Join Me For Another 10 Weeks! This is the first week of ten weeks starting October 22, 2012

Hi folks! I'm at it again. I'm going for another 20 pound loss in ten weeks. I've recently had another baby, a little girl, she is now five months old and I'm ready to drop some weight.





Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A Re-Cap Of How I Lost Those 14 Pounds...

Hi, everyone!

How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thank you for all of your wonderful comments today and yesterday about these latest pictures. I hope I have encouraged you all to keep plugging away at your goals.

Don't mind me while I re-post one of the pictures from yesterday.

Can't help myself. :)

If you guys are surprised at this change...I am too. When I lost those twenty pounds in 10 weeks, I knew I looked decent. But I also knew I wanted to lose a few more pounds. I honestly had no idea that I would turn out like this. I mean...I knew I wanted to...but to actually see it feels surprising to me.

I've mentioned before that this latest weight loss was uncharted territory. I say that because I usually stop several pounds short of the weight that I am at in this photo. This time...I kept going. I wanted to see what I was capable of looking like. Having this blog was so crucial in keeping me going too, because there were things that happened that could have stopped me from getting here.

I wanted to briefly go over my journey in the last twenty weeks that led up to this picture.

I lost the first twenty pounds at an average of two pounds a week. I knew that average may slow down with my second round of weight loss attempt.

I was right on that count.

I managed to push full steam ahead at about a one pound a week average. By ten weeks into it, I had lost ten pounds.

But I only maintained that ten pound loss for a few days before my body took back a pound, and I was at a nine pound loss.

Then...something happened that threw me for a loop and slowed down my progress. I injured my knee and couldn't run, couldn't weight lift my legs, couldn't do the elliptical machine, couldn't do the bike or even that rowing machine where you use your arms. Even walking felt like too much at times.

This injury sidelined any kind of leg activity for three weeks. Although toward the end of that third week, I did go "running" in the water. But... by then, some of my "gung-ho stick-to-the-eating-plan-momentum" was lost. I struggled to get back on the weight loss train...but it was an uphill climb. In fact, I even gained another pound.

I spent the next three or four weeks struggling to just maintain. I was having a harder and harder time controlling what I was eating. So, basically I spent several weeks at an eight to nine pound loss.

Then, I decided to try out a new diet plan. I cut out all sugar, all white flour, and added in all whole foods, salads with 2 tbls of healthy oil a day, and a high level of protein, about 135 grams per day, and about one half gallon of water per day. My calorie count averaged between 1,300 to 1,450 a day.

It was a drastic change.

There was no more snacking, no more sugar and creamer in my tea, no more Blue Bunny light ice cream at night, no more bites of my children's graham crackers and food, no more peanut butter on toasted white bread, no more smart Balance light butter on my brown rice, no more cake, no more Jimmy John's subs... no more anything but what was on the diet.

After two days, my taste buds began changing and the food began to taste...wonderful.

Every single calorie I consumed was something my body needed.

After two days, I lost two pounds.

After three days, I lost two more pounds.

After two or so weeks, I lost another two pounds.

I lost six pounds in the last three weeks of my twenty week diet, and I wasn't hungry. That's not to say I wasn't fantasizing about food, because I was. But there is difference between being hungry and just wanting a certain food.

I should also mention that during this whole dieting phase, I was weight lifting four to five days a week and running four to six days a week, except of course during that three week stint when I couldn't run.

What made the difference then? I think the work-outs definitely created tone and muscle, but all of that wasn't revealed until I did that drastic diet switch-up.

There's no other explanation.

Ok...maybe one. The last four weeks of push-ups I felt added more roundness to my shoulders...but still, you wouldn't see that if the extra fat was in the way.

So...that's the recap. The journey was long...the journey was tough...I stumbled and even fell along the way (ok...slight pun intended here), but the real key to getting to look like that picture above was to keep trying and to not give up.

Wherever you're at on your journey, I really encourage you to not give up looking for the solution that works for you.

Well...I think that's it for now. Thanks for listening, and I hope you all have a good night.

Sincerely,
Sunshine Mama

11 comments:

  1. You.look.FABULOUS!
    Oh my gosh, I can't help but be a bit jealous. ;) Thanks for the sweet comments on my great news :)

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  2. You have definitely inspired me to keep plugging along! You look great and it sounds like you feel great too. I swear every time I read one of your posts, I think to myself, that sounds like me. Today's comment was the peanut butter on toasted white bread. I haven't had that since I started trying to lose weight a few months ago, but before then that was pretty much my go-to breakfast. My husband used to laugh at me because he said he didn't know anyone else that ate peanut butter on toast like that. Now I know someone. LOL! Great job. I can't wait to get to my goal weight and post some pics. :)

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  3. You did such an awesome awesmoe job- I couldn't be more happy for you! So what are your goals for the future?

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  4. Hey Sunshine Mama,
    Thanks so much for all your encouragement for me, during this difficult phase of life for me. I appreciate it sooooooo much!!

    I decided today that I am going to prepare my meals in advance. Basically that means baking a LOT of chicken, lol! I'm going to stick to salads, chicken, eggs, nuts and fruits and veggies.

    I will also do what I can in the exercise department; I may even be brave enough to try this push up challenge.

    You have EARNED that body of yours, and I rejoice with you!

    Let me know how that doughnut ends up tasting. =)

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  5. Hey there pal! Man, I still can't believe the difference those last 14lbs meant! You have morphed into someone who is equally as pretty on the outside as the inside! I remember when we first "met" through our blogs and I loved your writing. Then over at Our Darling Kids when you posted the question, would we read if you made a diet blog? I said I would, I have, and I am still in awe of the determination you possessed to rock it!

    All I can really say is you better document that chocolate creme filled bismark darn good! I know you haven't eaten stuff like that in a long while, so my hope for you is that it still tastes as good as you remember!

    What do your kids say about your transformation? I know Darling Rose has worked out with you some. Do the younger babies understand or notice a difference?

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  6. You look great! What an accomplishment!

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  7. you look great girlfriend... I am attempting to cut sugar/white flour out of my diet right now! it's hard but worth it!

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  8. Applause! Applause!!! I'm working to do exactly what you have accomplished. I've lost 75 lbs. so far. I am following a clean diet similar to yours and am weight lifting and running. I will be glad when my half marathon is over in May, so I can get back to focusing more on weight lifting and working on some definition.

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  9. Oh my girl you look amazing CONGRATS!

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  10. BigGirlgoingtobeSkinnyAugust 29, 2010 at 3:17 AM

    Im a new member i joined today :) this blogspot rules and you look great .lol i found it while googling KFC chiken to salivate over the pictures

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  11. No ribs please! Gain a little back. I can't stand to see the ribs sticking off from the sternum. Too low. Bad example for kids. Think healthy, not LOW, Low, LOWER weights!

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