30 x 30: Week One

I promise, The Writer Chic is not going to turn into a weight loss blog.  But it will continue to be a diary of my life, and right now, a big part of my life is consciously working to improve my health through what I eat and how (if?) I exercise, so, there you have it.  Once a week – most likely Monday – I’m going to post a recap of the week: what I’ve learned, where I’ve struggled, recipes I’ve found that I want to share, and of course, how I’m doing at tackling my goals, phase by phase.

First of all, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for the outpouring of support.  In addition to the comments left on the introductory post, I also received emails, texts, and phone calls, overwhelming me with “you can do it” and “I’m gonna do this with you” and “I’m proud of you” sentiments.  Knowing y’all are cheering me on is a huge inspiration to keep at it and stay accountable.

At the suggestion of several people, I checked out My Fitness Pal.

I. Love. It.

It’s basically an e-diary: a place I can log in everything I eat (which is super easy using their database) and it’ll calculate the nutritional information; in addition, I log my cardio and strength training exercise.  Using those two things, and factoring in my current weight and goals, it basically does all the “paper” work for me.

After only one week, here is why I capital-L love MFP.

I’ve never bothered to count calories or read nutritional labels, except maybe to say to Jim, “Holy cow, there is a TON of sodium in this,” but yet proceed to prepare the whatever-it-is anyway.  Being able to see the caloric value of a food before I chose to eat it has been not just eye-opening, but also revolutionary.

For example:  I didn’t start tracking my calories until Monday, July 5.  Sunday, July 4, I had 4 – yes, FOUR – cans of Dr. Pepper at our picnic.  Believe you me, if I'd been the least bit aware that this indulgence packed a whopping 800 calories, I’d’ve been drinking water.  I actually went back into the July 4 record and plugged in all I could remember eating at the picnic, and was so sad to see that dinner alone earned me over 2,700 calories.  Even with the extra 500 calories that I’m allotting for exclusively nursing Erin, that is still way, way more than I need – and it was only that ONE MEAL!!!

All that to say, I’m not going to deprive myself of the occasional Cranberry Sprite from Sonic or homemade iced hazelnut mocha, but for sure, “all things in moderation” has taken on new meaning.

I know some people firmly believe that “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”  And good for them.  I, however, probably side more with (yes, her again) Blair, who so eloquently said what so many of us (really) think about that logic:

“BULL.  I can think of a ton of things that taste better than skinny feels.  Pizza, Oreos, warm chocolate chip cookies on ice cream with caramel sauce, loaded baked potatoes, Bloomin’ Onions, heavy beers, french fries, burgers with fried eggs on them…all of those things taste WAY better than skinny jeans feel.”

Not so in sync with the whole “burgers with fried eggs on them” part, but as for her general attitude?  I’m with ya, sister.

That said, I felt fantastic in both body and mind when I sat down with dessert on Tuesday:

Whereas before, I would have loaded up one of my World Market mugs with decadent brownie-studded double chocolate chunk ice cream drizzled with my homemade chocolate-fondue-turned-fudge ( a horrendous 810 calories), on Tuesday, I chose to have a half-cup of strawberry ice cream with a couple spoons full of fresh sliced berries (a respectable 129 calories).

Again, not that I’ll never again indulge in the “before” – after all, I have just discovered that Hershey’s makes Dark Chocolate Fudge ice cream topping.  I’m just saying it was really empowering to make a choice that was not only healthier, but completely satisfying.

Moving on…. ;)

I purchased the infamous Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD, and plan to tackle it in earnest after our next trip to Ohio towards the end of the month.  Until then, I’m enjoying just trying to be more active in general (when the weather has cooperated, which hasn’t been too much).  And also, if anybody has any good recommendations of mommy-and-baby exercises I can do with Erin, I’d LOVE to hear them.

I didn’t think to take measurements or a “before” picture on the 5th when this started, but have done so today, so I’ll be able to share measurement progress along with weight loss as we go through the summer.

But for now, I at least can share, happily, that I did indeed lose weight this week:  4 lbs.!

Thank you, again, so much for all your encouragement and support. Whether or not the actual 30 lbs. comes off by the big 3-0 day, I know that this change is going to be HUGE for me, no matter what the scale reads.  (The other half of my wardrobe will be happy to see me again, too, and the feeling is VERY mutual.)

This post is linked to Blair’s guest host for McFatty Monday, 30+ Mommyhood.