Progress

I'm happy to report that I have lost 6 pounds since my last post. It's a relief to see some progress. Over the past couple weeks, I've been counting calories (so tedious, but it works) and lifting weights, and doing a little cardio too. Counting calories has been my go-to method of weight loss after having babies.

Getting to the gym is never easy, but once I'm there, I feel awesome. I love it. I just need to remember that every night when I feel like watching TV, instead of working out.

I'm hoping to get down to my goal in the next 6 to 8 weeks. I really hope I can maintain this motivation. The holidays are always a terrible time to try and lose weight.

I'm back!

It's me again. I had another baby (yay!). So I get to start the dreaded process of losing weight again. I love my kids and I am SO THANKFUL that I am able to bear children, but man... I hate having to gain and lose weight over and over.

I gained about 5 pounds more with Luke than I did with Halle, and what do you know... I'm 5 pounds heavier now than I was at this point after having Halle. I have a total of 15 pounds to lose. That feels overwhelming to me.

Here is a picture of me right before I got pregnant with Luke. I hope to get back to this point within 3-4 months.

I am thinking of signing up for another half marathon. I really miss running, and I've been wanting to do another race for a long time now. I need to start looking into different races. I'll keep you posted. 

Before

This is me today. I will try to post pictures pretty regularly, as I see progress.

 

 

Notice the belly. It's gotta go. Along with the extra large chest region.
 

 

Paige just had to make herself known. Of course. :)

This blog motivated me in the past. See!

This was me 6 weeks after I had Kate  (April 2010)

 

Ugh. Lovely.

 

And this was me 9 months later  (January 2011)

 

It did take a while, but I finally got down to a pretty good weight.

 

 

P.S.  I will post current pictures of me tomorrow.

Join me!

I know it's been a long time since I posted on this blog, but I really need to start again. I like to have something/someone to answer to. I just added a goal chart at the top of my blog. In the past, I never posted my actual weight, but oh well. I don't really care any more. Right now I weigh 126 lbs, and my immediate goal is to be around 115. (My ultimate goal would be 110.)  I made the goal of reaching 115 lbs by mid-April, which is 12 weeks away. That's totally do-able.

Halle was born over 8 months ago and I only weigh 2 lbs less than I did when I first weighed myself after having her. That was about 2 weeks postpardum. I have some work to do. It has been much harder to lose the weight this time around, but not because my body is just being stubborn or something. It's all me. I feel much more stressed out with 3 kids than I did with 2, and I am an emotional eater, so stress definitely makes it hard for me to stay on track with my diet. It's been really frustrating. I desperately want to lose this extra weight.

If anyone else out there wants a weight loss partner, I'm here! :)  It really helps to feel like I'm not alone, and to know that other girls struggle with their weight like I do.

I have found that counting calories works really well for me, so I'm going to stick with that. A few weeks ago, I found some little workout videos on youtube that I really like. They are made by the Tone It Up girls. Here is an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEL0GwuFBwI


Wish me luck!  Better yet, join me!!

"Before" photos coming soon!

Me again

I've decided to start posting on this blog again. Having a weight loss/fitness blog is kind of embarrassing because so far it's pretty much a record of my failures to lose weight. But I found that when I used to update regularly last year (before I had Halle), it did help to have that accountability. Just knowing that someone might be reading this makes me want to stick to my goals and finally lose this baby weight.

My dedication and my weight have fluctuated so much in the past 5 months, and it's been stressful for me. When I am eating junk and being sedentary, I just feel so conflicted inside and I feel weak. It's hard to be successful in other areas of my life when I'm failing at being healthy. So that's why losing weight and being fit are important to me. I sometimes worry that having this blog makes me seem vain or shallow, since it's focused on something physical, but I believe that the way that we take care of our bodies is a reflection of our self-worth. It's important. Obviously, what's on the inside of a person is what really matters, but it's hard to be happy and at peace when you're not taking good care of yourself. At least for me.

So anyway, my goal over the next month is to eat clean everyday and exercise (weights and cardio) at least 4 times per week. Obviously I can't eat clean 100% of the time, but just making a real effort all day is something to be proud of.

Our trip to Hawaii is in a little over 4 weeks. It would be awesome if I could make some real progress by then. Swimsuits are not very forgiving. I have high hopes for myself. I took some "before" photos, so when I reach my immediate goal weight I will post the before and after pics.

Ugh.

Since I had Halle 5 months ago, I have lost and then gained back the same 5-6 pounds 3 times. I get super motivated and determined for a couple weeks and lose 5-6 pounds quickly, but then I just kinda go crazy because I feel too restricted. I obviously can't figure out how to make realistic changes in my diet/lifestyle.

In 8 weeks our little family is going on a trip to Kona, Hawaii. You'd think that would be some major motivation to get swimsuit ready. You'd think.

 

 

 

Come on, Ashley. Just do it.