April Measurements (1 Year Gymiversary Comparisons)

Arms

• Last month (11/16/2013) - 9.75 inches each
• This month (4/13/2014) - 9.5 inches each
• Last year (4/13/2013) - 11.5 inches each

Hips

•  Last month (1/18/2014) - 38.5 inches
•  This month (4/13/2014) - 38.25 inches 
•  Last year (4/13/2013) - 47 inches

Waist

•  Last month (1/18/2014) - 28.5 inches
•  This month (4/13/2014) - 28.25 inches
•  Last year (4/13/2013) - 36 inches  

 
Bust

•  Last month (1/18/2014) - 35.25 inches
•  This month (4/13/2014) - 35 inches
•  Last year (4/13/2013) - 40 inches

Thighs

•   Last month (1/18/2014) - 19.5 inches each
•   This month (4/13/2014) - 19.25 inches each  
•   Last year (4/13/2013) - 24.5 inches each

It's been one year since I stepped into the gym for the first time after having Izzie.  I have never gone more than two months in a row being consistent with going to the gym before now.  I've spent a whole year being faithful to working out and am beyond pleased with the results!

In one year, I've gone from 179.4lbs to 142.8lbs, a net loss of 36.6lbs.  That number alone is so great, but when combined with the number of inches lost really blows my mind and you know I am easily my hardest critic.  2 inches from each arm, 8.75 inches from my hips, 7.75 inches from my waist, 5 inches from my bust, and 5.25 inches from each thigh, bring the total to 36 inches lost!  That's almost an inch per pound which is insane to me.  I went from a size 16 pants to a size 8 and a size 14 dress to a size 6.  In terms of general sizing, I've gone from XL to mainly M with some S mixed in here and there (usually in women's sizes not juniors).

I am beyond excited about buying all new summer clothes.  I am so glad I could do this before my kids no any better so as not to give them body image complexes.  I don't put myself down in front of them (not that I put myself down too much in my head anymore) and when we go to the gym, Brady knows I'm there to exercise, which is something he likes to do too in his own way.  There's no connotation about it being to lose weight.  He knows we eat good food so that we can grow healthy and strong.

Here is the ultimate comparison over the course of the last year.  The top pics are from the first day back in the gym when Izzie was 6 weeks old.  Second set was 10 weeks later at 16 weeks old, the third 10 weeks later at 6 months old, and the final set was after a whole year working out.  I still can't believe how much of a change I've made, especially when I don't see it until put like this.

September 2013 Measurements

  Hips

•  Last month (8/17/2013) - 42.5 inches
•  This month (9/15/2013) - 40.25 inches

Waist

•  Last month (8/17/2013) - 31.5 inches
•  This month (9/15/2013) - 31 inches 

 
Thighs

•   Last month (8/17/2013) - 21.75 inches each
•   This month (9/15/2013) - 21 inches each 

Arms

• Last month (8/17/2013) - 10.5 inches each
• This month (9/15/2013) - 10.25 inches each

Since the last set of measurements 6.3lbs has come off and the inches seem to have come off equally quickly.  Right now, the only measurement that isn't smaller than the last time I was at this weight (151.7lbs) is the waist measurement. That's still the same as about 15lbs up from last time, but that was also much longer after having a baby.  As long as the numbers keep going down at the waist, no matter how slowly, I'll be happy.  My hips are the smallest they've been since joining weight watchers!  That's my biggest problem area and the one I put the most focus on in the gym, so I'm thrilled to see the results.

I broke into my "skinny" clothes bin that had been packed away shortly after returning from Europe.  I was so bummed that they had only fit me for a few short months before the carbs and fat got me.  I tried on all the pants and some of the tops and almost everything fit comfortably!  I did a little happy dance thinking about all of the options I will have this fall.  

I spent most of my teen years hiding behind too large clothing.  I was uncomfortable in my own skin and didn't want people to see what I really looked liked.  I hated to wear jeans and even when I got rid of most of the oversized clothes, I lived in sweats or pajama pants.  Even after Brady, if I wore jeans out (which was rare), as soon as I came home, I changed into something more comfortable.  Now that I'm becoming more confident and comfortable in my clothes, I think that I'll be dressing a bit better.  Of course, if I'm not going out, I'm not going to go all out, but I think it's important for my kids to see their mom not slouching around out and about all the time.  A whole new world of possibilities is opening up for me.

July 2013 Stats & August Goals

Starting weight : 167 lb

Ending weight : 161.8 lb

Change : 5.2 lb lost (average 1.2lb lost per week)

This time last year : 168 lb (8 weeks pregnant)


This month was great and I surpassed my goal of 4lbs lost.  I'm back where I was almost exactly two years ago when I was on my biggest downswing and on the road to becoming a lifetime member.  If I was able to get to 148.2 lbs by Christmas then while not exercising as intensely and breastfeeding, I should be able to get there no problem if I stick to it. 

There are 20 weeks til Christmas and 13.6lbs to lose to make it to that goal.  That means an average of 0.7lb loss per week until then.  Going by that, I should be trying to reach a 3.4lb loss for the month of August.  Ideally, I want to be back at the upper level of my lifetime goal (157), so I'm going to shoot for that at 4.8lbs this month.  If I don't get there, I won't beat myself up since I've been doing so well and eventually the weight won't come off as fast.  If I get somewhere in between the two numbers I will be happy.

I was looking back at some old beach pics and wish I'd found this one yesterday before blogging about bikinis.  The one on the left with my brothers is from 2008 before I had either kid.  I feel way better about how I look now, considering my belly was worse before it was stretched out by two kids.  My goal is to look better at 30 (yikes, but still several years away) than I did at 16, 18, or even 20.

Weigh-in for 6/1/2013

Last weigh-in (5/23/2013) : 172.4 lb

This weigh-in (6/1/2013) : 170.6 lb

Change : 1.8lb lost

Total loss postpartum : 29.8lb of 32.4lb gained 

Amount needed to get back to WW lifetime weight : 15.6 lbs


I won't lie, I'm truly shocked with how great of a number I got this week.  We were home for four full days with an event almost every single day.  There was eating out, ice cream, cake, and many other sweets.  I only got to the gym once in the short week at home.  I'm slowly inching closer and closer to pre-pregnancy weight and that's so exciting with Izzie turning three months old tomorrow.

The last time I took a look at a comparison between postpartum weight loss with Izzie and Brady, Izzie was two months old and I was the same weight as when Brady was six months old (a four month difference).  Now that she's about to turn three months old, I took a look to see when I got to this weight after Brady.  I was this weight the day he turned 1!  That's now a nine month difference.  Seeing that sure makes me feel better about the Europe weight gain because soon I'll be tackling that instead of pregnancy weight.

Although it feels great to have clothes getting looser, there are things where my mind and my body differ.  I was at 175lbs when I bought my first bikini and felt like I looked great.  I was trying on bathing suits a few days ago because the pools are open and I was ready to take the kids, but didn't know which suits would work.  I was able to get on many of the tankinis I wore when Brady took swim lessons as a baby and also the one I wore last summer.  I knew my bikini bottoms wouldn't fit, but I had larger ones from when I first started wearing them.  I tried one on and thought that maybe I could be comfortable wearing them at the beach in about seven weeks if the weight keeps coming off at this rate.  Later that day, I wore one of the tankinis to the pool and felt terrible about how I looked in it, so the thought of putting the bikinis back on this year got pushed to next year.  We'll see how I look and feel in seven weeks.

Holy Cow!!! I Just Saw Myself the Way Others See Me

I've mentioned before that I have a hard time seeing the changes in my body. I was just talking to my mom this week about how I don't feel like I look any different from 15lbs ago, which is where I got married, etc. She said that I see myself every day, so it's hard to notice a change in myself. Even though she said that and it made sense, I felt like 15lbs should really look different.

Sure enough, last night, I pretty much got the shock of a lifetime. Each year (since last year), we've made a year-end video of some of the best videos that year for ourselves and the grandparents. We had so many more videos this year than last, so I had the huge task of going through all of them last night and choosing which ones were going to end up on the DVD. I only made it to February before I was dealt this great shock. It was a clip of my son's 1st birthday and we were bringing him the cake for him to blow out the candle and smash it a bit. Since I was in the video, I got to see myself as other have and I didn't like what I saw.




This is a screen shot from that video and I paused it right here when I got a good look at myself. OMG!!! I've always known that I was bottom-heavy, but I didn't realize it was that bad! On this day, I was 170.8lb, so only a little over 20lb more than I currently weigh. I shudder to think what I looked like at 200lb right after I had Brady. How could nobody have stopped me in my tracks and told me how bad I really looked? I've always had a big butt and hips, so I'm sure if they told me, I would've said, "Yeah, I know," and would still have been ignorant to how bad I looked. I wish I had seen this video back then. It might have helped me get back on track a lot sooner than I did. I think the problem I have seeing a change now, is due to the fact that even though I'm much smaller, my butt and hips are still disproportionately large. Watching this video helped me realize how well I have done and although there is room for improvement, things could definitely be worse. I never want to go back to that place.

The Way You See Yourself

Sometimes it's hard looking at yourself in the mirror. You see yourself every day, so it's hard to notice weight loss. Sure your clothes fit better or are too big, but you don't notice it in the mirror. Other people tell you they notice, but you still see your flaws. When I look in the mirror, I can't tell that I look any different from when I was at 165lb (almost 7.5lb ago).

On the other hand, my clothes fit completely different. I have a ton of clothes from before I got married that still have the tags on them because I bought them a little too small and was going to work my way into them. I was between a size 12 and 13 when it came to dress pants before I got married, wore a jean size 11, and most of my dresses were sized 11 or 12. Yesterday, I wanted to prove to myself that my body is different than when I was 165lb, so I went through my closet. I was able to get into a pair of size 10 dress pants that still had the tags on and even a size 9 sun dress that I couldn't zip up when I bought it.

It feels good to see that kind of progress, but I feel like I was thinner the last time I was at this weight. When I was working my way back down post-pregnancy, I kept thinking that 155 was some magic number where I would technically be at a healthy weight and somehow I would be thin. Pictured below is a picture of me in 2007 at the beach house in VA Beach and I was 159lb. I really don't feel like my butt (my main problem area) is this small and I weigh less now. I guess you're always harsher on yourself.