Day 6: I Stuck to a Schedule

For the record- I hate dial up internet.-since I am visiting the FARM this weekend,  I have no choice.  The previous version has been interlaced w programming code. So here is a summary of the original post.

I found that with a baby in the house following a schedule became very important.  I also discovered that when I ate my meals and snacks at the same time of the day, I ate less and didn't become ravenously hungry. This continues in my life today.  My family is on the same schedule.  Sure we eat at the same time as 80 year olds, but we eat together- at the table, with no other distractions. No TV, cell phones, facebook or toys. We talk to each other.  Sure Toby shovels it in while James complains that it looks awful- but we sit there together.

Once I returned to work, I continued the routine to fit my school day.  I left my snacks where I could see them throughout the day.  This kept my hand out of the candy jar and away from the food that was carried in for meetings.  My students are allowed to have snacks through the day so they didn't mind me eating an apple or banana in front of them.  Still to this day one of my little nuggets will bring me in a juicy apple-it's a great treat.  

I started a walking routine soon after returning to work.  I would walk a little in the morning and then a little after dinner.  James didn't mind being plopped in the umbrella stroller.  In fact, he would get excited.  I found the morning walk helped me awaken for the day and the evening walk helped to calm my mind down from a busy day at work.  This also got me out of some bad habits like plopping down on the couch and eating out of boredom.  On the other hand, this is the Julie Matt was used to, the one he married.  He encouraged me often, but eventually the nightly walk got old and he complained that it took too much time.  That's when I switched my workout routine to the morning when everyone was still asleep. 

When people say to me, "I don't have time at night."  I ask how much TV they watch.  If you need more time in your day, stop watching TV.  Trust me- on your death bed you will not sit up and say, "I wish I watched more TV!" My older son loves riding his bike while I pull T$ in the wagon or push him in the stroller.  When people say, "My family isn't very active."  I say then be the example.  Once I started walking with James at night and I became more physically active, my husband started joining our walk.  Your kids will inevitably follow your lead.  James runs in the Turkey run with us each year.  We race, play tag, throw whatever kind of ball around the backyard we can get our hands on.  If I still weighed 254 lbs- I know James would be struggling with weight issues, too. I would not want to go outside and play or give airplane rides till my glutes were on fire.  James would be addicted to TV and video games and many other distractions in life. 

Day 5: I Found Inspiration

At this point in my life, there were 2 inspiring forces that guided me through the negative thoughts that would creep through my mind. 

1. Theresa- Those of you who knew her know how amazing and inspirational she was.  Theresa wasn't just a cousin, she was a mentor to me.  She was an amazing spirit- I still see her laughing, crying eyes when her image pops in my mind.  Having a newborn is tough.  Sleep deprivation, wrapped with working full time and raising a family is a struggle in itself.  I found my mantra during those first few months.  It went, "If Theresa can_(insert whatever obstacle she was facing here)__ then I can_(insert whatever hiccup I was facing here)__." I started wearing a LiveStrong bracelet as a reminder to myself.  Eventually, I bought a St. Theresa medal which I still wear today.  Theresa continues to push me through the tough times and I still talk with her often. She still continues to inspire me to DO better, to BE better.

1. The Boy- now BOYS.  At this point of my life-with Theresa's ongoing struggle with cancer, I knew that I needed to change my lifestyle to be the best mother I could be.  That meant making life changes that would keep me in their lives for as long as possible.  My eating and lack of any physical exercise were leading me down a spiral of uncertainty.  I knew my weight was going to hold me back in playing with James and my eating habits would lead to awful mood swings.  That's a playground ride nobody wanted to be around. 

I keep pictures of Theresa and The Boys around places I frequent often.  My fridge, file cabinet at school and in the living room.  A little visual reminder never hurts!

Day 4: I Crashed- HARD

The first 10 day of my new lifestyle were a roller coaster.  I felt sick, I had headaches, I shook (worse than normal), I cried, I was moody...my body went through sugar withdrawal.  I was a mess.  Let's be honest, sugar is addicting.  Whether it's in soda, candy, fast/processed food, desserts- wherever it was in my diet- my body missed it and it wanted it back! 

My husband stood by my side those 2 weeks and kept encouraging me.  I had yet to clean out cabinets and cupboards, so I was still eating quite a bit more sugar than I do today, but I found a few things that would help me out

1. I drank water.  Gallons of water.  Does that sound boring?  Try flavored Sparkling Water- I know people would argue that it isn't completely healthy- to that I say: BACK OFF.  Step by Step, Day  by Day.  WalMart carries a brand that I still drink today.  Fabulous flavors.  Today, thanks to a fabulous sister-in-law, I have a SodaStream and make my own sparkling water. 

2. Sugarfree Gum- I would chew this often between meals and snacks.  Since I am a stress eater, it kept my mind and mouth occupied. 

3. I occupied my mind- whether with word finds, crossword puzzles, reading a good book, whatever- I took my mind off of it's favorite subject- FOOD.  This meant I also stopped watching the Food Network!

Day 3: I Planned my Meals Ahead

Each week I sat down and planned my family's meals.  This mostly pertained to dinners.  That way I wasn't scrambling at the last minute to order in or go out to eat.  In fact, in the beginning, we stopped going out to eat.  We used to eat out 2-3 times per week.  Trust me when I say that I didn't get to 254 pounds because I was ordering salad.  In fact, I would hit up a drive thru for a sandwich and another drive thru for fries.  Driving down Broadway, the fast food sign call out- constantly.

Eventually, when James was born, the not going out to eat wasn't a big deal.  Taking a baby to a restaurant isn't a relaxing experience.  When I wold travel to the farm and back, I packed a cooler- I know you are rolling your eyes.  But, it kept healthy foods within arm reach and stopped me from hitting up a drive thru or pulling into a gas station for a Super Rope.

I brought a weeks worth of lunches to work on Monday morning.  I love lemon chicken orzo soup, quinoa, wild rice, wraps.  That way I could have healthy choices and not be rushed each morning. 
I also premade breakfast options my favorite is The Stinky Burrito (Thanks James) and Steel Cut Oatmeal.  See recipes below. Yes it took planning and time- most of which came from Sunday nap time.

The Stink Burrito Breakfast Wrap
1 Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortilla
Egg Writes w/ pepper
1 TBS Black Beans
1 TBS Salsa (This could be substituted for Mangoes, Avocado Slices, hummus, etc.)
I make a batch of 12- wrap in foil and pop in freezer.

Fall Oatmeal
1//4 Steal Cut Oats (cook by directions on package)
I use Water
1 TBS Pumpkin Puree
Sprinkle w/ cinnamon
Add some Cranberries and Pecan chips
Stir

I use other ingredients in spring/ summer: blueberries, strawberries, mangoes- all can be bought frozen and kept in freezer.

Day 2: I Stopped Lying to Myself

Lie #1: "I don't care that I'm fat, I'm happy and it isn't affecting my health." This is the mantra I told myself from the time I was a junior in high school.  Then it did- affect my health that is.  It took 3 years for us to get pregnant with James.  My doctor told me in passing, "you could lose 20 pounds. But that will take a while."  He put me on fertility drugs and eventually I became a 254 pound pregnant woman.  5 months later I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Lie #2: "I don't eat that many calories."  I had to meet with a nutritionist as part of my GD diagnosis.  She had me fill in a meal plan, which I complete lied on.  I remember writing that I had a turkey sandwich, grapes and baby carrots for lunch.  Um, not true-AT ALL.  She took my fabricated meal plan and left the room.  Coming back she said, "Julie you are consuming 2400 calories a day."  Uh- if my made up plan was too many calories, what was the real one?  I remember her saying a serving size of grapes should be about 10. 10?  Seriously?  Who eats 10 grapes?

So, I took baby steps.  I switched to eating off a salad plate for my meals to keep portion size under control and I stopped having seconds.  The next week I stopped drinking soda and carried around a refillable water container.  Sure at first I added Crystal Light Packets for sweetness and then cut back on those, too.  The next week I started eating 3 smaller meals and 2 snacks. Week 4 I sat down and stopped lying to myself.  I logged on to SparkPeople created an account, Put in my weight and logged my calories for 1 day.  It was just for me- no nutritionist, no doctor, just me.  I made a pledge not to lie to myself about what I ate anymore.  I went back and really checked to see the nutritional content of what I was eating- It was 3500 calories a day!

SparkPeople is a fabulous free weight loss tool.  There are exercise trackers, meal trackers, online communities and so much more.  I found it very motivating, because I didn't want to go into a gym or sign up for another program, I was a little embarrassed of my weight- that and most people couldn't tell I was pregnant. There are also apps like Lose it or DigiFit for your iPhone.  I've used several.

 I ended my pregnancy at 244 pounds by the way- 10 pounds less than where I was when I started.

30 Days of Wellness

30 Days of Wellness


Well here it is. 30 days with me and the voice in my head. I've been thinking about many things recently past, present and future and they all have one thing in common- ME! :) I've been running into several people from my past recently- people who I have not seen in many years. People who now recognize me even though on the outside I have totally transformed my appearance. Many ask, how did you do it? I ask myself, "how do I keep doing it?" So here it is 30 Days of How I Keep Doing It.

Many of my new friends and acquaintances have no idea who this is:

Look closely, I'm under there. 6+ years ago, this is what I looked like on the outside. Now, depending on the day of the week or hour of the day, there is someone else standing in front of you. Sure she maybe sneaking in the back door of school 2 minutes before the bell rings with 6 bags, her shirt on backwards and inside out, taking 2 seconds to inhale deeply and exhale slowly- but that person in the photograph above is still a part of me.

Throughout all of this, I tell people, it's not about the weight. (Thanks, Lance.) It's not a number on the scale, or how many calories I burned that day. Bottom line- it's about what I fed my body. I cannot be mentally or physically healthy without making conscious choices.

2 confessions:

1. I am a stress eater. When stress rears its nasty head, you will see me reach for the candy bowl or tiptoe to hide in the kitchen with whatever I can get my mits on.

Stress has reared its ugly head in my life. Like, most of the world, the economy has impacted my family in ways that I can't begin to describe. My husband lost his job in March of 2010- 3 weeks before my son Toby was born. Since then, he has gone back to school fulltime for nursing and works part time at Menards. So my role in our family has changed. Not only, am I the breadwinner, I teach fulltime (only my fellow teachers truly understand what this is like), I also have had to add other jobs on to my already amazingly hectic whirlwind of a day. To help supplement our income I tutor and teach cycling at the Y. I needed to keep a gym membership- a gym that has a pool and provides daycare so that I can work with other people on their own road to wellness. As Covey would say- Win-Win. I also feel like a single mom- which many of you reading this are.

2. I started this rapped weight gain in the 4th grade, possibly when my best friend moved away. I spent my teens overweight, college life overweight and the first 5 years of my marriage weighing 250+ pounds. (This will be a future post- has my weight loss affected my marriage?)

With that said. I know what it's like to "be there". To stand on the scale with 100+ pounds to loose and think, "I can't do that." Staring 100+ pounds down is like handing someone a pair of running shoes and saying, "Today you're running a marathon. Ready- Set- Go!" Get real. I broke it down step by step- day by day. So I will spend the next 30 days letting you know how. How I did it and how I keep doing it. Step by step- day by day.

New Day

Excuses don't help you reach you goals.  That's an interesting mission.  Man, life sure has thrown me for a loop over the past year.  But starting today, my life takes on that mission.  I need to get back on track and focused on getting back in control.  The stress has been overwhelming.  The first step is to let go of some of that stress and put myself "back on the list" so that I can be the best me I can be.

So I start today at 150 lbs and happy that I have 2 of the best boys, a loving husband and an incredible support circle that would do anything.  So, sugar be gone! I have my running shoes, road bike, water bottle and a more positive outlook.  Deep breathes, LIFE IS GOOD.