies (or a cinnamon roll or even two on occasion!)

I also really like the gamification aspect the usage of a mobile app brings. I have a ton of fun adding and subtracting foods to my daily log, planning out my day and making sure I have enough wiggle room to satisfy my sweet tooth. It also gives me that little motivational push I need to hold off when hunger pangs strike an hour or so before meal time.

The last time I (intentionally) lost a bit of weight it was through exercise, not diet. I’ve never been one for the stationary bike or tread mill, but I can (or at least could) do an hour on the elliptical easy. Domingo and I had been considering purchasing an elliptical for the home for a while. My unhappiness in my weight was the final motivational push we needed. I found a basic one on Amazon and made the purchase. It’s out of stock now, but will hopefully arrive soon.

I’m six days in on this journey to a new me. Accounting for normal weight fluctuations, it appears that I may have already loss a lb and a half. LoseIt predicts I’ll reach my goal by summer. Here’s hoping!

Posted in Healthy Living