Busy working mom - 22 of 40 lbs down!

Hi All – long time lurker first time poster here. It is my 35th birthday today plus I had my assessment with my trainer last night. With all of that I thought I would post my progress to date!

My story is a bit different in that I do not massive weight to lose. My goal is 40 lbs and that will put me in the best shape of my adult life. I am over half way there with 22 lbs lost.

Background – I am 5’ 6 and have been a few pounds overweight since high school (155 lbs). It crept up to 170 lbs just before I got pregnant with my daughter. I gained 40 lbs with the pregnancy. She was born in April 2011. I lost all the weight plus a few more by October 2011. I maintained at 164 lbs until March 2012. That is when we started trying for our second child. I had three pregnancy losses from March 2012 to November 2012. The last culminated in a D & C at 14 weeks on November 28. My body gained some weight with each pregnancy. That plus the stress of the continuous losses put me at 184 lbs the day of the D & C. Please, I prefer not to focus on the losses but my overall story.

After the last pregnancy loss I decided that the only thing I can control is my body. Perhaps if I worked on my fitness and health we would be blessed with our second child. I called a personal trainer in early December and began my process. I used MyFitnessPal intermittently from December 2012 to April 2013. In April 2013 I bought a BodyMedia Link. I linked it to MyFitness Pal and got serious. I will be at 80 consecutive days logging tomorrow!

I have a wonderful husband, very demanding stressful full time job I love, and a busy toddler. I do the majority of the housecleaning, cooking, household organization, and running errands. I do day and overnight trips for work several times a month. I also work some in the evenings to get caught up with my day. What other excuse can I provide? I do not have time to plan meals or work out. It takes commitment to make the time! I work out two nights a week with my awesome trainer. I run two nights a week after my daughter goes to bed (post 8:30 pm). I try to run two mornings a week (5:00 am) with a friend. I consume on an average 2000 calories per day and burn on average 2550 calories per day. I am in this for the long haul. Not a drastic calorie reduction I cannot sustain over the next 50 years.

How did I start exercising? Two nights a week with a trainer – weights and body weight exercises. I started with C25K in late December and can now run 3.1 miles in under 35 minutes. I now run 4 days a week. If my husband is gone for work I can’t run while my daughter is asleep so I go over my lunch hour. That’s right. Monday this week was 95 degrees and humid over lunch. It was hot, humid, obnoxious conditions. But that was my opportunity to exercise so I did it. Commitment is key.

Hopefully the graphs show up. Success is not linear! I hit a TWO MONTH plateau along the way. You want to know frustrated? Try a two month plateau. That is when I bought my BodyMedia. It helps me on a daily basis know my calorie expenditure. Some days I sit at my desk all day. Some days I am on my feet all day. My calorie burn varies by 1000 calories per day depending on what I am doing. The first graph is a snap shot since January. The second is my progress since starting with BodyMedia. Yes, I admit to being an almost daily weigher. I am a scientist by trade and adore statistics and data. The more numbers the better.

You read all the way through this – now for some numbers and pictures!







If you made it all the way through this here is the synopsis. I make time to eat right and work out. I work out twice a week with my trainer and run 4 days a week (2 to 3 miles at a time). Take pictures and measurements. I really wish I had a decent before picture.

It takes time and commitment. It does get easier as you get used to counting calories. I still have snacks and treats. I just account for them. Stress and lack of sleep really mess with me. I make an effort to manage my stress. I try to be asleep by 9:30 pm and up for the day between 4:30 and 5:00 am. You can do this!