Exactly one month ago today, I wrote an article about all the plans I had for losing weight with the idea that I would check in weekly. Yikes, it’s been a loooooong week!
Little by little, I’ve been getting ready to really put this into action. I finally replaced my broken blender jar. We now have a great supply of the best coconut oil on the market for my daily smoothies. I also found a new workout that I’m excited about doing.
So, here’s what I’m doing so far and my progress …
Exercise
Every morning I am alternating workouts – Monday/Wednesday/Friday will be from the Cool Running website. They have a beginners running plan that they, very appropriately, called “The Couch to 5K Running Plan”.
I did the workout for the first time yesterday morning and it felt great! It doesn’t feel so great now, though! My legs are a little sore, but the pain encourages me to do it again because maybe it’s actually doing something. Sometimes, with aerobics workouts, I feel like I’m not “feeling the burn” where I should be and I get lost during some moves. With this workout, I know all the moves and I know I’m targeting all the right muscles. Boringly easy and I like it that way!
Another benefit of getting up early in the morning to do my exercise is the temperature. It’s actually cool out at 6am (for a little longer, anyway). By the time 8am rolls around in my neck of the woods, its already HOT! So, it was enjoyable to get out while the air was still breathable.
On Tuesday and Thursday I will be doing an aerobics workout from exercisetv.tv which provides workout videos via the internet. They have many videos available for purchase and a smaller selection that are free. I’ve been doing a few free ones and they seem to be great workouts.
Diet
Every morning for breakfast, I’m having my Strawberry Banana Smoothie with 2T of coconut oil. It amounts to about 3 cups of smoothie so that is all I have to eat in the morning. I also take some vitamins – vitamin B complex, vitamin C, multivitamin, and our homemade “brain mix” which includes cayenne pepper, gota kola, and ginseng. I’ve been doing this for a little more than one week now.
I am watching my portions very carefully. A friend of mine and my sister have both done very well in their weight loss goals and they both pointed out that what we end up eating as a portion size ends up being what two or three portions would be.
Another philosophy I’m trying to incorporate is only eating when I’m hungry and stopping when I’m full. I know that sounds so very basic, but I really have to think about it. Many times, if I like what we’re eating for a meal, I’ll eat more just because it’s good. Or, if I’m full and someone offers dessert, I rarely say no. Instead, I’m trying to only eat until I know I’m full enough and only eat again when I am actually hungry. For me, that also means being very careful of extra snacks.
The coconut oil in the smoothies is already helping with my carb cravings. It is still a bit of a challenge sometimes to say “no” when my cravings say “yes” but the cravings come less often when I’m using coconut oil. As I use it longer, it eventually seems to take the cravings away completely. Another great benefit of daily coconut oil intake is that I’m full longer. When I went for my Mommy Makeover, I missed lunch completely and it never bothered me. They gave me quite a bit of water during my time at the salon, but I didn’t come home ready to binge on the first edible thing I saw!
THE SCALE!!
My favorite grocery store, Publix, has a huge scale at the entryway of the store. I usually don’t use it because A.) I have a baby strapped to my back and I KNOW she’s well over 20 pounds, and B.) I usually go to the store when there are lots of people around. I am quite sure they would look at me on that scale and just laugh! 
Lately, I’ve been getting to Publix on Saturday mornings by 7am when they open, so there really aren’t very many people around. My husband stayed home with all the sleeping kids, too, so I was able to stand on the scale by myself for once. I’m hoping this will turn into a weekly habit. We don’t have a very reliable scale and I’d love to see if I’m making progress each week.
Since I weighed myself, I saw that I don’t have the 50 pounds to lose that I thought. It’s only 37! Woo-hoo! A more attainable goal for me! The key for me is the exercising. If I can just keep that up, I could really see myself losing the weight by the end of summer. (Gee, wouldn’t that be nice?) It might be wishful thinking, but I like having a goal in mind.
Anyone else want to do this along with me? Send me a comment and let me know! We can keep track of each other!
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Girl, you are BRAVE to get on the Publix Scale!
Once I was SO upset because the scale said a ridiculously high number… back before I lost any weight… I, like the goof I am, totally forgot to put down the milk and other items in my hand! DUH!
Hahaha!! You are too funny Lauren!! That is totally something I would do! I just made sure to go in before I went shopping!
I have 25 lbs. that I would like to use. I have been exercising on our treadmill, but I am thinking of trying more aerobics, which I also like. I need more ‘targeted’ exercising to firm up those ‘lazy muscles’ from having kids!
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