01 March 2011

But I don't even own a scale.

You know the saying "9 months on, 9 months off"? Well, what happens if your baby is two and a half years old?

While I didn't gain a ton of weight with either of my kids, I also didn't lose all my weight after Carter. Hell, I packed on "happy marriage" weight after my wedding that I wanted to lose pre-baby.

Do you think that actually happened? Not so much.

Here's what my extra weight looks like right about now...
-There's about 15lbs of "happy marriage" weight.
-About 10lbs of "left over Carter" weight.
-And about 5lbs of "I have two babies now and only have time to eat crap" weight.

That's a lot of weight. Too much.

Growing up playing 15,000 different sports all the way up through {and even after} college, I never had to worry about my weight. I didn't have to diet or watch what I ate. I just ate and ran and ate and played and ate and went on about my day with no weight-worries at all.

While that sounds just lovely now {minus the running part} it also seems to be problematic due to the fact that I have no idea how to diet. I have no idea how to eat healthy. I have no idea how to run for exercise {and not for sports!}

Are these excuses? Maybe. I could have {somewhat} easily taught myself how to do those things, but even when I tried, nothing ever seemed to work. And then there's time. There is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. I always take a back seat.

Well, not any more. Now I'm doing something about it.

Today I start Medifast. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's going to be easy. That I'm not going to want to eat my arm off after a few days of this {Bob promised to only allow me to eat one of my arms so I can still hug my babies.} That my body hasn't gone in to full-on hibernation mode since I decided to do this a few weeks ago {I swear, I've been eating everything in sight!} But today I am ready. I'm ready to lose weight. I'm ready to control my portion sizes. I'm ready to stick to the healthy eating habits that I know I can accomplish. I can do this.

I think Medifast is the perfect system for me. Their 5 and 1 meal planning option allows me to eat 5 small Medifast meals throughout the day and then 1 "Lean & Green" meal for dinner. I feel that this is something that I can stick too because I can still eat a "real" dinner with my family, but it will help me control my portion sizes.

I received my Medifast food yesterday and it was like Christmas going through all the boxes and figuring out exactly how this will work for me on a daily basis. Here's what I got...

4-Week Variety Pack of food:...which includes shakes, cappuccino:
Snack bars, brownies, soft serve ice cream:
Oatmeal, scrambled eggs, pancakes and soup:
And then I also got a few snacks {salty snack foods are my enemy, so these allow for an awesome alternative} that include chili nacho cheese puffs and honey mustard pretzel sticks:
To help with preparing said food, there are these wonderful tools: {measuring shaker cup, microwave safe meal mug, hand-held blender, cook book, and starter kit!}It was just a bit overwhelming. {Just a bit.}

After going through everything with my little helper...
I divided everything up by category {i.e. breakfast foods, lunch foods, snacks, etc.} and made room in my corner cabinet...
So last night, I packed my food up for work today and was all ready to go... I decided on scrambled eggs for breakfast, a chocolate shake for mid-morning snack, chicken & rice soup for lunch, and peanut butter crunch bar for mid-afternoon snack:
Looks delicious, right? ;) I will then have a "Lean & Green" meal for dinner with the fam and a Medifast brownie for snack tonight {which I'm super excited about!}

At the present moment, it's almost 11am here and this is what I've consumed so far today:I decided that a food journal will help me, not only keep track of everything, but hold me accountable for what I'm eating. I'm sure I've "cheated" already with the one piece of rye toast and the coffee {with cream and Splenda} but I know me... if I can't have coffee, I'll never make it on any diet. I also know that if I can't have slight {healthy!} variations in my meal, I'll also never make it. I'm doing what's best for me.

So there you have it. Today starts a new me. I plan to update you every Monday with how I'm making out following the Medifast plan. I will be 100% honest with you. I'm nervous about some of the food, so you best believe that I will tell it like it is- good or bad. There are a few other friends/bloggers doing this with me and I know I will need them to help me through it:

Kelly from The Turnip Farmer
Stephanie from Goober Grape & Monkey Man
And the ol' pro who's been following this plan for over 2 months now {with great success!}:
Tiffany from MomNom.Com

My ultimate goal is to lose 30lbs. Baby steps. I'm only focusing on 10lbs at a time. If I can get that first 10lbs off, I will be thrilled! I weighed myself this morning at my parents house so I know exactly what my starting point is.

With springtime right around the corner {yay!!} are you following a diet plan right now? Support is key! I will also be co-hosting a linky blog hop every Monday and I'd love for you to be a part of it! It's called "Take it off Mondays" {holla!} where we can help motivate each other and share our successes and failures for the week {because, let's be honest, they will happen.}

So, I guess I need to buy a scale now, huh?

Your votes will help motivate me. I'm serious.
Click To Vote For Us @ Top Baby Blogs Directory!

26 comments:

Sarah said...

I am right there with you guys.....I am back on Weight Watchers. Here's to support!

kacy said...

good luck. i was saying that like the guy from the movie "taken" says it because its more fun with an albanian accent.

Unknown said...

Good luck!! I am going to order food next week!
How were your first couple of meals?

Andrea said...

Good luck!!! I am trying to lose 20 so I know how you feel. But I even on days when I go nuts and eat 3 meals of chocoloate, I always tell myself, "Tomorrow is a new day!"

Larissa: said...

Good luck mamma!! Yesterday I signed up for my 1st Zumba (6-week) session. It starts next Tuesday! I was making up every excuse in the book to not register, but I finally threw my hands up and said, "if I don't do it now, I never will!" So I too am starting my weight loss journey... again... lol. To get to my goal weight, I need to lose 25 pound! I'll try to join your "Take it off Monday's" blog hop so I can stay inspired :-)

molly said...

Good luck, mama! You know I'm rooting for you.

p.s. please don't eat your arms off.

Momma Brown said...

mmmm dutch chocolate!

this is gonna be easy peasy! and if i'm saying it you know its true! i dont think anything is easy :P

Katie said...

Good luck Jenni! I have been counting calories using Livestrong.com for about 2 months now. I also star)ted exercising the past few weeks (riding stationary bike mainly). My baby is 8 1/2 months old and it was time to make a change! I just started blogging about this & I am very honest about where I started (weight wise). I am down 18lbs so far, & if I can do it, ANYONE can!!! Support is KEY! Good luck to you!!!! I will be following along!

Steph said...

Go chickie! :) :) :)

We're gonna rock this. So excited! I have to wait until Friday for my order to arrive, but I'll catch up to you ladies ;)

Tara said...

can totally relate..good for u and good luck:)

Tiffany said...

Hey lady! PUT THAT TOAST DOWN!!! You'll never get into ketosis adding carbs, silly!! YOU CAN do this, without the toast, I promise!

Jill said...

Thanks for bringing us along on the journey. I've looked at medifast and haven't been able to justify the cost, so I'm very interested in following along and hearing your impressions of the program. GOOD LUCK!

Coach Kari said...

Good luck!!! Medifast makes me a little nervous, but then I think, hey, I do the same with Shakeology! I LOVE the idea of a food journal! I'm a huge advocate of a food journal and talk about it a lot in my blog. Can I ask what you're planning on doing for your fitness? I'm here if you need any help - it's what I do! Good luck with everything and I'm looking forward to following along with your SUCCESS! Kari :)

sara said...

Good luck!! I know Tiffany has been kicking butt with it, I'm sure you will too!

Unknown said...

How expensive is medifast? You don't have to be exact...an idea would be wonderful. I too am in the I just had a baby phase...and well I feel good about my weight when I'm carrying my baby around..but when I'm at work and don't have my fat excuse with me...it's tough. I am running 2-4 miles 1-3 times a week but I still have that spare tire that I just can't get rid of. My issue is food and work...I eat breakfast & lunch at work, so I have to pack both...and well packing breakfast,lunch a 4 year old, and a 4 month old...well lots of time my stuff gets pushed aside. Things like that I can just bring a handful to work and decide that day and still eat dinner as a family. How strict is the lean & mean meal? I do have a picky husband..the 4 year old...not as bad!

Renee Beck said...

The Lacks -

Medifast runs approximately $300/month, plus the cost of your Lean & Green Meals (which is probably groceries you'd by anyway). Many people find that they ultimately SAVE money!

Best,
Renee Beck
PR Coordinator, Medifast

Allie's Mama said...

Thank you for the motivation Jenni! Today is the start of my weight loss journey as well!

My little Allie just turned 9 months and I still have 20 lbs to lose to get to pre-preg(I gained 70. YES, I said 70!). I also have 10 lbs that I gained after getting married (I call it my love weight). So altogether I have 30 lbs to get back to normal.

I actually started exercising again back in January (4x/week as well as dieting (WW) but when I weighed myself 2 weeks ago and realized I had not lost a pound, I got frustrated and gave up. I convinced myself it was because of my thyroid problem, however, after speaking with my doctor, she said that my thyroid levels were normal and that I should continue to exercise/diet and soon enough, the weight should start moving.

So, here I am, with my gym bag packed and ready to go sitting next to my desk. I'm telling myself that even though I gave up two weeks ago, that it was just a relapse and I NEED to keep going. I NEED to do this for myself.

So good luck to you and to me and to everyone else on here that is on the same journey! I look forward to your Monday updates!

Anonymous said...

I highly recommend the "Lose It" app on the iphone. I use mine constantly and it helps.....a food journal on the go if you will..LOL

Christa Cox said...

STORY OF MY LIFE! if your interested i have a "weight loss tab" on my blog explaining things ive tried.. but seriously the thing that works best is "eating clean" and sticking to a regular workout plan. even if its just twice a week... TRUST ME.

Anonymous said...

I second the Lose It App!!!! I truly believe that you can't successfully lose weight and maintain that weight long-term on any program -- you have to learn to eat real food, not food that comes in boxes, and really, really monitor what you eat. That's why Lose It is so fantastic. I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight and I have a 9-month old. I think a lot of this was because I consume so many calories breastfeeding, but I also exercise, eat healthy about 80% of the time, and almost always count calories. I know this comment is coming off as obnoxious, but eat well (for the most part), learn to enjoy exercise (you have a sports background so this should come naturally) and the weight will come off! You look great but good luck!!

Diana said...

After I had my little guy, I barely lost any weight. 5 lbs. max? It's hard to find motivation, especially being a busy mom. So kudos to you for starting Medifast! Keep it up! :)

Helen@Soft Leather Baby Shoes said...

Don't buy a scale. You'll be weighing yourself all the time and will get disheartened. Just weigh yourself when you visit someone else's house every week or so.

Jeannie said...

I wish you the best of luck mama =) I know you can do it!!

molly said...

You got this girl. No question.

p.s. don't eat off your arm.

Stephanie said...

I just started my diet this week too! I have been keeping track of everything on www.sparkpeople.com it's an online food journal that's totally free and very easy. I used it for my wedding diet and dropped 35 lbs. (then gained it back with my post wedding binge and baby weight). Best of luck to you, I know you can do it!

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your weight loss journey. However, i would recommend Spark People, Weight Watchers and regular exercise. Eating pre-portioned meals that are already calorie counted for you unfortunately isn't the best long term plan.

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