Weight Loss 2.0

Brian believes that I have little guile -- scratch that --  no guile. This is evidenced by his most recent post on Facebook in which he quoted me saying, "I'm not being critical, I'm just telling you that you are doing it wrong." Which by the way, I stand behind and do not renege. But I digress.

So back to my point, Brian thinks I have no guile and that I am slow to embarrassment. These traits are arguably bad traits, but at times can help others. I hope in this instance they can be helpful! Which brings me to Weight Loss 2.0. Three years ago I blogged about losing weight after my pregnancy with James but since then I have had two more babies which have caused weight gain. (I linked the previous blog posts about my weight loss if you're interested.)

Part 1
Part 2

So I am now entering my second edition of weight loss and I thought it might be interesting and hopefully helpful to some to bring you along on my journey as I start. I tried not to worry about weight loss for the first few months after Claire was born, but she is now 4 months old and I am ready to start! And back to me having no guile, I am not at all embarrassed to admit my weight, size, what I eat, etc. So I will share real numbers and figures and what I really am doing and eating to lose weight; my struggles and achievements. For me, it is helpful when people talk about starting and ending weights, achievable exercise plans and real-life eating (gluten and dairy filled, non-vegan, non-paleo diets). Enjoy this video! (And no offense meant to the few 1% of people that actually have diagnosed Celiac Disease.)

Weight Gain since 2012:

Before I got pregnant with Christina I weighed 130 pounds. During my pregnancy with Christina I gained 39 pounds. At her birth I weighed 169. I quickly dropped 24 pounds to 145 (15 pounds shy of my pre-pregnancy weight). But I quickly got pregnant with Claire, at 6 months postpartum, having not lost all of the pregnancy weight. During my pregnancy with Claire I gained 40 pounds, weighing in at 185 day of delivery. (Interestingly, I gained 39-40 pounds exactly with all three pregnancies, regardless of what I did!) So now I am 4.5 months postpartum and I have lost 25 pounds without actively trying to lose weight, but my weight loss has plateaued for about the last two months at 160 pounds. Which means it's time to start making it come off! I don't know if anyone else has had similar pregnancy weight gains and losses. I essentially gained 40 pounds and easily lost 25 of them before plateauing, just my starting weights differed.

Starting numbers:

160 pounds
5'5'' (I obviously don't think this is going to change, this for reference to my general size)
BMI 26.6 (considered overweight)
Size 10 in clothing

And here's a few awkward before pictures. (I always feel so weird when I pose for a photo.)

Goals:

To lose 1-2 pounds per week
Lose 30 pounds by beginning of August
My end goal is to reach my pre-pre-pregnancy weight of 130 pounds

I am trying to be realistic and not too hard on myself about losing the weight. But I know I feel better when I am eating well, regularly exercising and of course fitting nicely in my clothes! I will do updates periodically with my progress!

Wish me luck! And if you want to join in with me, let me know. I love weight loss buddies!

My Little Bouncer

My dear friend gave us this bouncer and my little Christina has loved it! Claire likes it too, like any other 4-month-old baby would! But for me, it is extra fun to see Christina enjoy things since finding things she likes and responds to are hard to come by! For those that knew my brother James, I'm sure you remember how much he loved music. Especially opera music preformed by male vocalists. He would tolerate Lawrence Welk, church music, female opera singers, and a few others. But male opera singing was his absolute favorite. If you ever came over to our house, the music would be blaring in his room. Thinking about this makes me nostalgic for those times and also so happy that he had such joy in something. I pray that my sweet little Christina will find something she loves in her life. And seeing her play in this bouncer the past few days gives me hope that she will find joy in her sweet, diminutive life. 

And I thought I'd share a video clip of her playing, especially for those who haven't met little Christina so you can see just how cute she is!