Friday, August 23, 2013

New and Improved! Now With 30% Less Fat and Excuses!

A year ago, I ventured out into the word of blogging.  Overweight, newly relocated, bored, trapped in the house during the brutal Houston weather of summer and fall (AND spring, apparently!) with 2 young kids, I started doing this.  Baking and writing about it.  It did me good at first, but then it got me thinking.  How am I going to get all this weight off and bake all this delicious stuff with few people to unload it on?  Good question. The answer was to start AFTER Christmas.  I wrote an intallation called "Oh Fuuuuuudge" during the Holidays and I never posted it (at least I don't think I did) because I hired a trainer at the YMCA and decided getting my shit together was more important than telling it on the mountain about fudge.  The LAST thing I needed to be thinking about was fudge.  So I let my blog go for a while. 
It's now the end of August of 2013 and what do I have to show for myself?  Well, I'm 30 lbs lighter for starters.  Diet, exercise, lifesyle changes. That's how I did it.  The old fashioned way:  I EARRRRRRRNED IT.  No shakes, no pills, powders or magical frozen foods.  I stuck to the basic Weight Watchers plan, which I find to be quite healthy and reasonable, allowing for dining out and splurges from time to time while keeping me grounded.  I've been waiting a long time to be back at my "wedding weight".  It took some work.  The food was the hardest part. 

I know this is a food blog, and we'll talk about that in the future...but right now I want to get something off my chest.  People often ask me how lost weight.  The answer is: I've done this before.  I know exactly what it takes to do it.  Is this time different from the other times? Yes. Was it harder? Yes. WHY??? 
Because I'm older, have a slower metabolism, I have kids now, I'm more busy, more stressed, more lonely, more vulnerable, more bored,  blah blah blah.  These are all excuses. Excuses why I COULDN'T but DID ANYWAYS. 
I want to rant about EXCUSES.  Everyone has one when it comes to losing weight...or more than one.  I once was the QUEEN of them! Here's a little insight into that.

Everytime you set foot into Starbucks (or the like) and ordered a sugary bullshit coffee drink, or a "skinny latte" that made it "ok" for you to go ahead and eat that cake pop with it, you probably made 100 excuses in your head to reach your outcome.  I've been there.  I've done that. 
I was fat because of it.
You might be fat because of it. 
Maybe you aren't.
You know who you are.
The point I want to make is that successful weightloss begins with banishing excuses. 
You had a bad day. 
You already blew it earlier in the week/day/hour/minute.
But it's SOOO GOOOOD.
You're hungry.
You're thirsty.
Everyone else is having something.
That skinny person is eating ___, so I can have it too.
The list goes one and on. 
Want to know what I did?  I said things to myself.  Things like NO. NOPE. LOOK AWAY.  And then I took my own advice.  Every candy bar at the grocery store. Every cookie, every bag of chips. NO. NOPE. LOOK AWAY.
I cried to my friends (thank GOD for unlimited long distance!) and my husband when I wanted to eat something I wasn't supposed to. I screamed. I cried. I went to bed early.  I went to the gym. I went for a walk.
I STOPPED MAKING EXCUSES.  When I made a mistake, I OWNED it and moved on.
Even during the Holidays, I KNEW it would be hard...so I signed up with the trainer right after Thanksgiving, so I wouldn't go off the deep end at Christmas and gain MORE weight.  I vowed to maintain.  I didn't make an excuse, I made a PACT.  It worked.  It motivated me. 
Can't afford a trainer?  That's an excuse.  I've done this WITHOUT a trainer. I just wanted more accountability this time because I don't have the workout buddies I once had. 
For the record, 30 minutes once a week cost me THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY I was spending on Starbucks, lunches out, cockails, WINE, frozen sugar OOPS I mean, yogurt, and other "treats" that were ruining my body.  Do I still sometimes have treats?  Oh yeah.  But I'm smarter about it.  And I don't make an excuse for it.  I plan for it, have a little, enjoy it and move on.
The Holidays are coming.  I love to bake.  I'm planning on doing quite a bit of it. 
I don't enjoy "diet" baked goods.  Who does? Yuck!  It's all or nothing for me.  I'm just going to be smarter about it.
I'm going to plan for it, have a LITTLE, enjoy it and move on.
Today I threw out 2 slices of HOMEMADE poundcake that a neighbor made for me.  I had some, it was AMAZING but I didn't need more.  It bummed me out to toss it at first but now I feel great because those last 2 slices aren't pasted on my ass.  I celebrated by buying myself a pair of size 8 jeans. I used to be a 16.  I'm not afraid to throw stuff out.
That poundcake didn't taste as good as thin feels. 

Join me as I bake my way through the fall and winter months.  I've met some of my neighbors and they will be gifted reasonable portions of my goods.  My husband's office also takes kindly to my baking endeavors.  I'm taking suggestions for things to bake for my blog so comment away!

Plan for it.  Have a little and enjoy it. Move on.








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