Needless to say, one was more than enough for me at this point in time. My body is not ready for all of the grueling workouts it was put through Monday night, and it was only a 1/2 hour session! I have become very out of shape…so much so that it was incredibly embarrassing for everyone seeing me panting and telling the trainer I couldn’t do this or that. It was equally embarrassing to tell him what my weight loss/getting healthy goals were when he did a short consultation with us before the actual workout. I had to admit that I have to lose about 80 pounds to be at a healthy weight for my height. 80!!! That is such a large number, and it scares, embarrasses, and frustrates me all at once.

I cannot believe I have let my body go like I have. I’ve always been overweight, but since I had Sawyer, it’s like I care even less about how I look. I want to eat better and be more active, but it’s just like every bit of effort I put into it isn’t reflected in the scales. My body looks completely different since having a baby, and it’s all for the worse. Before pregnancy, I was only 15 pounds lighter than I am now, but my waist was much firmer. Now, it’s all flabby and just incredibly gross. I hate seeing myself in the mirror every time I’m in the bathroom after a shower. Most of the time I don’t look.

I know I have to make some changes if I want my body to look different. I tell myself I am going to make them, but then for some reason or another, I never stick with it. A lot of it has to do with our finances and the lack of time I have to get everything done that I need to every day.

Wow, it’s crazy how my intentions to come blog about my soreness from my PT session has turned into a gut spiller on how unhappy I am with my appearance…

There are 270 pages compiled into 6 chapters in Drop 5 lbs. There are a tons of yummy recipes found throughout its pages. I have only tried three of them, but they have provided James and I will much healthier alternatives to foods that we normally eat. There is also an introduction that discusses realizing just how much you eat. There is a short quiz to take to find out where you could improve your eating habits. It also talks about calorie intake, and adjustments that you can make in order to lose weight. The chapters of the book cover healthy cooking when eating in, good decision making when going to the grocery store, healthy choices when eating out, eating right on the job, proper exercise methods, and satisfying your sweet tooth without going overboard.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to make subtle changes to their diet in order lose weight and/or eat healthy. Drop 5lbs is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Back on the topic of holidays, which is where I meant to go with this post, we had our first family dinner last Saturday night. It was with my mom’s extended family, so there were about 40 people there. I had to deal with a bout of insomnia the night before, so I went on 1 hour of sleep the entire day. We started at 9:45am at the newspaper office to get Sawyer’s first picture with Santa. They are running a special, and he even gets his photo in the paper!

After that we ran by the mall to pick up his Christmas pics, by Wal-mart for last minute things for the dinner, and then to my aunt’s an hour away. I did manage to take a short nap there before everyone started arriving, which I think is what got me through the evening. We had a good time and ate some yummy food. I was really glad to get home and into my bed though.

This week is mostly just working to make some money for our mini-vaca to Gatlinburg the week after Christmas. I’m doing really good with the income goal I set for myself…I think it may be because everyone else is too busy to work right now so there are a lot of good assignments available. That’s a thought anyways.

Speaking of vacation, I was beginning to worry that I would have anything to wear except for the one pair of pre-pregnancy jeans I was able to fit back into in November. I haven’t tried any of the other jeans on since November 18, so Sunday I decided to drag out a few more pairs. They all fit!! It’s crazy, because I haven’t lost a single pound in the past month, yet my jeans fit again. I know it’s because I’m losing more inches than pounds, but it would be nice to lose a reduction in the number on the scale. I’m not too worried though, because now I have 4 pairs of jeans to wear!

So, I have decided to do the Special K Challenge. It lasts two weeks, and involves eating their cereals and other products in order to lose one jean size during the length of the challenge. I am modifying it a bit just to be sure I get enough calories in, especially on days that I work out and have to take in more calories to balance it all out.

This is my plan:

Breakfast – 1 serving of Special K cereal and 1/2 cup of 1% milk

Lunch – Special K Protein Meal Bar and any fresh, raw veggies and fruit I want

Dinner – Normal*

Snacks – Special K Fruit Crisps, Special K Snack Bars, raw veggies, fresh fruit

*The challenge says to eat dinner as normal…which would be damaging if I ate exactly what I wanted. Therefore, I’ll be eating mostly chicken or 93/7 beef, veggies, salads, etc.

On gym days, I’ll do things like eat dressing with my vegetable snacks, or have a protein smoothie. I plan to log it all on MyFitnessPal, to see what works with my calorie goals and what doesn’t.

I don’t plan to make this a long-term “diet” as I know I have to make a lifestyle change when it comes to eating. I just need something to get myself started!

I am not going to let it get me down though, because something great happened this week. Yesterday, I was able to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans!!  I was so thrilled when I put them on and they fit as well as they used to. I was beginning to worry that I’d have to buy new clothes to wear to our family dinners for Thanksgiving next week. I guess just one week at the gym can make a difference. I believe I’m one of those people who lose inches more than pounds, because I had this same experience when I did Curves too. I would only lose like 2 lbs in a month, but I would lose a total of 7-10 inches all over my body. I am happy that I can fit back into my old clothes again, but it would be nice for the number on the scale to go down as well!

If I am going to blog for 30 days straight, I really need to come up with better things to blog about. At the moment, my life is consumed with Sawyer, work, and the gym. As the holidays approach, we will be getting out more to go shopping and to family dinners. Hopefully I will have more to talk about then. I’m getting a bit tired of sitting at home during the week…

Today was leg day at the gym, and oh my gosh, my bottom half is completely wore out! There is no soreness yet, but my legs feel very tired and heavy. We skipped cardio today, which means I’ll be doing 30 minutes on our treadmill tomorrow. After all of the strength training we did, I don’t think I would have lasted 5 minutes on the treadmill today.

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds

For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food.

The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months.

For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub’s pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.

His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.

But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.

Read the rest of the article HERE

Basically, the guy controlled his caloric intake by eating a certain number of snack cakes a day. Calories have a large influence on the weight of a person. Eating fewer calories that you burn will cause you to see some weight loss. And of course, with a reduction in weight, you will notice  better levels of cholesterol and other health issues that are related to obesity.

However, I don’t believe the way Mark Haub has done it is healthy. While your calorie intake is important for losing or maintaining your weight, there are other things that must be done to be healthy. I think a well balanced diet is still more beneficial in the long run than living off of snack cakes. Moderation is another important concept, as many people are overweight or obese because they do not practice good portion control. This is personally my biggest reason for being overweight right now. I am working on that though, by eating more satisfying foods and stopping the moment I feel full.

What are your thoughts on the Twinkie Diet?