11 Months Later

Kudos to you and your commitment! You look truly amazing. I wish your food diary was public, but since it is not, can you share some highlights about how you accomplished this amazing feat? Did you eat a particular diet program, or just healthy and under calorie? What exercise regime did you follow? Were you consistent or if not, how often and how long were your plateaus? What an inspiration you are!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations and continued support and encouragement as you maintain what you have achieved!

*LOL*....I've contemplated making my diary public at times....but I don't consider myself a poster child for perfect nutrition and don't want anyone to try and duplicate what I do because everyone's different.

So, NO! I didn't do a particular diet system...I've had friends do Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Atkins etc. with varying results but I don't want to feel like I'll always be dependent on expensive foods or limited in what I can eat so I took the "healthy approach". For me this means low-fat, high protein, moderate carbs. First I gave up fast food entirely. I eat out occassionally, but try to be careful about what I eat when I do. Other than that everything I eat is home-made. That was a huge shift for me because I used to eat out all the time. So now I hit the grocery store every week and stock up on lean meats, fruits, veggies, etc. When I cook I do large quantities of things that can be re-heated because with my schedule--2 jobs and daily gym visits--if I had to "cook" every night I wouldn't last very long. Thank goodness I don't mind eating the same thing several days in a row. I also gave up my favorite beverage--white mochas-- with rare exception, and completely gave up all soda. So now it's only coffee with truvia and maybe some non-fat milk, water, and frs--a low-cal energy drink.

For exercise, I do 1 hr of cardio everyday unless I'm doing something active that day like landscaping or hiking. This is not for everyone, but I've found a perfect balance wherein I'm able to do this without over-taxing my body. I switch up between the stairmaster, the elliptical, and the treadmill. I also try to squeeze in strength training when I have the time. I always increase the intensity when I find that it gets too easy--I use my HRM to determine when it's gotten easy...that's usually when I can't get into my target heart rate zone within the first 10 mins or so of my workout.

In terms of consistency, I'd say I've done pretty good...I've had times when I couldn't workout, like when I had a cyst removed from my neck and wasn't allowed too, but I made up for that by being very careful with my calories during that time. I still have good days and bad days. But I just keep reminding myself that working out means having more calories to eat and for me that means occassional treats--like reese's peanut butter cups : ) .....I don't know if I would say that I've had a true plateau...I've had times when my weekly weigh in was great even though I felt like I had an off week and times when I thought I'd had a great week and my weekly weigh-in was so-so or crappy...But in the end I'd say that I've pretty much managed to do 1-2 lbs per week overall.