Full Disclosure: This is a backdated post. I wrote it after the
blog was created, but have written it in the style of an in-progress
blog so that anyone reading from the beginning will get a more sensible
narrative than time-jumping like Kyle Reese through our wedding planning.
Even though my last blog post was about the massive amounts of amazing food we plan to eat on the honeymoon, I thought this might be a good opportunity to post an update to our weight loss efforts. Back in January we started changing our lifestyles, and I gave myself a weight loss goal of losing 120 lbs. I'm happy to report that as of today, four months into the journey, I'm now one-third of my way to my goal. I've lost 40 lbs. in the last four months, and already I'm starting to notice the difference. Girl Scout Fiancée has been doing great as well, and has lost over 35 lbs. up to this point (I had a lot more to lose, so mine is burning off faster).
A lot of people have asked how I've done it, so I thought it might be good to share that here. First, I can't overstate how integral the MyFitnessPal app has been to the process. Being able to accurately track my calorie intake accounts for the larger portion of the weight loss. The contest that Girl Scout Fiancée and I have been having to stay under our calorie goals each day has been key the process as well, as neither one of us has failed to come in under our calorie goals a single day since we began this back in mid-January. We both realized that the first person to flinch is going to get stuck with chores for the next month, so it's quite the standoff.
I also have a morning routine that I stick to nearly every morning that helps a lot. First, I get up around 6 AM, go downstairs, turn on the coffee pot (a critical step) and then eat a banana. I stretch, and then head out for a walk. I started out walking a little over a mile, but now I walk about 3 1/2 miles around my neighborhood. Critical to making this possible is the fact that I have gotten an Audible subscription, and listen to audiobooks while I walk. I seriously could not have done it without them, because they distract me enough that I don't get bored walking out, and, since I refuse to allow myself to listen to the audiobook except when I'm walking, always lures me outside for the walk. When I get back inside, I eat 100 calories worth of almonds and drink a cup of coffee (the banana burns off during the walk, kickstarting my metabolism for the day and ensure I burn more calories, and the almonds replenish the protein I burn off during my walk and repair my muscles). Then I shower and head to work, and about 10 AM I have another cup of coffee (using the carafes that Girl Scout Fiancée bought me for Christmas) and have a peanut butter Clif bar (again, high protein to keep my energy and metabolism up) to tide me over until lunch.
At night, Girl Scout Fiancée has done an awesome job of finding low-calorie meals for us that both taste great and are filling; turns out, having a professionally-trained cook in your house makes things a bit easier when you're trying to change your diet. We also allow ourselves one cheat day a week where we're allowed to go over our daily calorie allotment, so long as that doesn't take us over our weekly calorie allotment. This also helps keep our metabolisms from fully adjusting to the reduced calorie intake during the week, and keeps our bodies on high calorie burn.
The first month or so was pretty rough as my body adjusted to a drastically reduced calorie intake, but now, four months in, it's not so bad. The workouts earn back enough calories for me to have a light snack in the afternoon (some more almonds, a rice cake, or some hummus if it's handy) and the pounds are melting off.
I would encourage anyone thinking about losing weight to try these steps. I don't do anything crazy for workouts, just walking around my neighborhood. The biggest part of it is adjusting to a different calorie intake, but once that's done it's actually pretty easy to keep your calorie count down.
So, 40 lbs. down, 80 to go...but I'm on pace to hit that mark well before the wedding, assuming I can stick to it!
