October 2013 Stats & November Goals

Starting weight : 149.8 lb

Ending weight : 145.2 lb

Change : 4.6 lb lost (average 1.05lb lost per week)

This time last year : 178 lb (21 weeks pregnant)


My goal for October was to get to pre-Germany weight (148.2lbs) and I certainly achieved that and more.  I write weight changes on my calendar hanging in the kitchen and Andy saw the start and end weight for the month and couldn't believe how much I'd lost in a month, especially being in a healthy weight range already.  I know that it's not going to keep up like this and the weekly numbers most week have tapered off.

I have 15.2 lbs to go before I reach my ultimate goal of 130 lbs.  I know I set that for early July, but we head to California in mid-May and I'd love to be there by the time we head out there.  That's six and a half months away and that means I need to average about 2.3lbs per month to get there.  There will be four weigh-ins this month, so I will shoot for an average of 0.6lb per week and a total of 2.4lbs.  I'd love to be at the 140lb mark by Christmas and that will get me halfway there.

Weigh-in for 10/26/2013

Last weigh-in (10/19/2013) : 146.2 lb

This weigh-in (10/26/2013) : 145.2 lb

Change : 1 lb lost

Total weight loss since Izzie : 55.2 lbs




At this point in my journey (only partially breastfeeding and getting closer to my goal), 1lb is really great.  There are so many people who quit Weight Watchers because they're only losing about 1lb per week.  ONLY?!?!?!  If they knew how hard it was for some people to put a pound per week, and how much harder it is to do alone, they might stick with the program.  They say it must not be working if they're losing so little.  It's not like we're on the Biggest Loser and expected to put up 8-10lbs or more per week.  We are normal people who don't spend 8 hours each day in the gym.  Most of us have jobs or children, along with many other responsibilities.  In the real world, 0.5-2lbs per week is an amazing weekly average, as there will be weeks when you maintain or gain even.  I've been doing this for almost exactly seven and a half years and I've come to the point where I don't take a single tenth of a pound lost for granted.  It's way too easy to put it back on so any small number is hard won.


This week I noticed something when I got on the scale.  I normally only look at the big number (usually holding my breath while waiting for it to pop up), but we have a fairly nice scale that tells you other things as well. One of those things is body fat percentage.  I guess the reason I don't tend to look at that number is that I have always seen it over 30%.  That doesn't surprise me anymore, but in high school, we took fat percentage in health class.  I remember how shocked and embarrassed I was when mine came out to 33%.  Women of course have more than men, but that was a very high number (considered obese, but looking back that doesn't surprise me).  The number I saw today was 27.3%!  Not just slightly below 30%, but almost a full 3% lower.  Compared to the other times I've lost large amounts of weight, I'm working out much more and therefore am replacing the fat with much leaner muscle mass.  The average body fat percentage level for women is 25-31% (18-24% for men) and the fat percentage at the fitness level is 21-24% for women (14-17% for men).  I have confidence that I can reach that fitness level by the time I get to my ultimate goal.  As it is, at the dentist, they took my resting heart rate and were shocked at how low it was - 58 bpm.  They then asked if I'm an athlete (which I almost snorted in laughter over) or I exercise.  I said I do exercise and that put them at ease.  Later, Andy was telling me about his resting heart rate and when I told him mine, he said that's at the level of athletes.  I guess all my working out is helping me in many more areas than just dropping pounds.

October 2013 Measurements

 
Hips

•  Last month (9/15/2013) - 40.25 inches
•  This month (10/19/2013) - 39.25 inches

Waist

•  Last month (9/15/2013) - 31 inches
•  This month (10/19/2013) - 29.5 inches  

 
Bust

•  Last month (9/15/2013)   - 38.5 inches
•  This month (10/19/2013) - 36.5 inches

Thighs

•   Last month (9/15/2013) - 21 inches each
•   This month (10/19/2013) - 20.5 inches each 

Arms

• Last month (9/15/2013) - 10.25 inches each
• This month (10/19/2013) - 10 inches each

The measurements have at last lined up with my lowest weight from December 2011 (148.2lbs), with some being lower.  The waist is what I have been waiting for to catch up and it's exactly what it was at it's lowest almost two years ago.  The thigh and hip measurements are lower than they've ever been, with the hips coming in at under 40 inches.  I have the makings of an hourglass figure, but my hips have always been a problem, making me look more like a pear figure.  My ultimate goal when it comes to these measurements is the get the hips and bust at the same size. 

I have taken bust measurements since Izzie was born, but they were pretty stagnant because of breastfeeding.  This was the first time I'd seen any change, so I decided to include it.  I went from a 36D to a 34D within a year of starting weight watchers.  After Brady, while nursing I went up to a 40DD and it took months after I stopped to even get into a 38D.  I was finally at a 36D when I got back to pre-pregnancy weight after him and stayed there until I got pregnant with Izzie.  Because I full-time nursed her, I was still able to get into a 38D when necessary, but mostly wear nursing bras that didn't have cup sizes.  I've realized through this journey that I will not be losing the cup size no matter how much I lose (not the case with most people), so the band size is the only thing of which I have control.  I sometimes have to go up a shirt size to accommodate my bust size and then the waist is way too big, so if I can lower the band size, it should hopefully open up smaller shirt sizes to me.

I am amazed at how fast my "skinny" clothes are becoming too big for me.  My medium pants are almost to the point of falling off, so I've resorted to wearing either my small sized yoga pants, jeans, or my medium leggings.  I'm sure soon, I'll have to get some new pants, but I'd like to wait until I'm closer to my ultimate goal (130lbs) before I do so that I don't have to buy even smaller ones when I get there.  My rings are getting very loose and I'm also holding off on sizing them down.  I imagine sometime after Christmas, if not before, it will become a necessity.

Weigh-in for 10/19/2013

Last weigh-in (10/12/2013) : 146.8 lb

This weigh-in (10/19/2013) : 146.2 lb

Change : 0.6 lb lost

Total weight loss since Izzie : 54.2 lbs


A big week followed by a small week is the way it works and I'm more than happy to see any small loss over a gain.  As long as I'm chipping away at the weight to reach that final goal (130lbs), I'm ecstatic about it.  This week had only one day in the gym due to illness (both the kids and me) and other scheduled appointments.  This coming week has me slated for four days to make up for it.  I've got to work hard leading up to Halloween so I can enjoy some candy :)

Setting My Final Goal

Well, I've made it to pre-Germany weight and have even dipped below it.  That was the goal I set for myself to reach before Christmas, so now it's time to set my new, and final, goal for myself.  The healthy weight range for my height (5'6") is anywhere between 124lbs and 155lbs.  The ultimate number I want to reach is 130lbs, and I would like to reach that by the time I get to my 10 year high school reunion in early July.  I want to look so good that people don't even recognize me.  I have just under  nine months to lose 16.8lbs, which means I need to lose less than half a pound per week in order to reach this final goal.

130lbs has been a number in my head for a long time, since I was a teenager.  The last time I was 130lbs was when I was 14 and at that age, I was just over five feet tall, so it wasn't a healthy weight for me at that time.  I was huge into Friends and I would read articles about how Jennifer Aniston was having a hard time getting her big break because she was overweight.  Even having a father in the business wasn't enough to get her the jobs she wanted.  She was 5'6" like I am and weighed 160lbs.  She went out and lost 30lbs and then landed her huge gig on Friends.

A 30lb difference from 160lbs to 130lbs (although I'm pretty sure there have been many times when she's gone lower than that).

Although Jennifer Aniston's story is what got the number in my head, there was a bigger inspiration that lead to the body that I would like to have.  I have watched Days of Our Lives since I was Brady's age or even younger.  Alison Sweeney has been on the show for over 20 years and I used to watch when she was just a chubby teenager.  She went on to lose a ton of weight and eventually landed herself as the host of The Biggest Loser.  She's well endowed like myself and has also had two kids.

Just about a month ago, she was on the cover of Shape magazine and my mom brought it to my notice while we were getting our hair done.  She looks amazing!  She's 36, so nine years older than myself, and I can only hope that I look that good by the time that I'm 36.

My butt has been a huge sticking point in my weight loss and something I've heard criticism about my whole life from multiple sources.  Andy decided to catch a shot of me from behind last night and made a point of showing it to me to show me how small he thought it was looking.  Of course, it's not small in comparison to most, but it's small for me.  It's hard to ever see yourself from behind, so I'm glad Andy was able to show me that my hard work is making a difference.  I've already bought my bikini's for next summer on clearance and I have this image in my head of how I'll look in them at my final goal and this is when it's really going to happen.

Weigh-in for 10/12/2013 ~ New Lowest Ever!!!

Last weigh-in (10/5/2013) : 149.0 lb

This weigh-in (10/12/2013) : 146.8 lb

Change : 2.2 lb lost


Total weight loss since Izzie : 53.6 lbs


I finally did it! Exactly 20 months and 3 weeks after I stepped on the plane to Germany, I am back at the weight I was that day!  Coming home 20lbs heavier and being pregnant before we got home, watching the weight creep up for another nine months, I despaired that I might never get back here again in those darkest of days.  I kicked that attitude in the butt the minute Izzie was born and decided that I would be there before Christmas.  Hard work, determination, and sheer willpower are what led me back here and not only did I reach that weight, I blew through it!

It's time to start thinking about a new (and final) goal before I start the long lifetime- journey of maintenance.  I'm not done having kids, so there will come times when it becomes necessary to kick it into weight-loss mode once again, but by reaching my ultimate goal before then, I will have less to lose before maintenance become the norm again.  So much of my family hasn't seen me in months and I'm excited to blow everyone away when I next see them.  My 93 year old grandma sees us maybe once a year (if that) and the last two times she saw me was when Brady was 10 months old (170lbs) and last year when I was seven months pregnant with Izzie (189lbs).  She's likely to think I'm sickly because she's never seen me thin.

Weigh-in for 10/5/2013

Last weigh-in (9/27/2013) : 149.8 lb

This weigh-in (10/5/2013) : 149.0 lb

Change : 0.8 lb lost

Germany weight loss : 19lb of 19.8lb gained
Total weight loss since Izzie : 51.4 lbs


Less than 1lb to go before reaching pre-Germany weight!  I almost can't believe I'm almost back there.  I thought back in April when I set this goal for myself (at that point it required a 1lb per week loss average) that perhaps it was setting my sights a bit too high.  I have made it six straight months in the gym without taking more than a week off for travel or unforeseen incidents like the kids getting sick.  I've never made it more than two or three consecutive months before now and the results are astounding.  My dad always thought he was so smart saying the way to lose weight was "eat less, exercise more" and after all these years, I've finally come to the conclusion that you need both of those things and I'm glad I figured it out sooner rather than later.