my weight-loss

the journey

these days, i'm bobbing between 158 and 160, but everything is definitely smoother and slimmer. it's so cool to fit into college jeans. as a matter of fact, my college jeans are loose. that's pretty crazy and super cool. i'm getting compliments which feels awesome! used to be, if someone asked if i'd lost weight, i'd totally be offended, even if i had. how dare someone notice that i had weight to spare and actually spared it. now, i'm proud to say that my ass is smaller. and, i'm quick to let them know that i work hard for it. i definitely have a positive attitude this time around. before, dieting was war between me and myself.

thinking back, i've never been a thin girl. my lightest weight was about 140 and i'm 5'6", so that's not too tiny. my weight started to go up around 2007. that was not my best year. i was pretty active before that. i ran 5 miles about 3 days a week and weight trained. i was militant about what i ate. until one day, i decided i wasn't going to run, and i never ran again. day by day, i began eating worse and worse. then, i woke up one morning and undressed to take a shower. i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and in an instant my throat closed up, my heart dropped into my stomach, and eyes filled with tears. i couldn't believe the person staring back at me was me. i didn't know what hurt worse...that i looked so bad or that i felt so sad.

i was pretty big. i'm gonna show you some picture not even my husband has seen!

and i loved to eat!

and here's a full body shot...i can't believe i'm showing you this.

that's my beautiful mom!

i knew it was time to make some serious changes.

i began walking around the block and within a couple months i was jogging again...2 whole miles! eating a healthier diet followed with ease. with a new outlook and an active lifestyle, i knew 11oz ribeyes topped with herb compound butter, truffled potatoes, and gruyere brioche was not a dinner appropriate for typical weeknight, much less every night. so, i followed my dad's advice, "sneak a salad in now and then." this coming from the man that gave me jack in the box or captain d's as my options for breakfast...when i was 4 years old. i was a chubby kid...who am i kidding, i was fat, cute, but fat.

at any rate, i lost about 40 pounds in the next year. at 170, i felt amazing! i was on a roll.

and then, life decides to happen...even if you're not ready for it.

march 2009, my baby sister got sick, very sick. and for the next four months, i was traveling to and from Singapore to be with her and my family. needless to say, healthy food and exercise were not my top priority. my days were spent next to her hospital bed, holding her hand, singing to her...hoping she knew i was by her side. it was heartbreaking to see her in such a fragile state, knowing i had just spent an incredible month with her over the holidays.

in may, we flew her to Texas Children's Hospital. but, she was just too weak. a month later, she died...a month shy of her 18th birthday.

the month my sister became ill, i met my husband. briefly at a Spoon concert, i'll add. the next time i saw him was in june...a few weeks before my sister passed. i don't know what it was, but i felt so good around during such a bad time. and, he graciously allowed me to take over his life. at a time when i could have fallen apart into a buzzillion pieces, he managed to make me smile...by watching tv til 2am, taking me to the movies, spending time with my family, and not to mention the countless nights of countless tequila shots...all while being an amazing friend. most guys would have dodged me, my drama, and my big ass. but not him!

i was looking at pictures of us when we first met. and, it surprises me that he stuck around. not only was i dealing with an incredible loss, but i was fat...again! 185 pounds did not suit me well. it amazes me that he even wanted to hang out with me.

although, he did once date a girl with one eye. no, seriously, he dated a girl with one eye. well, it was only a few dates, but still...one eye! he says she was cute and nice, so he didn't want to judge her.. he is such a sweetheart, right? she turned out to be a little kookoo. but, he totally would have dated her...one eye and all.

i guess i must have looked better than she did! i guess meaty melissa gets more points than one-eyed wendy.

the point is i have story behind my weight-gain. and, it's goes way back. i wasn't just fat to be fat. i was happy, i was lonely, i was sad...i was living life's ups and downs. and putting lots warm, delicious food in my belly made me feel good.

i never thought i would ever show those pictures of myself. i didn't understand how someone could show the "before" pictures. but, now i get it. once you're honest with yourself about eating habits and you decide to make healthy changes, you drop the shame, and the weight is lifted off your shoulders, figuratively, and with time, literally!

i didn't like looking at those pictures, because it reminded of how bad i felt about myself, how unhappy i was, and all things i wanted to change in my life but couldn't. when change your lifestyle and loose the weight you've been carrying all this time, you realize the person in the picture is YOU (not some horrible person), and you deserve to love yourself...then and now.

the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

hi, my name is melissa, and i'm an addict...a food addict, that it. i want to eat everything! i knew i hit rock bottom when i found myself in a ditch covered in bavarian cream with chocolate under my nails, and empty candy wrappers all around. okay, i'm kidding, but you get the point.

i think you've got to treat weight issues like any other addiction. of course, you can't stop eating. DON'T stop eating. but, you can stop eating foods that make you fat. i mean it, put down that panni! don't chomp on that chocolate eclair! quit sipping that soda!

now, think...how did you get fat? what did you go through that made you treat your body that way? and, more importantly, how are you going to change that?

instead of filling my life up with food, i'm filling it up with sunshine and smiles. seriously, i'm not saying my life is perfect. but, i have taken control. and, i've made a promise to MYSELF. i'm gonna live a healthy and active life.

i've cut sugar and processed foods. until i reach my fitness goal, i'll keep track of my food via My Fitness Pal. i'll also have accountability, by keeping you in the loop. so, check out fitness & health for my fitness tips, workouts, and diet. losing weight and keeping it off is not easy for most of us, but it's totally worth the effort. i feel vibrant, energetic, confident, and strong!

wearing a swimsuit on the beach and knowing i look good...well, that's just a perk!

the diets

i've been working super hard to get fit. some weeks i'm on a roll and some weeks i slack a little...just a little though. in all, i'm thrilled about my results. i've lost of total of 40 pounds!

when i first started flirting with the idea of losing weight i was about 200 pounds. i had a baby 6 months prior, and was ready to workout and change my eating habits. i'm talking about a huge lifestyle change!

now, if you're thinking it was baby weight and that i should have cut myself some slack, think again.

here's a little background

i was about 185 pounds when i got pregnant and was 217 at the end of my pregnancy. before i got pregnant, 185 pounds was the lightest i had been in a long time. i had been bobbling between 205 and 200 for about a year and a half. i began a cardio kickboxing class with my bbf, sara. without changing my diet, i lost 15 pounds by going to the class 2 sometimes 3 times a week. although i was still curvy, i was leaner and fitter. i liked the change. i continued cardio kickboxing class and added a 2 mile run 2 days a week. i lost another 10 pounds. i was super proud of myself. then, i started slacking off. little by little, i was doing less and less. before i knew it i was running maybe 1 day a week and ended up canceling my kickboxing class. and, of course, the weight started creeping up. i was able to stick around 185, and i was fine with that. after all, i managed to catch a super hot. husband who loved me and my big booty. did i mention he was super fit too? he ate a paleo diet and did crossfit. so i went practically paleo too (i had a hard time cutting out my egg, bacon, spinach, and sourdough sandwiches drizzled with truffle oil). the crossfit didn't rub off on me until much later.

so, back to the weight loss. once i started, it took me a good month to get serious. i didn't have any fitness or weight goals. i just wanted to fit into elastic-free jeans. my husband, we'll call him Mr. Fit, was super supportive and totally became my nutritionist and trainer.

round 1 (may 2011):

diet

the first step was establishing my diet. i knew that my way of eating wasn't terrible. i wasn't a carb addict and didn't binge on sweets. i'm just an eater. i could probably win a hot dog eating contest if i wanted to. portion control was is biggest problem. and, because i had been on the heavy side for so long, i need a diet that would sort of reset everything...eating habits, food mindset, and metabolism.

i went hardcore paleo. you can read about the paleo diet, here. i cut all carbs and sugar. we're talking meat and veggies. cutting fruit out did the trick for me. i ate massive amounts of fruit. fruit is mostly sugar. this diet is all about cutting all sugars whether they're from fruit, bread, pastas, or candy.

workout

i started a crossfit-ish workout. you can learn about crossfit workouts, here. at the time i was pretty weak and had super low endurance, so Mr. Fit modified the workouts for me. i did most of the the bar workouts with a broom stick, because the 35 barbell was way too heavy. forget about pull-ups. they were impossible even with the thickest rubber band. we never really timed the workouts. i was slow, so completion was the goal. we worked on technique and form.

my point is that it didn't matter how fast i did it or how much weight i lifted. the only thing that mattered is that i did it right, and that i worked hard doing it. week by week, i got better, stronger, and faster!

results

in two months, i lost nearly 20 pounds. no pill, potions, or packaged foods, just real food, portion control, a little weightlifting, and a lot of self-love! once the weight came off, i went back to eating a mostly paleo diet (meats, veggies, and fruit)....no bread/carbs, refined sugars, or processed foods. i continued crossfit and started jogging a couple times a week.

round 2 (jan 2012):

diet

after a 4 month break, i was ready to get back on the fit-track. i started the rapid fat loss diet. you can read about it, here. it was pretty freakin' strict...as any diet promising results should be. this diet was basically calorie restrictive with most of the calories coming from lean protein (ultra low carb). then, half way through, we switched things up and did a cyclical ketogenic diet with a carb load to see if i got better results.

workout

because of the low daily calorie intake, the workouts were short and easy. you can see what i did, here. it was all about maintaining muscle mass.

results

i made it 6 weeks and lost about 10 pounds of fat. i was thrilled with the results, but the diet was pretty hard. i had to keep track of every morsel of food to make sure i didn't go over my limit for the day (24 g of protein and 19 g of fat/meal @ 5 meals a day). the deal with calorie restriction is you can't do it long term and you have to have discipline because its easy to gain the weight back just as quickly as you lost it. i'm not sure if switching things up made it any better. i'm convinced the carb load didn't do me any good. regardless, i lost weight and was able to maintain my weight loss for a month. i even when a little nuts when i was on vacation in Belize. i had limitless pina coladas, fry jacks, and coconut rice and beans.

round 3 (march 2012):

diet

after a month long break, i was ready to get back to losing weight. i went with a ketogenic diet without a carb load. you can read about what i did, here. my daily intake was 60% fat/40% protein with no more than 30 carbs/day and 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (128).

workout

after a warm-up (light stretching or jump rope), i did sets to failure until the total number of reps is 15 with no more than a 30 second rest between each set.

results

although the scale didn't ever get any lower than 158 pounds, my body changed. using a tape measure really encouraged me. however, i didn't see dramatic results. i could have done better. when i think back, i stopped logging my food intake and i increased my portion sizes.

my food

what i normally eat is not a diet, it's a way of life. my family eats practically paleo (plus dairy and most fruit). that means if it runs, flies, swims, or grows in the ground, we eat it. i stay away from highly processed foods and carbs. lean meats, fruit, and dairy...that's what i eat. oh, and i don't eat anything that's labeled "low-fat". i don't skip on fat. real fat that's in real food is good for your body and your brain. 

i do all of the grocery shopping, so i don't buy foods that comes in a package, box, or a can. "horse-shoe shopping" is a great way to avoid all the aisles where they keep all the bad foods. sticking to the perimeter helps to eliminate about 99% of the problem foods like cereal, rice, bread, and sodium-laden soups and sauces. it's also a good way to limit preservatives. i also try to by organic.

but, i don't deprive myself by any means. when i eat out, i make sensible choices. however, i'll indulge a little by enjoying a tortilla or rice or a little dessert. that keeps me from completing falling off the wagon.

when i do go on a short-term diet, i cut ALL sugars...that includes milk, starchy foods like carrots and sweet potatoes, and fruit. 

typical day

meal 1: coffee with heavy cream, 1 slice of bacon or 2 oz of sausage patty, and 1 fried egg

meal 2: 2 oz of tuna fish with mayo over fresh spinach salad

meal 3: 4 oz sauteed chicken breast with steam veggies

meal 4: protein shake with low sugar protein powder (typically after a workout)

meal 5: 4 oz lean beef with oven roasted veggies

if i get hungry in between, i snack on a little piece of cheese, an apple, or small handful almonds. but, i don't snack all day.

i also drink lots of water, take a multi-vitamin, and 6 1200 mg fish oil pills (3 for breakfast and 3 for lunch) everyday.

typical grocery list

dairy: whole milk, cream, sharp cheddar cheese

veggies: green beans, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, spinach

fruit: nectarines, apples, bananas, mangos, berries

meat: beef, chicken, pork, fish, bacon, ground sausage, sausage link

spices and herbs: cinnamon, cayenne, garlic, onion, garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, thyme

ground meal: almond flour, coconut flour

my workout

i workout about 5 days a week...mostly weightlifting/crossfit workouts in my garage. i have no excuse if i only have to walk 5 feet to the gym!

strength training and interval endurance training (like tabata) have proven to be best for me. 

my workouts are short and fun! i usually do them in the evening once my son has gone to bed (usually 8pm). 

i also go for walks and daily bike-rides for fun...everything counts!

do you have fit goals? do you have tips on how to keep fit? i'd love to hear from you!