Healthy Living

The first week I began intermittent fasting I had a somewhat lax attitude toward my nutrition. I set goals and basically did intuitive eating practices. I lost over 2 pounds the first week.  Starting week 2, I decided to pick up my physical activity and get back into the swing of exercise. It wasn't terrible, but my hormones were also all over the place. I attained an injury and decided to take a break for a couple of days; then gave into a couple of temptations of overeating and ended up gaining back a pound. No big deal, initial losses are generally water weight anyway, so I'm really not worried about it at all.  As I came into week 3, I realized how much I really like breakfast, so I am going to keep doing 16/8 IF, but start earlier in the morning and just drink something with my family during dinner time. I made this decision last night when I realized I was still super hungry and that I would need to set timers to remind myself to have snacks throughout the day and I just...

36wks 3rd pregnancy vs 36wks 2nd pregnancy Well, let's see, where do I begin? Hubby and I found out last May that we were expecting our third baby! It was exciting and scary, also, I did not know how to navigate a healthy pregnancy. After several months of losing stamina for fear of working out and even longer of losing self control giving into pregnancy "cravings," I was able to pull the reigns back in just after Halloween and landed a position with my online weight loss community in November. Though I struggled through my pregnancy, I was so grateful to be able to go back to my community and share and work through it. I ended up gaining 30lbs. So, after my 6 week PP clearance, I was back at 203. My baby boy is now about 3mos old and I am teetering between 199-200. 3-4lbs lost is not bad in about 6-8 weeks. My energy is up, my mood is way better, and life is beginning to shift into balance. Meeting Heather Robertson, Founder of Half Size Me Last September h...

I would like to take a moment to talk about plateaus. Most of us begin to feel frustrated when we hit them (and we all hit them). I have decided to take the time to enjoy the maintenance aspect. I was initially taking a maintenance break, now I have began lowering my calorie intake again in order to lose. However, I am still maintaining, and that is okay. Here is why: I am healthy, I have no physical ailments that I cannot deal with which might be impeding on the norms of my life. I am strong, I can carry both of my 25# toddlers in my arms up 3 flights of stairs and into their bedroom (or down and into the car) without pausing several times up/down the steps; I can also carry all of my groceries from several stores up and down the stairs without being too winded to put them away after I bring them up. That is a sufficient amount of strength for my current employment ;) I enjoy my workouts! Many people dread the gym or have to force themselves to get their workout in because th...

These past couple of weeks have been beyond accomplishment! I have been building up speed in cardio blocks during Team Training at my gym, Chuze. It has been so amazing to endure 3 minute stints of jogging just over 4.5mph! That may not seem like much for some, but I have never been able to keep up speed at an actual jogging pace for more than 30 seconds. Even those 30 seconds were constantly counting down and checking the time to see when I could just start walking. The first time I took it to 5mph to max out my effort in the middle of the cardio block for 1 minute. I almost began to cry in the middle of the workout because I had never done it before! I did cry after training ended and I was in my car. If you are part of the Half Size Me Community, I shared a * video on the Facebook group about it. That was what I worked on last week. This week was more focused on endurance, so we increased inclines (which was rough) and the strength block was about heavy weights. My personal bes...

It has been quite a while since Heather Robertson shared this point on the Half Size Me show, but it still rings true and continues to be a type of mantra for me:  1. Barely made it out of bed./2. Oh well, guess the day is just going to be "survive."/3. Workout done, kitchen cleaned, girls napping, ready to tackle the day!  "Motivation does not cause our actions,  motivation comes when we take action." It is quite difficult to balance life when you have such a heavy goal in weight loss (see what I did there?). Anyway... I began this journey on January 9 at 251 pounds. On June 9, when hubby and I took a short vacation, I had hit 187. It is almost August and I am maintaining between 183 and 185. My emotions have been all over the place with this:  Okay, maintenance, this is new Let's up the calories a little bit while we increase movement Let's switch up the food Maybe I'll change my exercise Okay, now I'm a little frustrated Ins...

Today vs 6 Months Ago So, last week was a tough one. I found myself stuck on the same pound for about 6 weeks. Calories were increased to 1600, protein intake was increased, simple carbs were decreased, fat content is limited; workouts were in the midst of being changed up... Everything that I knew to do was being done. I must express my immense gratitude for the Half Size Me Community here, because these people have been a key part of my journey up to this point and I will continue to lean on them as long as they allow me to seek their encouragement. I posted about my frustration and they responded by reminding me of all the things that I would say to my friend who may be facing the same challenges. I had to reflect on how far I have come over the last 6 months. So, I am going to share the fact that I am grateful for what my body has done for me. It has given up 65 pounds in 6 months. It has strengthened enough to enjoy my children so I am able to crawl on the floor and be the...

Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen an maintenance trend on the scale. At first, I was mildly frustrated, but then I decided to trust my body and the process. Plateaus happen, and I was not gaining, so it still felt great! On top of that, I reflected on my planned indulgences, considered my treats, etc., I also considered the progress I have made over the last six months or so: I was not bingeing and that was huge for me; I was also choosing healthier options and smaller portions. AND I tracked everything.  Or so I thought. After the weekend, I was a little more curious about why there wasn't more progress in the numbers, so yesterday, I took some coaching advice referred to in the Half Size Me show podcast: Whenever in the kitchen wanting to take a bite or grab a small thing from the fridge while constructing a meal or otherwise, stop and put every item on a plate and see what would have been consumed prior to sitting down for the full meal. Mind you, I only took this...

Today I started the coursework for "How to Lose Weight the Maintainer's Way" on the Half Size Me Community portal. I cannot express how grateful I am for Heather and her hard work to help others understand what maintenance truly is and how to break free from the cycle of yo-yo dieting. As she began the section, I was considering how when one reaches maintenance, there is no party or big celebration for the number on the scale or a new milestone in going down a clothing size. Everyday is just a day. It made me think about how the journey to get the scale down may closely be paralleled to raising children. Bear with me, I'm a toddler mom with 2 under 2, so this is where my focus is all day. Every time the scale goes down a little, I've dropped another 10lbs, I go down in a shirt size, my pants are too big, etc, I have a mini dance party. I get tons of compliments on how well I'm doing, how my hard work is paying off (which has not felt like hard work for the...

It is becoming increasingly clear to me that weight is not a magic number for happiness. So many of us think, "If I could just get to ___lbs/size, I would be happy with my body." The fact is, however, that this is simply not true. As I have been listening to more podcasts and hearing more and more people share about the depth of their weight loss journeys, it seems that someone who is uncomfortable in their skin will not feel better about themselves no matter what the scale or their clothing size tells them. Now, this is obviously why we need a healthy relationship with the scale and should set some boundaries with it, but it is also necessary that we have a healthy relationship with our bodies and need to allow for the appreciation of ourselves. Self care is an important tool toward losing weight and having a positive self-image. When we have a negative body image, losing weight does not take away critiques, because we are humans and will always have "flaws." I w...

It is amazing how we change as we grow older. In my late teens and early twenties, I was convinced that talk radio was pointless. I hated commercials and music was ever playing in the background of EVERYTHING I did: homework, driving, cleaning, working out... everything. As time has progressed, and hubby and I have decided to do the Ramsey plan for getting out of debt, I have needed the Dave Ramsey Podcast in order to help me with more motivation and encouragement from the successes. One podcast has led to another and another. Now, I find that when I'm cleaning, researching, driving, working out, i.e. walking and fitness training, I cannot listen to music. My mind works better and stays focused with, you guessed it, talk radio. I have about 10 podcasts in my iTunes radio, 6-7 that I listen to regularly. I have to say that I binge-cast on the Half Size Me show. The successes and uplifting messages and the intro music give me that little push that we all need. It is my "Eye ...

Last week I went to California Pizza Kitchen with a friend of mine, I shared about my choices there in a previous post if you would like to see what I ended up ordering. Beyond that, however, I wanted to share with you the mild anxiety that I faced in making those decisions. I've started the Time Management Course and was listening to Heather Robertson promote it when she was preparing its release last September. It dawned on me, as she shared her experience in prioritizing her own goals over others (not in selfishness, but in an effort to take care of herself), that I often feel the need to apologize for taking care of myself . Not only in managing my time, but also in my experience at CPK. Let me explain... I gave myself permission to take my time in looking at the menu. When I found a suitable meal that was going to limit my carb intake, I began to order. However, the lunch specials of the 7" pizzas were pre-made and I was not able to order it on glutton free crust. I a...

I am preparing to take the Time Management course on the Half Size Me Community website and have been listening to Heather Robertson's podcasts since I began this journey. She mentioned in a previous episode that time management is one of the top 5 reasons (excuses) that people have not to get their journey started. She shares about goal setting and keeping your time and energy focused on achieving your goals. One thing that really hangs us up in time management is the inability to tell people, "No." I have always struggled with this concept, not wanting to seem selfish or always feeling the need to explain myself if I did manage to say no. Whether it is to myself or others, it is a matter of self control that I know I need to have over my time. And, let's face it, self control is always a challenge. On the heels of my successful lunch the other day in saying, "No," to the side dish with my sandwich, I realized that this is a very empowering journey t...