- 40 years old (born September 1968).
- a stay at home mom, to
- seven fabulous (intelligent, handsome, delightful...) children (products of seven full-term pregnancies), and I
- homeschool the K-8 graders. My eldest went to high school this year.
This is the story of my weight, so I guess I'll let it all hang out (ahem).
- I gained about 20-30 pounds every pregnancy.
- Sometimes I lost all the weight postpartum, sometimes I kept 10 or so pounds.
- Baby number seven was born 1.5 years before my 20-year high school reunion. I managed (quite easily) while I was breastfeeding him to lose all the weight, and was back to my pre-seven-pregnancies weight about six months before the reunion. *face-cracking grin*
- I lost it primarily through food diaries and tracking calories. Because I was breastfeeding a baby I added 500 calories per day to all the recommended amounts, and I lost steadily and well. (Huge thumbs up for all the tools at SparkPeople.com, without which I never would have counted calories or learned so much about my eating habits.)
- I've always been an exerciser—mainly walking, aerobics, a little weight training. Not long after baby seven, I took up jogging for the first time.
- After the reunion (June 2007) I gained a few, maybe three, pounds on a family vacation. Then weight started creeping on last November (2007) around Thanksgiving time, and by January I had gained a total of ten pounds.
- I didn't lose it, mainly because I didn't cut back on portions or cut out yummys. I made halfhearted attempts here and there, and one good attempt that was thwarted by yet another family vacation. Darn road trip snack foods!
- Then I decided to stop weighing myself and go with other indicators of weight loss. (Bad idea. Five more pounds gained, woohoo.)
So that brings me to present day. Well, it brings me to two weeks ago. I was looking at pictures and didn't like what I saw, especially when compared to how I looked at my high school reunion. It was time to get serious. I attacked my cardio (a combination of walking and jogging) more faithfully and more regularly, and I started the difficult process of gathering my willpower into a cloak around me so I could resist evil cookies and treats. I have such a sweet tooth.
And then I found Eat Stop Eat, just crazily came across it one day. I have somewhat of a hobby of reading information about diet and exercise. I feel pretty well informed, though I still occasionally come across something "new" that revises my opinions a little, or gives them more depth. Years ago research might send me off my path in a wide zig, only to head back toward the path later on another zag; but but the longer I've studied and read the more my path has narrowed and my philosophy has developed. I believe in a healthy, varied diet (meat-free in my case, my reason for being vegetarian is another topic), not too high in fat. And after multiple pregnancies I believe, very strongly, that there is no magic bullet in weight loss. It comes down to burning more than I consume, whether that deficit is created by eating less, exercising more, or some combination.
In the last year I've discovered a few zigs which were not in line with the adages and pat advice one usually hears in the magazines or talk shows about weight loss. We're always cautioned against eating too little lest we trigger "starvation mode" where the body clings to every cell of fat and every calorie consumed; but I don't think that starvation mode is as easily entered as the dire warnings, and I don't believe metabolisms are as easily destroyed. We're told to start with an easy amble, and to work our way up to longer and more strenuous walks or other heartrate-sustaining exercise finally adding in a little strength training; a week's worth of intense research convinced me that strength training is far more important for burning fat (and only fat, not muscle) in weight loss than cardio/aerobics is.
But the difficult thing for anyone who wants real results in weight loss is the whole, well, food thing. How often do we hear, "You've got to EAT to LOSE WEIGHT!" and our brains think, don't we have to not eat? Eat less? Cut out certain things?
So quite by accident I stumbled on Eat Stop Eat, which advocates (1) periodic fasting, 24-hours twice a week, to create a calorie deficit, and (2) strength training, to preserve muscle mass and keep the metabolism stimulated. I can't cite all of the studies and sources I've read (I never keep those sorts of paper trails, I just learn and keep it in my brain and add to it without being able to deliver proof), but Eat Stop Eat is right in line with what I currently believe. Eat less. Exercise more. Metabolism isn't in dire danger. Self control is imperative.
So here's the new plan:
- Healthy, controlled eating, with
- Two 24-hour fasts per week.
- Cardio 3 days per week (I love it!), two days of intervals and one of steady-state probably (that's always open to how I'm feeling and my inclinations).
- Strength training 2-3 times per week.
You see, I'm just an average gal. I'm no gym rat. I don't even have a local gym—I'd have to drive 40 miles to get to one, and due to money and time restraints that just ain't happening. So I have my running shoes, I have my system of keeping warm in the autumn and winter outdoors, I have cardio DVDs for when the weather sucks too much, and I have hand weights and this fabulous DVD for strength training. (Seriously, read the reviews on that thing. Overwhelmingly positive, and I add my five stars. So worth the $10 to get six workouts.) I can only give it 30-45 minutes per day, that's all I have. It has to be good enough.
Problem: I haven't been able to actually buy the Eat Stop Eat e-book yet. I've just had to stitch together from the free emailings I signed up for at the site, an audio interview, and reviews of other people following the plan what the program is, until the next paycheck. Ack, $30 is holding me back.
But! I am not holding me back anymore!
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