Adventures in Weight Loss

In January of 2011 my husband and I decided we were bound and determined to lose weight. 

 {source}

We had both gotten pretty heavy 

When i got pregnant with my daughter he had all the sympathy symptoms, it was pitiful. 

(and I know some women would cringe at me feeling bad for him, but, I truly did) 

When i gained weight, he gained it too. 

when i had heart burn, he had it too.

When i had back pain, so did he.

And so on...

{Me with Gracie @ 2 days old}

I had my daughter in November of '09 and had done basically nothing to take the weight off.

It was a very depressing time being the fattest and most overweight I had ever been 

(without a bun in the oven that is).

I started here:

at 223 pounds.  yeah.... gross.

mind you, I am pretty tall at 5'11". but still, this was out of control.  

I started P90X which for a while was really working for me.  

It was crazy time consuming though.  with each work out being at least an hour long.  

Not to mention, my husband works 60+ hours per week and when he would get home from work all we really wanted to do was just relax and spend time watching dvr or just talking to each other.  

After about 3 months of P90X I started using "myfitnesspal" which I love.

I didn't realize just how much we were eating!  Looking back to my super heavy days I had no idea just how many calories we were consuming.  and I know a lot of people say it's not about calories and blah blah blah (to each his own, i guess i should say... that would probably be more diplomatic, but whatevs) It's not like we were consuming 2000 calories worth of vegetables and fruits and whole grains and whatnot, we were eating just tons of cheeses and breads and all other assorted yucky calorie-pack-ed-ness.  just gross!

So After i started fitness pal i started to really notice a difference

This is me in July of 2011:

about 20 lbs lighter!

Crazy right??  

Well, I haven't taken progress pics in a long while, and for good reason. . .

No Progress has been made. 

At one point I got down to a 30 pound loss and then. . .   

:::::SCREECH!::::

Nothing.  Nada. Zip.  Zilch.

I was miserable.  I know many people may read this and think wow what a victory and don't get me wrong, it really was, and Lord knows i was so thankful!  My quality of life and my energy and my (dare i say it?) libido had all increased drastically!  But then I gained back like 5 and then 7 and then 9 pounds. . . . and they held on for dear life.

So right about now, I'm back up to about 199.  Not a friggin' happy camper to say the least, My husband had all but stopped running and so i just kind of let my self slide down that slippery slope.  I stopped counting calories and I stopped running 6 days a week and I started eating foods i wouldn't have been caught dead eating before.  And I paid the price.

A big part of the problem now is that i am just kicking myself thinking about how long it's been since Grace was born and here i am still carrying around these pounds.  it makes me feel ashamed.  and im kicking myself even harder thinking about how much more time i had last year to get these god-forsaken pounds off my rump, because now most of my days are filled with reading and studying and whatnot for school!  

What on earth was i waiting for?!

On top of all of that, I have had baby-fever like CRAZY this year.  and i mean this WHOLE YEAR.  and i refuse to get pregnant when i am as heavy as i am now.  I just can't do it again.  

You may be asking yourself now, why is she telling us this?  I need a change.  I need to get back on the weight loss wagon.  It's been too long.  

So, I am enlisting the help of public shame.  

via The Sepia Puppy.

I am the type of person who will promise myself i will do something and I will be truly adamant about it and then, when the time comes i think to myself, "well... no one heard me say i was gonna do that, so no one will be disappointed in me if i don't do it."  And so i just throw in the towel because there is no accountability. 

Well, not anymore baby.

This is my accountability. 

So, It's that time again for weekly plans, and weigh-ins.

For Runs and walks and crunches.  

For dumbbells and stretches.

{source}

It's time for a change.  

I hate feeling fat all the time.

So I am deeming this the "weight loss adventure" because that makes it sound more fun and exciting!  

The vicious cycle is changing to a healthy one right now!

Who's with me??

Please feel free to share your own success/failure testimonials below.  

(And don't worry, I allow anon's.)