75.20.5 <-- the magical formula

Losing weight sounds like it would be an easy thing... in theory. We've all heard it a bazillion and three times - to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you take in. In layman's terms; work out more, eat less. And while this IS an accurate way of losing weight, it's not the magical formula. If it were that simple, I'm sure there would not be the obesity epidemic that we are seeing everywhere we go.
Now I'm no doctor, or nutritionist, or trainer or... professional anything, so please take this with a grain of salt and know that it's only my opinion. Losing weight is about so much more than workout more, eat less. So here is where my magical formula comes into play. Losing weight is 75% diet, 20% exercise and 5% is hormones/genetics. Shall I explain?
We'll start with the smallest, 5% - Our hormones and genetics. It plays a roll in HOW we gain weight (where it likes to congregate on our bodies) and how we lose weight. Our hormones tell our brains "Yo, it's a good time to shed some of these extra pounds!" or "Dude, I think we need to hold onto this fluff for a bit longer!". This is why some women find it super easy to lose weight while nursing and others find their weight loss stalls - nursing hormones tell our bodies how we should handle fat storage. Genetics tells our fat storage where to put it.
Onto exercise - a whopping 20%. I'll break it down. One pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day, by doing nothing but being muscly. One pound of fat, doing nothing but being jiggley, will only burn 4 calories a day.Your muscles work way harder for you. So working out and getting muscles is great for weight loss, because the more muscle you have, the more calories you can burn.
Diet. If you are seriously serious about losing weight, then THIS is where you need to work. Most people really have a terrible relationship with food. Whether it's overeating or under eating, eating crappy food all of the time, or beating yourself up for eating crappy food once in awhile. Food is the issue. Do you eat when you're bored or stressed or sad or lonely? Do you mindlessly nibble when there is food laid out in front of you? Do you buy yourself that chocolate bar, even though you know you shouldn't, then hide in the car and eat it as fast as you can so no one else knows about it? And then do you hate yourself for it? Food relationships. There are a ton of diet crazes that go around; low carb, low fat, paleo, gluten free. One of those diets might work for you, all of them might, or none of them might. We are individuals and as such, our bodies will react differently to different foods. Just because your cousin swore off bread and lost 20lbs, doesn't mean bread is your problem... The problem is putting crap in your body, putting foods into your body that your whole system doesn't know how to handle. Processed sugars, for example, you eat it, get a sugar high, then crash - because your body is short circuiting. Our organic bodies are not sure how to process and use up 'foods' that aren't so natural - so they hold onto fat, they spike blood sugar, they send code to the brain to react like we're starving or addicted. The cure? Eat real food. Cut out the processed junk. Retrain your body and your taste buds to enjoy the real flavors of natural food - the crisp sweet/tart taste of an apple, the watery green taste of a cucumber, the warmth of a peach. Also, watch how your body reacts to foods. Do you get bloated after eating pasta or bread? Does dairy upset your belly? We've gotten so accustomed to just eating for the sake of eating, that we don't watch our hunger cues anymore and we don't watch how food effects our bodies. If it makes you physically uncomfortable, then maybe it's a food that you shouldn't eat.
Ok, I'm blabbing on and on here. Point to this blog: there are lots of different factors to losing weight. So if you are on a weight loss journey, don't lose hope, don't get discouraged. Also, don't buy into the mass produced weight loss theories and diet plans. Eat real food and watch how it effects your body, workout to gain muscle that works FOR you instead of against you, and remember that YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL in all the shapes and sizes you come in.

Breaking Point

Everyone has their breaking point. That one thing that pushes them into action. It can be when that favorite pair of jeans stops fitting right. Or when you notice you're out of breath from doing something like walking up a flight of stairs. Sometimes it's when someone makes a comment. And once in awhile it happens when you finally look in the mirror. Like really look. Clothes off, lights on, so this is what the world sees when they look at me, looking.
I've always been curvy... ok curvy is putting a nice spin on my bumps and lumps... but for the sake of conversation, I've always been curvy. Sometimes my hips bulge out of my jeans. Sometimes my thighs are too big for the shorts I want to wear. Sometimes my tummy jiggles. Ok, a lot of the time, my tummy jiggles. But never have I been large enough to have a fold.
So let me do some Jiggley Mommy definitions for ya:

• Jiggley: parts of the body that may move on their own. Or that keep moving after intentional movement has stopped. It can also be when your have a crazy dance party and you shake all the parts of your body at the same time.
• Curves: Nice, rounded lines of the body.
• Bumps and Lumps: When curves have babies - when the flowing rounded lines of the body become a little less fluid and well... lumpy.
• Fold: When two Bumps and/or Lumps expand and start to hang out...or when one Bump and/or Lump expands and hangs OVER another...

Back to me being curvy. Ok, so in recent years I've been more bumpy and lumpy than curvy, but it is what it is. The other day I was stressing about getting my picture taken - like most mum's I'm behind the camera about 98% of the time. I undressed and stood in the middle of my room and looked at all the clothes that are no longer in season or fashion, all the clothes that don't fit properly, all the cheap 'this will do until I lose the weight' clothes, all the maternity clothes or clothes I could wear when I was pregnant... none of it made me feel good. None of it was even remotely close to pulling on a pair of special jeans that just make you feel HOT. No shirt or tunic or sweater that sufficiently camouflaged my plus sized figure. And then I noticed it. An almost fold. Not a 'sitting down so my body has extra rolls and bulges and what-have-yous'. Nope. A fold on my hip, where the bump of my stretched out belly meets the lump of my [oh so favorite part of my body] hip. Not quite an overhang, but... a fold.
It was like a slap. Sharp. Fast. To the point. It's time to make my health more of a priority. It's time to stop making excuses and getting down about no results. It's time to reach out for support, to ask for help and accountability. It's time to show myself that I CAN do it, if I just TRY. Breaking point, reached.

First Steps

So now that I am post pregnancy, I know it's time to step up my game and get rid of the jiggle. Having an infant definitely puts a little bit of a speed bump on my path to skinny; he wants to eat anywhere between every hour to every 3 hours. And you never really know which it'll be until he starts eying up my boobs and making his ever so cute little grunt/fuss/screech. Add to that, with my hubby working away, it's just me and the boys ALL.THE.TIME. Sawyer is a little bit young for a teenage babysitter (in my opinion) and my mum isn't available often.
Excuse. Excuse. Excuse. Excuse. Excuse.
I can come up with a dozen more, if you'd like. But I won't. Because really, these excuses don't really matter to anyone else. They only matter to me, and only then they matter because I let them hold me back. I know I'm not alone here - there are thousands of women who let their kids or lack of time for themselves hold them back. So how can we move past it?
First things first; WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, IN GETTING HEALTHY?
Is it losing weight? Or getting stronger? Do you want to start eating better, cleaner? Do you want to be able to run or even walk without getting winded? Or do you want to show your kids that being active is important? Do you want to do something alone or with a group? With your kids or without? What about your partner? This is the first step.
What's important to me? I want to lose weight. I want to be stronger. I want to eat better; I want my family to eat better. I want to do something FOR ME, without having a child hanging off my leg or my arm or my boob. First step complete - onto the second; Translating what's important to me, into an action plan.

The Scale

It's incredible that one small piece of equipment has the ability to make you dance for joy in your underwear and the next day make you a sobbing puddle on the floor. The scale. We love to hate it. We wait with baited breath for that little number to dip just a bit lower. We stand absolutely still, in the exact same spot, at the exact same time, to measure the smallest of changes. We are over the moon when the number drops, even just a little; we disintegrate into dejection, feelings of failure and even depression when the number creeps up, even just a little. We are slaves to the scale.
One of the most important lessons I've learned the hard way, is to put away the scale. I may not have lost a whole bunch of weight, I might not be able to do 50lbs rows, I may fluctuate and fall off the wagon, but I try not to don't weigh myself anymore. Why? Because I don't want my happiness or feelings of success to rely on one little (or more accurately, not so little) number.
I can lift more. I can go farther. I can push harder. My jeans are a little bigger. My arms don't stretch out my shirts anymore. I don't hurt so much. I actually enjoy working out (most of the time). I feel lethargic and kind of gross when I don't make it to the gym at least twice a week. These are how I measure my success.
So if you want my secret to successfully getting healthy... here it is: toss the scale. Find something that is more important than that one number to measure against. If you screw up, miss the gym, binge on treats, eat at big delicious greasy burger - so what?! Use every day as your starting point. Every morning that you wake up, be thankful to be alive and start again. Make good choices, move your body and tell yourself that you are capable of anything!

Being "Defeated"

It had been brought to my attention that I use the word "defeat(ed)" often. As in "I ate sucky today; I'm so defeated." or "I'm defeated, I barely worked out this week at all!". So what does 'being defeated' really mean?

The actual definition says that defeat is a concrete thing. It's a loss. One side conquers while the other is defeated. It's failing to the point of not being able to try again. It's laying down and being done. Dead. Defeat is death.
I'm not dead. I am not laying down saying "I'm done. I can't go on." I have not failed so miserably at life that I do not have a second chance at ANYTHING. 

Defeat does not lay at the bottom of a cheesecake. Or a bad week. Defeat does not stalk sleepless nights and whiny children to pounce on me when it's been rough. Defeat does not hover like a grey cloud. But my use of the word does hover. It's self-sabotaging. For one little stumble, I am saying "I can't do this" and that's just not the case. I've come so far, I've learned how to pick myself back up after falling off the 'wagon' (even if it takes a little pouting first). I've surrounded myself with people who are on a similar journey and can relate and support me in my mine. I am nowhere near defeated, and I don't plan on giving up anytime soon.

Weigh-in and Measurements

Well I guess I need someone (somewhere) to be accountable to. I am halfway through MW 6 week challenge. It's still an enjoyable workout, but this last week I haven't had it in me to go over and above the workout. Maybe next week.
Soooo, here it goes. I started trying to get healthier when I stopped nursing, 9 months ago. My very first weigh-in was painful. I weighed in at 170.1lbs, chest 37.25", waist 32.75", hips 46.75", thighs 29.75". I knew I was big, but the numbers still surprised me.
Today I am 161lbs, chest 34.5", waist 30.5", hips 43", thighs 25". That is an loss of 13.5 inches and 9lbs. That is only a pound a month, but this has been very VERY stubborn baby weight.

I am trying so hard to look at the inch loss, instead of the pounds lost. Thirteen and a half inches is an accomplishment. I am down 2-3 pant sizes. This means that I can go into almost any store to buy clothes now. This loss also means that I don't get winded running after my busy toddler or going up a flight of stairs. I think I've done a good job. I haven't joined a gym (although for awhile I was a part of a club that challenged each other physically and nutritionally) and I haven't 'dieted'. I have just been more conscious of what I put in my mouth and when. I am trying to be more active. I'm trying to be a better role model for my son. And above all else, I'm trying to love myself, no matter what size I am or what I think I see in the mirror.

Week One

I started EA Active: More Workouts (the 6 week challenge), this week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday's are workout days. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday's for for rest. I think working out at least 4 times a week is a pretty good improvement over... sitting at the computer. I got all the workouts done this week (yay me!) and even threw in some extra cardio step sessions (using the Everlast Step to raise the board an additional 3"). Gotta say, I'm a big fan of the step stuff in More Workouts (MW)! It's really fast paced and gets me sweating - although I'd love to see some alternating with the starting foot. I was supposed to do workout #4 yesterday, but I just couldn't find the time or the energy or the motivation to do it. I made up for it tonight, but I didn't go as hard as I feel like I should have. Note to self: eating a big pasta dinner and working out is not such a great idea! Don't lose motivation Mommy - Let's lose that Jiggle!
Tomorrow going to weigh myself (insert horror movie "bah bahbahhhh" here). Do I have the guts to post that gruesome number on the interweb? We'll see.

The Jiggley Mommy Begins (again)

I've dieted. I've taken 'vitamins'. I've worked out so hard I threw up. I've swam, I've walked, I've stretched. Yet, I'm still Jiggley. I refuse to call myself the F word (fat) or the even worse O word (obese) - because those are such ugly words. I jiggle. I don't jiggle where it would be nice to have a bit of extra bounce - most of me jiggles. I jiggle because last week I ate close to 3 dozen cookies - I ate those cookies because I was lonely and overworked and feeling blue. I jiggle because when I got pregnant with my son (in 2008) it was a free ticket to eat what I wanted when I wanted. I jiggle because I've never really learned my body's "full" cues, and because I eat in front of the tv most nights, and because I enjoy a snack at night. I jiggle because at some point I made a choice to either put something in my mouth or to not get off the couch/computer chair or BOTH.
So here I go again, on a journey to get myself eating better and moving more and feeling BETTER. Today is the first day of the rest of my life, blah blah blah and all that other garbage. The fact is, the first day of my life was way back in the 80's when it was the norm to sit in front of the tv for hours on end and stuff as much processed junk into your mouth as you can. At least, that's how I remember it. But I digress... Today is the first day, of many hard days, that I am making a promise to myself to be healthier. Today I'm promising my son and my husband that I'm going to try to be a better role model and partner in health.
So what is my plan of action? Long term, like years down the road? I have no idea. I hope that eventually eating well and being active will just become such a normal part of my life that it doesn't feel like work anymore. How long will that take?? Good question - and again, I have no clue. For now, I'm looking at short term goals. I will workout 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes (just got EA Active: More Workouts and so far it's great!), I will drink at least 2 litres of water a day, I will refrain from snacking past 8:30pm, and I will try to be conscious of what I put into my mouth. Now all that, spread out nicely in front of me, looks like it might be a tall order. I'm just going to take it one day at a time. If I screw up, then tomorrow is a new day to start again. Right now I am a 30 year old stay at home mom who can barely find clothes that fit without going into a specialty plus sized store. And I'm sick of it. Join me on my journey?