Sweet Otto is our last. And after 9 years of baby carrying, baby having and baby nursing it was finally time to shed the last of the pounds and get back to "normal" once again. Of course, nothing will ever be high-school-body normal again and I'm ok with that (
But nonetheless, around Christmas I knew it was time to kick things into high gear and get the ball rolling on losing the rest of those pesky pounds. My dear husband saw no need in this (he's sweet like that) but for my own sake, it needed to be done.
I have always maintained a healthy lifestyle. Workouts, eating well, watching the sweets intake, denying myself too many rich foods, etc... but when one is trying to kick things into high gear ~ more drastic measures must be taken.
I thought over the next few Mondays I would share a few things that have worked for me. Since Christmas, I did indeed lose those last few pesky pounds (which wasn't easy now that I have said hello to my 30's) and I dropped a couple of pants sizes...which was a fete in and of itself since I have been the same pant size for a decade even if I did fluctuate in weight.
(Honestly, it kind of feels weird blogging about this. I'm typically very private about these sorts of things. But I know it may help encourage some of you that have too been struggling at getting back to your optimum size so I wanted to open the dialog.)
The word of the week is avocados. These little gems are not only super yummy but are full of yummy goodness. I am no nutritionist and I won't try to convince you to go buy a truckload of them at Sam's. But for me they really have been a great way to get some protein and good fat in my diet over the past 3 months.
In high school I went through a period of non-eating. I wouldn't say I was anorexic...I don't like to label it that way, but I did quit eating for quite a period of time and that wasn't good. Thankfully I have been able to use that experience to help other girls who struggle with those same feelings of negative self-worth. It was a learning experience.
With that said, I learned my lesson back then that the way to lose weight is not to cut calories and fat out of your diet. Yes, there should be some correction in the daily diet intake, but to eliminate fats all together...that is a no-no. Avocados have lots of good things going for them and for me, half of an avocado with a sprinkling of goat cheese on a light rye Wasa Cracker is the best mid-afternoon energy boosting snack imaginable.
Occasionally it will also make an appearance at lunch (if you read my "about" section, you'll see that I have a fondness for avocados) with a bowl of soup.
I do exercise 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week (after the boys are in bed), doing this program and I keep things like flour and sugar to a minimum throughout the week. There are definitely some other tricks up my sleeve that I'll share in coming Mondays.
I'd love to hear what you think...what works for you...what doesn't. Its definitely a topic we can all learn from each other on!
