One year ago (September 2009), I was a fatty. I wasn’t huge or terribly obese, but I was overweight and had too much body fat – probably in the 33-35% range. I am about 5′ 9 1/2″ tall, and weighed 195 pounds then. That is a BIG girl. I wore a size 16 in most things, or an XL top – and a lot of my clothes were tight and uncomfortable. I even had boobs – in the past, I only had boob when I was pregnant or nursing a baby.
In the middle of August, I’d just gotten home from a quick trip to see family. After spending a week overeating and not exercising like I should, reality set in. It started to finally click in my brain that I wasn’t going to get any smaller, I wasn’t going to get any younger, and with each passing year – weight loss would become more and more difficult. To top it off, my husband told me I was fat, out of shape and that he’d cancel my gym/tennis membership if I didn’t use it to get myself fit. Ouch.
Fortunately, for me, we have a great relationship and can say just about anything to each other and not worry about it ruining our marriage. Sure, no one wants to hear those words . . . you are fat . . . but I couldn’t argue. He was right and I was fat (for me). I was wasting our money each month on a membership that I was only using to play tennis – and bad tennis, at that! I was so out of shape!
What did I do? Instead of sulking, whining, and feeling sorry for myself, I got busy. I joined Weight Watchers to get my eating under control and started to exercise – according to my husband’s workout plan for me. In the past, if I wanted to lose weight, I’d have followed a low-fat diet, counted calories, and done my normal exercise routine – more focus on cardio, less emphasis on lifting. In the past, I’d always gotten “so so” results. . . never terribly lean, and always stayed in a size L or XL, or 12′s & 14′s. On past diets, I was always hungry.
The eating part was easy. I knew that I had to watch portions and cut back on alcohol and empty-calorie carbohydrates, but what also made a huge difference for me was adding more lean sources of protein in my diet. And, I’d never used protein powder for post-workout recovery before. But, guess what? It worked. I didn’t feel hungry. . . that old diet feeling of always starving never really appeared. My new favorites soon became eggs, frozen grilled chicken strips, Greek yogurt, and EAS 100% Whey protein powder. Those things will always be staples in my house!
The exercise portion of my weight and fat loss was the true hard work. I never in a million years would ever say that I was blessed to be married to a strength and conditioning coach, but now I do. He’s never once complained when I said I had to workout. He’s always encouraged me to lift and exercise. He’s always written my workouts. But, in the past, I’d always followed them half-assed and inconsistenly – and, I know that frustrated him. What’s the point of taking the time and writing me workouts if I wasn’t going to follow through?
From the middle of August 2009, I worked out on my own at home or at the gym 4 or 5 times a week, then usually once with him on weekends. I typically took off 1 or 2 days a week. He had me doing all sorts of stuff – kettlebells, slide board, heavy lifting, a variety of circuits, and he even sent me out to the soccer fields to do tempo runs. Whatever the workout said for the day – I did it. I didn’t skip. I didn’t do them half-heartedly. I worked my butt off (literally).
Around the end of September or about 6-8 weeks into my new routine, I started seeing results and started hearing comments like, “Are you losing weight?” or “Are you working out?”. That was all the motivation I needed to keep me going. By the beginning of October, all my jeans were too big and I needed to move down a size. It was working. By the end of November, I was down 2 sizes and had to start giving away all my old, “fat clothes”!
My eating got into a groove and I quit recording all my food by the middle of October. Research shows that those who are trying to lose weight and who also keep a food journal have better results. For me, I didn’t mind recording the food, I just didn’t want to be a slave to my food journals. I didn’t want to have to be obsessed with everything I put into my mouth. Instead, I got/kept my willpower and discipline and avoided all the crap. I kept losing – WITHOUT logging my food! That was a huge achievement for me!
