My Weight Loss Progress

Today, I weighed in, and I have lost (drum roll.......) 25 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm actually a little shocked that I lost that much weight.  I've tried and tried and TRIED to lose weight for much of my adult life - using lots of crazy methods, most of which aren't healthy and don't make any sense, and are certainly not sustainable.  The most successful diet I ever did was Atkins.  I lost 30 pounds in a slightly shorter period using that program, but my health suffered for it, and all the weight came back.  Who can live low carb forever?  Not me!

In November, a group of great friends were here drinking coffee, and we were talking about how many of us needed to lose weight.  Others were concerned about a generally being sedative, and wanted to increase their activity level.  I had already lost the 20 pounds I gained during Daniel's pregnancy by the fall, so at least I wasn't still hauling that around, but I was still much too far over, as I had started that way.  Starting in December, I made an attempt to begin the process by cutting out a lot of calorie dense foods, Coke was the main offender, and watching my portions.  By the end of December I'd dropped about 7 pounds, but it was just the initial weight that comes off easily when you change a bad habit. Then the actual work started.  I had been loosely using the Lose It app, but Chris and I both started using it religiously in January.  The format of this app is perfect for how my brain works.  It provides a calorie "budget" for each day.  I told it I wanted to lose 60 pounds total at a rate of 1 pound per week.  You simply input your food, and it takes away from your budget.  You can see a clear bar graph showing how much of your budget is left for the day.  If you exercise, it gives you calories back to use.  The thing I love most about Lose It is it never judges you.  There are no rules.  If you want to save calories to eat ice cream, go for it.  Just save them up!  Here's a link to the site, because I know you are all thinking, "Man, that sounds so easy!  I should try that!"  :)  Lose It  You should try it, and friend me when you get there, I love watching other people succeed too!

You can use Lose It on your phone or on the computer!

So I started looking around to find out what the volume of a pound is - it looks like 1 pound of fat occupies roughly 2.14 cups.  So I've lost 53.5 cups of fat.  There are 16 cups in a gallon, which means I've lost almost 3 1/2 GALLONS of fat.  Ah!  Isaac also weighs 25 pounds, so I imagine losing an entire Isaac from my body, that's crazy!  Next time you're buying milk, take a look at 3 of those jugs sitting side by side and think of me!  And then think of YOU, and how that could be off of you!  :)

What's next?  Well, I'm still overweight.  I have 35 pounds to lose.  I'll update at some point in the future, maybe with a picture.