I had my first biological child at the age of 20. 2 weeks after having him, I was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes (size 3 pants, medium tops). Slowly I gained 20 lbs over about 2 years. When I got pregnant with my daughter I weighed 142 lbs. The day she was born I weighed 165 lbs. I got down to 129 lbs just by breastfeeding but I plateaued there for about 3 months. As soon as I quit breast feeding, I started gaining weight. I LOVE food. I have the biggest sweet tooth and can honestly say I'm a food addict. I also have never found a love for working out. I have never really needed to work out in the past to feel good about how my clothes fit. Before Thanksgiving this past year, I decided to weigh myself. To my despair, I weighed 160 lbs!!!! Just 5 lbs less than when my daughter was born! How could I have let myself get to that point? So I decided that I wanted to enjoy the holidays and I would buckle down after the new year began. Of course, I continued to find reasons not to work out or eat right (I'm too tired, I have too much going on, it's too hard to make separate meals for me and for my family, I don't want to feel deprived, etc etc) and every time I got on the scale I would be disappointed because I expected my weight to magically get to the number I wanted without having to work for it. As dumb or silly as this may sound, Brittany Spears' song "You Better Work B****!" makes a lot of sense to me and is the reminder that I need that you don't get something for nothing. You get what you put into things, whether that's your job, your church calling, your finances, your relationships, or your workouts.
My goal weight is 110 lbs. Overall though, I just want to feel comfortable in my clothes, feel good about my body, and be healthy. Based on what I weigh today (158 lbs) I have 48 lbs to lose. I would really like to hit this goal by the first week of April because I'm going on a business trip with my husband. That is 10 weeks away. Completely doable right? I think so!
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not too familiar with which workouts are best but I know the areas I need/want to work on the most, my stomach, my arms, my legs, and my butt. Today I did 200 crunches, 60 twisty ab workout things with 5 lb. weights, 5 min cycling motion while sitting on the edge of the couch leaning back a bit and holding 5 lb. weights in each hand straight out, and I did HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) on the elliptical for 30 minutes. (BTW my machine shows time left on workout)
I had seen Maria Kang on the Today Show back in October of last year and thought it was crazy how people were taking offense to her and her views on fitness. I decided to search her name on Bing and checked out her website and thought it was pretty awesome. Then I searched her name on Facebook and found this closed group called No Excuse Moms. I absolutely love seeing updates posted on this group and hearing how far people have come. I highly recommend anyone looking for a little (or a lot) of inspiration or motivation to get moving to request to be added to this group.
These are pictures I took recently, they are going to be my "before" pictures eventually:
I'm really not proud of where I'm at right now and I am fully aware of what I look like so please do not post any negative comments as they will be deleted. I am proud that I am taking steps in the right direction and will gladly welcome positivity and encouragement.
I hope everyone has a great night and enjoy your Monday!
xo,
Tristen
Tristen,
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud of you and glad to see you taking this step. You're on the right road for sure! I thought I would share a little bit of my weight loss journey with you. I didn't embrace exercise until I was in my fifties. I gained 25+ pounds in four months when we first moved to AZ and were living in the apartment. That's when I challenged myself to exercise every day for six months. I made the option of exercise nonnegotiable. I just put on my shoes, turned on my music, and got on the elliptical . By the end of the six months, I was addicted to exercise and especially working up that big sweat. But-I still had not taken off a significant amount of weight. My niece suggested Weight Watchers Points program. I joined online free for three months and that's all I needed to drop 30 pounds in just a few months. What I learned there was the very simple fact that the portions of food I had always eaten were WAY out of whack. As soon as I embraced eating smaller amounts, pounds started dropping fast. When I look back, I can't believe the amount of food I used to consume in one sitting! The first thing I did was to downsize my plates and bowls. I also have a major sweet tooth, but not only that, I'm a baker and absolutely HAVE to bake. It's essential to my well being to produce yummy baked goods LOL! The cool thing now is I can eat one small piece and be perfectly satisfied. Used to be Steve and I would eat a whole pan of brownies in one or two sittings. The very thought of that now makes me queasy!
So, how amazing is it-eat less, move more, lose weight and feel great!!
Love you!!
Aunt Cris
That is amazing Aunt Cris! I love the elliptical you guys gave us so much and really do love how I feel after a work out. I agree with the portion size. I have been drinking water more and paying more attention to when I feel full and it's always way before my food is gone lol.
ReplyDeleteYou're very brave Tristen posting your journey for everyone to see! I have the exact same problem as you, I am a food addict and I never really eat healthy. I always make up excuses not to exercise or that I don't know how to cook healthy. Maybe by watching your journey I will be inspired to start my own! Thanks! By the way, I've never ever seen you and thought you looked overweight. In fact, you always look great to me!! :) Good luck! Melanie Walker
ReplyDeleteAw, you're too sweet Melanie! Thank you so much! I've become a professional sucker-inner over the years. When I took these pictures I had to take them a few times because I was sucking in my stomach so much lol
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