Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Mr. Fanatic and I worked on some more raised beds so we can expand our organic vegetable garden. Spring will be here before you know it and we have to get the cool weather veggies in the ground soon.
Today I thought I'd tell you how I lost 25 pounds on my own~ ya know I do a lot of things diy, and this was one of them.
Where do I begin?...
In the past ten years I gained some extra weight and it started to make me feel uncomfortable. It wasn't only that I didn't like the way I looked, but it was causing me physical pain, as well.
So, last Spring I made
a goal that I was going to lose weight starting in June after we got back from a trip to Savannah. My goal at first was not to lose 25 pounds, it was to lose 10. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, because I didn't eat very much to begin with and didn't understand how my goal was going to happen.
This was my typical day's intake of food before:
Tea and Bagel for breakfast
sandwich for lunch
chocolate snack at 3 pm
Typical dinner: chicken, rice or potato and veggie
Maybe dessert
That's it!
I wasn't sure how I could gain weight on that, but ya know I'm a couple years(almost) past 50 and one thing I've learned is: you can't eat like you did when you were younger. (Plus I have no functioning thyroid ~I'm on thyroid meds ~ and am post menopausal-sorry if that's TMI)
So how was I going to lose weight now???
I had lost some baby weight after my kids were born 18 years ago by increasing my protein and lowering my carbs. Since that worked for me then, I thought I'd try it again. A few of my friends lost weight following Weight Watchers and I could try that if my diet wasn't successful.
I didn't take a "before" picture last June, but here's a photo of my youngest daughter and me on Venice Beach in Spring of 2010. I was wearing size 12/14 and Large to XL.
We had a photographer take family photos in May of 2011~Here's a photo of me a month before I started my new diet.
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Portrait Creations |
Here I am at the "I Love Thrifting" event in July. By this time, I had been on the low carb diet for just a few weeks and had lost a couple pounds
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RashonCarraway.com |
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For the first couple of weeks I didn't lose much, but then did some "googling" and watched Dr. Oz and learned some things. Those extra things started working and I started losing 1-2 pounds a week. Switching to only having protein for breakfast made all the difference in the world.
Here's the short version of how I what I did. It may or may not work for you and if you want more nitty gritty details, just email me.
I had a Jay Robb protein shake for breakfast and waited an hour or so and then had a protein snack
(Some days I had 3 scrambled eggs, but no carbs first thing.)
I limited my carbs to 100 per day.
I took some vitamins ( D, Magnesium, B6, probiotics, etc.)
Took some extra fiber when I remembered, around dinner time (per Dr. Oz)
Periodically used a colon cleanse
That's about it.
I ate pretty much whatever else I wanted.... even bacon and ranch dressing and ice cream etc. I just didn't go overboard on the calories, but I didn't count calories, just carbs. I ate whatever I wanted, but counted my carbs and once 100 carbs was reached, only protein could be eaten.
I did not exercise at all. Ok, I tried for a week, but it didn't help me lose any more weight and I had to go take a 3 hour nap on the days I exercised. Couldn't afford to take a 3 hour nap, so I stopped exercising. I've tried to lose weight before by exercising, but I ended up gaining weight. Sorry, not worth it! Your experience may vary.
To keep track of the carbs I wrote everything down I ate for two weeks just to make sure I didn't go over my 100 carb limit. After that I pretty much knew how many carbs were in what and I knew how to eat. FYI: that stoneground, whole wheat bagel I ate every day for breakfast was 60 carbs.With the tea with milk, I had been eating 72 carbs! No wonder I was getting fat!
Here's a typical days intake of food on a 100 carb a day diet:
Jay Robb whey protein shake for breakfast
(update: I have switched to Source Naturals True Whey Protein)
sunflower seeds or almonds for a snack
1/2 sandwich or a burrito or cheese and crackers for lunch(I don't like to cook, remember?)
fruit snack around 3 pm if hungry
regular dinner ~ Chicken and vegetables or 1 medium size burrito
Maybe dessert (If no starch for dinner) or a protein snack after dinner
Sometimes I forget to eat lunch until 3pm, so I skip the snack.
This low carb diet was pretty difficult for the first 3 weeks or so. After that I lost my sugar cravings and no longer craved my 3 o'clock chocolate snack. If I got a craving for something sweet I would eat 3-5 jellybeans(yes, I wrote them down). It's amazing how a few jellybeans would stop the craving for something sweet.
I can go to Five Guys and get a double cheeseburger and go out to eat. It's just a
different way of eating. A double cheeseburger is ok, but the fries are
not. When we would go to a nice restaurant I would substitute the
potato for a green vegetable or salad. One night after going out to Carrabas I had 20 carbs left, so we went to Walmart and searched the aisles for a 20 carb ice cream bar! I think it was Hagen daz. Being committed to a program is the only way stick to it.
After losing 10 pounds, my next goal was 15, then 20. Losing 20 pounds was so exciting because I had NEVER, EVER, done that before.
By the end of November of last year I had lost 25 pounds! It took me 5 1/2 months to do it, which is not very fast, but all things considered, it's pretty darn good! The holidays were a little difficult and the 100 carb limit was suspended, but I only gained back 2 pounds and have since lost those, plus a few more.
Here's a photo taken on Saturday:
I now wear a size 8 and Medium.
A pair of my previously tight jeans now fits like this...
Right now I'm on a maintenance lower carb diet and limit my carbs to 150 a day. My goal is to lose 5 to 10 pounds more and will go back to a 100 carb limit again in a month or two.
I would love to be a size 6 again!
Well, there you have it!
That's my diy weight loss story.
Pam
PS: you have to get enough sleep every night in order to lose weight. I sometimes use Melatonin to help me fall asleep. As you get older your body produces less of it, so supplementing is sometimes needed.
*Be sure to speak with your doctor if you are taking any medications before you add any vitamins to your daily regimen because some vitamins and minerals can interact with medications.