I can't believe it's been over 2 months since the last time I wrote. Life has gotten busy with starting a new job and having two kids and a husband, but I wanted to take a little time to update on my weight loss.
As of today, I've lost 55 pounds...and somewhere over 60 inches. Over 60 inches could be 61 or 72, I'm not sure as I haven't measured in several weeks but the last time I did I had lost 60 and I am smaller now. You cannot imagine just how much better I feel physically and how strong I feel emotionally. One of the hardest things I've ever done in my life is setting a goal to lose weight and sticking to it. Accomplishing something so difficult has made me feel amazing. I feel proud of myself and I feel like I can take on anything. I'm not done yet, but I am almost there. I KNOW I will get there now. I got through the toughest part of it and I've made it this far, there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that I will hit the finish line and be completely happy with my body one day soon.
Many people have asked me how I lost the weight. I want to let everyone know here how it all worked.....the very first thing is you have to be READY to lose weight. Be ready to make a LIFE CHANGE. Be ready to commit yourself wholly to something that is hard and requires time and effort every.single.day. I will not pretend that this was easy, however, I will tell you that the sacrifices I've made over the past 9 months have been completely worth it. Every day I worked out when I was too damn tired to, was worth it. Every piece of birthday cake I didn't eat was hard at the time, but is barely even memorable now.
I lost 50 pounds following The South Beach Diet. For the first month I didn't exercise at all. I was too fat and had no energy. After the first month I was ready to work out, but embarrased to go to the gym, so I bought Jillian Michaels Shred and worked out 20 minutes a day at home. On Saturdays I went on a 2 mile hike through the woods. I bought "Just Dance" for the wii. After a month or two I joined the YMCA gym and got with a trainer to set me up on an automated program that tracked my progress. For about 4 or 5 months I worked out every single day. Tired or not. The weight was coming off little by little and slowly my clothes were getting bigger. There were weeks I gained - always less than a pound - and I didn't get discouraged. I'd try harder the next week.
In June I started a new job that required a lot of hours and no time for the gym. I was eating out here and there and trying to work out at home. 2 months passed and I had really only maintained my weight. At the end of September I'd gained about 4 pounds and I'd really lost my focus of hardcore "dieting". After much research I decided to try HCG.
HCG is the hormone pregnant women produce to burn stored fat to provide for their fetus should they not eat enough to provide. I decided to use homeopathic HCG instead of the daily injections to see if it would work. I did the HCG for 7 days and lost 9.8 pounds. I was planning to do the HCG for the 23 days that I purchased enough drops for, but after the first week I felt like I'd lost enough to get me focused on losing again the right way. Lots of people have asked me how I liked HCG, so I will tell you.
I am not advocating HCG for long term weight loss. I truly believe that the ONLY way to get fit and stay that way is through a nutritious diet and lots of exercise. However, when I was at a plateau, HCG worked great for me. I took the drops under my tongue three times a day and only ate 500 calories. Yes, 500 is low, and your body will starve at 500 without HCG, but with HCG, you lower your calories so that your brain will be triggered to burn stored fat to provide energy. For the one week I used the drops and only ate 500 calories I felt fabulous. I had tons of energy (think of the nesting stage when your pregnant) and I was not hungry. I had no headaches, no mood swings, no dizzy spells, no nausea. No adverse effects at all. I definitely could have followed the 23 day plan, but for me, easier didn't feel as rewarding as kicking ass at the gym.
I am now in the 150's. I am in a size 10 jean and a medium shirt. I've lost a whole shoe size. My wedding ring is about to fall off. And I feel better at 30 than I have felt in probably 10 years.
I want to say also that I do spend a lot of time talking about my wieght loss. Mostly on Facebook. I am not bragging at all. If it comes off that way, I'm sorry. For a long time I used FB as a way to stay accountable for my wieght loss. If I had to post my loss I had to work out hard. Now, I am just really proud of what I've accomplished and I really want to be an example to everyone that wants to lose wieght. I never thought I'd succeed at it, but I have, and I want anyone who is friends with me to know that they can do it too. And I'm here if you want to talk about it or ask advice or get recipes or work out together. It is hard, but I mean it, if I can do it, you can do it!!
