Prior to Stephen and I getting married I was eating really healthy and only drinking water and although I wasn't working out at all I did manage to lose a few extra pounds before our wedding day. Don't hate me for saying this, but genetically I have always been small and of a petite build (although I must say I do have a "curvy," petite build), in my teenage years I worked out very sparingly and pretty much ate whatever I wanted with no consequences. Then fast forward to getting married, I was very happy and eating whatever I wanted, I was trying out new recipes for my new groom, and really just not watching what I was eating AT all. In nearly 4 years of marriage I put on an 20 extra lbs.! Now to some that may not seem like much, but on someone of my height and build I was getting to a point where my BMI (body mass index) was in a range that I wasn't comfortable with. Diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family and even though I am still young, I know it is in my best interest to stay in a healthy weight range for my height and make smart eating and exercising decisions.
Stephen has been away working this winter since December and I thought while he was away would be a great time for me to try to lose the extra weight I had put on and retrain my brain when it comes to my eating habits! You are beautiful just the way you are, but if you are anything like I was on my wedding day, you may want to lose a few extra pounds!
1.) My number 1 tip for losing weight and toning your body is to workout! If you are anything like me....you DO NOT enjoy working out. I have always been semi-athletic, but ever since I've been a teenager working out has always seemed like a chore to me. Figure out what sort of workout appeals to you and then go for it!! For me, I am an extrovert, so working out in a group setting or having a workout buddy to keep me accountable is HUGE! I also get bored with doing the same workout over and over and just walking on the treadmill by myself, so switching it up and doing different kinds of workouts keep me from losing interest and just doing nothing. Around the 2nd week in January to jumpstart my non-working-out-self I started a 4 week workout bootcamp by Well.Fit.Avl with Teah Boswell. We met three mornings a week at 7am in the morning and Teah walked us through different circuit training exercises and TRX training. Teah was really wonderful because she was patient with the level of fitness I was at....which let me tell you right now, wasn't very high :). I went from not working out AT all to trying to do a workout bootcamp. For me, doing the bootcamp was the perfect way to jumpstart getting in the habit of working out and making it a daily part of my life. After the bootcamp ended I have continued my habit to workout Monday-Friday! For working out now I do T-25, Jillian's 30 Day Shred, Zumba class on Thursdays, and running outside when the weather permits! There are days when I absolutely don't feel like working out, but when I push through those feelings I feel SO much better that I stayed committed and followed through with my workout. It feels amazing to be able to do certain workouts now and not feel completely winded afterwards, my fitness and endurance levels have went up so much since I started working out on a daily basis and having a flatter stomach and toned arms and legs doesn't hurt either!
2.) My 2nd tip for losing weight and getting your eating on track is to eat healthier and make choices to fuel your body vs just trying to satisfy a passing craving! It may seem like a simple thing, but making better choices when it comes to food isn't always easy. So far what has worked for me is eating mainly vegetarian Monday-Friday and then allowing myself some meat on the weekends. I cut out most bread, except for ezekiel bread, replaced juice/soda/milk with water or sparkling water, and cut out snacking on chips/crackers and cheese/cookies in between meals, etc... A typical day of eating for me usually goes like this, breakfast: one over easy egg, fruit salad and water to drink lunch: a salad with bragg's vinegarette and a boiled egg snack: 3 or 4 trader joe's chocolate covered almonds and a cutie's orange or pink lady apple dinner: sweet potato with blackbean salsa. Now when I am hungry in between meals I grab a piece of fruit or try to have a sparkling water to see if the maybe I am just mistaking thirst for hunger. Eating healthier has been fun too because I have discovered some new foods I really love like KALE! don't even get me started on kale, I love it and could eat it every single meal and it's a superfood, which is an added bonus.
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| Here are some of the delicious foods I eat!! |
3.) My last tip that really helped me lose the weight I was wanting to use, was using the My Fitness Pal App! My Fitness Pal is an app that you can download on your phone and what you do is you put in your goal weight and how many lbs you want to lose and it basically tells you how many calories a day you can eat if you want to reach that goal weight. You then use it like a food journal and track how many calories you are eating on a daily basis! Using the My Fitness Pal App is not for the faint of heart, it does require a lot of calculation and a little bit of time to sit down and track everything that you've been eating, but if you are really wanting to see how many calories you are eating, etc... My Fitness Pal is the best way to do it! I use in Monday-Friday and then on Saturday/Sunday I give myself a break from it! I don't go crazy with what I eat on the weekend, but I also don't restrict myself so much that I never get to eat anything like chocolate, Chicfila :), etc....
Here are some before and after photos :) I show you these not to show off, but just to show you some of the progress I've made :)
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| These were taken after two weeks of working out! |
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| These were taken after working out for over two months! |
These are my top 3 tips and the things that have worked from me! I started tracking what I eat in mid-December and working out in January and since I've done that I have lost a total of 15 lbs.! I started my journey not with the mindset of "oh I want to be the skinniest person in the world," I started it out wanting to get my BMI in a healthier range for my weight, improve my physical fitness level, and learning how to eat healthy and fuel my body to have energy throughout the day! I hope that maybe some of the things I've shared, can help you too in the process of preparing for your Big Day! :)
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