The vanishing woman

Wow. This will have to be short because the kids are waking up, but I wanted to share this with you guys.

I’ve made motions toward trying to lose weight off and on for months, right? And even when the motions turned into something like effort, no dice.

My sister gave me some tips, and I started on Monday, and ohmygosh. I’ve lost about a pound a day ever since. I know that rate probably won’t continue, but even if it does for a week, I will have lost seven pounds. That’s like a whole baby.

Dieting goes against everything I believe in. But I don’t really consider this a diet. I don’t hate it. It’s not constant misery and self-deprivation. It’s just eating on a schedule and being careful about what I eat. I rather like the food, and I’m only mildly hungry for parts of the day.

So, my sister’s diet tips:

1: Protein shake for breakfast. I mix a scoop of whey protein, a banana, a bunch of nonfat yogurt, and some frozen berries in the blender. It’s very satisfying. I have to nurse mine for about an hour, and friends, I can EAT.
2: Midmorning snack: I have a hardboiled egg with some salt; it’s delicious. She also recommended some peanut butter with some apple slices, or other protein snack.
3: Healthy sandwich or salad with some dressing for lunch; also, a piece of fruit.
4: Midafternoon: handful of nuts, fresh veggies, something along those lines (I have a handful of trail mix and maybe some lettuce; I love lettuce).
5: Supper: Normal portion of whatever is for dinner. I very rarely make anything too bad for us, so I can eat a normal portion of dinner without worrying that I’m consuming 1500 calories.
6: Evening snack: Popcorn. It’s actually not terrible for you. And I find I don’t NEED a lot of butter to eat it (even if it is better that way). I’m not crazy about popcorn, so there’s no danger of me going overboard, either. I work out at night, so I also have a slice of cheese or something else with protein afterward.

I know working out at night is not ideal, but it’s pretty much the only time I can do it, unless I want to leave Jeremy alone with the kids for half the evening. Yes, I could do it in the morning, but I know me, and I know that I would fail at any endeavor involving early mornings. I get on the elliptical for 20 minutes during naptime, just to kick myself out of the sluggish, idle eating part of the day, and then at night I do either 40 minutes on the elliptical or 20 minutes as a warm-up for weightlifting. Last night I was feeling so great after lifting that I got on the elliptical for another 20 minutes. Nothing hardcore; I’m extremely careful about overdoing it. I felt like I could have kept going for another hour, but I’m sure Jeremy would have worried that I got kidnapped in the parking lot.

And yesterday I lost another pound. I know they say quick weight loss like this is not healthy, but that’s just not the case here. My diet is very balanced, I get everything I need, and the exercise is not so intense that I will injure myself.

It feels so good to see those numbers on the scale drop. I’m starting to feel lighter, more limber, and it’s so much easier to get up and down from the floor to play with the kids.

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