The Skinny on my Skinny

So, here I sit. Two babies. One 2, one 10 months. And I've spent the last couple of months repeatedly surprised when I step on the scale. I really can't believe that I have lost all of my baby weight and then some. I'm smaller now than I was before I got pregnant to begin with. Though my body certainly doesn't look the same. And I guess it never will.

I now weigh (as of yesterday morning!) 114 lbs. I wear a size 5 jean, though I can fit into size 3s. I don't want to feel like I'm squeezing into something tiny. Or like I can't breathe. I'm a mom of two, I don't need my pants to be painted on. Though I do have a pair of jeggings that I absolutely love! I guess technically they look painted on...*shrug* I wear a size small in shirts and what not. And I feel small. Something I didn't believe I would ever feel again 6 months ago. I thank people profusely for commenting that I'm small, skinny or little. I think sometimes they think I'm crazy. But it's true.

I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. But I worked hard to get here. It's not like it just happened. I'm not one of those obnoxious skinny people that continued to eat like they did when they were pregnant and magically lost a ton of weight. I've had to really push myself and change my lifestyle to get where I am. And I'm proud that I've done it.

Every time I see someone who hasn't seen me in a few months they want to know how much weight I've lost. What I've done. What I'm doing. How am I so little?

No one seems to be very impressed with the answer: Well, I'm watching what I eat and I walk. Every day.

Oh my gosh! How revolutionary! What a revelation! Diet+exercise=weight loss. I know, crazy notion. Not really. No one is impressed. They want something awesome. And I don't have it.

So what DID I do?

For about 8 months I ate only 1200 calories a day. I had bad days, of course. Days when I REALLY wanted pizza. Or a cheese burger. But instead of letting on bad day become a bad week, I just worked really hard to have a really good day after a bad day. Believe it or not, I don't miss the bad food. That seems to be the hard thing for people to believe. I practically never eat out and I very rarely eat fast food. I don't want it. I'd rather eat at home and I love to cook. Even as Southern as I was raised, my home cooked food is no where near as bad for you as a Big Mac. In part because I don't use red meat. Another thing is you don't feel as compelled to finish your food when you eat at home. So you might stop eating when you're full. If you just paid $6 for your meal, you're not going to want to waste any of it.

Serving sizes are one of the easiest to correct problems in most people's diets. Did you know an actual serving of Honey Nut Cheerios is only one cup? Most people pull out a big ole bowl, filler up and chow down. Consuming at least two if not three or four servings of cereal. Taking that bowl of cereal from a 300 calorie meal to a 900-1200 calorie meal. The typical adult needs only 2000 calories a day. So if you had a beasty bowl of cereal for breakfast, you've already consumed half your calories for the day. And you need to eat two more meals and probably a snack.

Every day I eat a bowl of whole grain cereal. Cheerios, honey nut cheerios, Special K, Raisin Bran, whatever. And I eat a serving of it (i.e. 1 cup) with a serving of 1% milk.

Lunch is kinda my whatever meal now. But when I was dieting I tried to be a bit more controlled. I still gave myself a bit more leeway to eat some more calories. I found that if I had one meal a day that I got to really enjoy, it made it easier to watch what I ate for breakfast and supper. Also, by having my big meal at lunch, instead of supper, my metabolism was much more likely to burn it off. If you eat a great big supper and you don't eat until 8 or 9 p.m. your body is pretty much going to store ALL of that. Unless you do some serious cardio afterwards and stay awake for a couple of hours, that meal is going straight to your hips, thighs and butt.

Middle of the afternoon I walk. It varies on how much and what speed. Sometimes I take a pair of 3 lb weights to walk with. Sometimes I will jog a little. Just depends. I take a break from work and walk around the building a few times. Usually I walk for about 20 minutes. If we're busy, obviously I don't leave. Sometimes I have to take my walk in 5 minute intervals in the room.

Supper is still always something small. I don't like dealing with supper. I care a bit more about supper than about breakfast, which I pretty much only eat because I know I have to. But it's still not much. Supper is a salad or a can of tuna. Maybe a cheese quesadilla. Yogurt for dessert. Or maybe a chocolate chip cookie or two.

I let myself have sweet things. If you cut yourself off from sugar, sooner or later you will cave in. Then you will find yourself devouring a whole chocolate cake. And your body will totally freak out with all that sugar and will store every ounce of it. There is no reason to completely eliminate any of the "bad foods" from your diet. If you get a hankering for a fried pickle, eat one. If you want a Snickers bar, have it. But don't eat a basket of fried pickles. And don't devour a bag of mini snickers. Have a serving and move on.

If you're ever sitting around and just get the munchies. Try drinking a cup of cold water. If you don't NEED to eat, don't just sit around and eat because you can. It's a dumb reason. And it's an easy way to consume WAY too many calories.

One of the other big things, drink water. Stop drinking soda and sweet tea and red bull. They've got a lot of junk in them that your body doesn't need. I drink a single can of soda a day. It's diet, of course. And I get two or three cups of coffee in the morning. But I don't drink soda and that other crap. I drink at least 64 oz of water every single day.

I also drink a hot cup of green tea most afternoons. For whatever reason, I really love green tea. And a hot cup of tea after lunch just makes me feel good. I dunno. It's weird, I know. I have heard that green tea has lots of good stuff in it. And it's good for your digestion. Also I have heard that a hot beverage after a meal help break down fat. Though I have no idea if that's true.

I'm no longer trying to lose weight. In fact I wouldn't mind gaining a pound or two. Though I'm terrified of actually trying to gain a pound and instead gaining like 10. lol. I pretty much eat what I want and I'm happy with it. I still don't want to eat bad stuff. I feel better without all the grease and icky stuff. I still eat healthy because it's what I want to eat.

Don't get down on yourself. If you have a day where you totally blow your calories, then move on and let it go. Don't scrap the whole diet because you've only lost a few pounds. Keep at it. It is HARD work. But it is well worth it in the end.

Good luck and I'm sorry I don't have some secret miracle to lose 80 lbs overnight. It did, after all, take me 9 months.