Monday, January 15, 2018

Goodbye 50lbs!

I have something fun to share with you today...

I've hit my first major healthy milestone....

I lost 50lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I haven't felt this good in years and I'm so proud of myself.

Let me give you a little backstory.  After I had Fletcher I was heavier than I'd ever been.  I just didn't feel great and I knew I wanted to make some changes to a healthier me.  I didn't do anything drastic because I had two little kids to care for, had plans to move and life was busy.  So I just put in LOTS and LOTS of hard work, good choices and effort on my part.

I was guilty of drinking my calories, mindlessly eating, barely exercising and never turning down a treat.  That's what got me to an unhealthy point that left me feeling bad. 

Here's my strategy.

Spoiler alert... I didn't go on a diet, I didn't join any programs and I didn't measure out my food.  I didn't track what I was eating and I didn't pay someone money to help me.  I'm not knocking any of those things.  I just want to encourage you that it's possible to lose weight all on your own when you're motivated to do it.

1. Drink water and lots of it.
I keep a giant tumbler full of ice water with me wherever I go.  My husband has lovingly dubbed it my BIG GULP.  It sits in my passenger seat when I leave the house and I drink water all day long.  I drink and refill it as much as I can each day.

2. Exercise regularly and consistently.
I've mentioned before that I love to walk with my kids.  They are happy to be pushed around in our double stroller so off we go anytime the weather is nice.  I tell my kids that my plan is to walk every day that we can and they help remind me to get outside when I'm lacking motivating.  I even added in some RUNNING to our walks.  I have never been a runner.  For years I told myself that I wasn't athletic and running wasn't my thing.  It's still not my favorite thing, but I really enjoyed adding into my walks.

My main focus was still going on hour long walks, but I tried to add some interval running into my hour.  Here's how I did it.  I'd challenge myself to run to stop signs.  We live in a huge neighborhood with lots of stop signs. I'd tell Olive to help me spot the stop signs.  When she did she said, Mama, READY, SET, GO!!  And I'd run pushing roughly 90lbs of children/stroller until I reached the stop sign.  The kids would yell and cheer and couldn't have cared less about how fast I was, how I looked running or who saw us.  I used to care about all of those things and then I realized NO ONE CARES or is even really paying that much attention to us.  

3. Eat more veggies.
I chop veggies for us to snack on all week and eat with meals.  I do big grocery store runs and then come up and chop.  It usually takes 30 minutes to get all of them washed, cut and prepped for the week.  It's amazing how much better we all eat when I take the time to prepare healthy foods for us.

4. Snack less.
I love all the snacks - gummies, pretzels, chocolates, cookies, desserts, chips, etc.  So I quit buying a lot of this stuff.  I know if I have twizzlers in the pantry, I'll have a twizzler craving late at night.  Or I know I'll polish off cookies if I bake a whole batch.  So I bake cookies in batches of 9-12 and freeze the rest of the dough for later.  I drop off cookies to our neighbors instead of eating a whole plate of them.  I still buy snacks, but I try to only buy a little at a time or save them for special occasions.

I started stocking up on things in the produce section, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store and I QUIT BUYING SO MANY OF THE UNHEALTHY SNACKS I LOVE.  If my pantry or freezer was full of all the unhealthy things then I'd end up eating it all.  I don't have great self control around junk food so I figured out that it was in my best interest to just quit buying it.  I started fixing more salads and made sure to eat salads most days.

5. Pay more attention to what I'm eating.
I can't stand the idea of tracking my food and I'm not sure why.  I LOVE making lists.  I love tracking apps for other things, but I just can't stand the idea of tracking my food.  So I made healthy swaps for things, focused more on eliminating mindless snacking from my routine, portion size and it's going just fine for me.

6. Weigh in at home.
We have a bathroom scale and I tried to weigh in once a week.  It was VERY motivating for me to see the numbers go down.  I DID NOT weigh myself daily.  I much preferred to check in weekly.  I'd share my results with my husband and he'd cheer me on.  I also gave myself incentives... when I hit this number on the scale I'd reward myself with something like new workout shoes, new workout gear, a fun road trip or plans with friends.


Lots of little changes added up to big results in 2017 :) 

I'm excited to keep on going in the new year.

I'd love to answer any questions or encourage you in your journey to get healthy so just leave me a comment or send me an email (( polkadottyplace@hotmail.com ))

31 comments:

  1. Whitney!!!!! This is amazing news!!! I am so so happy for you!! Way to go!! I know first hand how much work and discipline it takes to make healthy choices- so I am over here just dancing and clapping and cheering for you!!! I know you must feel so much better on the outside- but way more importantly- drastically improved on the inside. SO SO GREAT Whitney!!

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  2. That's awesome, friend! You look AMAZING! And I'm loving that you're sharing more of YOU on here, especially with your pretty style:) I could tell from your pictures that you seemed more happy and confident.

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  3. Whitney- That is AWESOME! So proud of you!! Thank you for sharing with us!

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  4. I am so so so so so proud of you! Really!! What a fantastic loss, Whitney!

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  5. Way to go! Thank you for sharing your tips!

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  6. WOAH!!!!! That is AWESOME, friend! I am so proud of you! I totally agree that it's possible to lose weight all on your own when you choose a method that motivates you. Being the girl who never said no to a treat - that was me, too. It is amazing how often that happens when your love language is good food, and what a difference it makes when we learn to say no. I'm jumping up and down with excitement for you! 50 pounds is an incredible victory!!! :)

    Whitney @ Whitney @ Come Home For Comfort

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  7. Congrats ! It's so motivating to hear your success. I am getting to that point with my weight (highest after baby) and I am on the brink of making that move to a more healthier lifestyle. Congrats again!

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  8. Congrats!!!! This is awesome!!!! About how long did it take you to reach this amazing milestone??

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  9. Wow, so very good for you! Great work and you should be so proud :) How true it is to just completely stop buying the bad things that can be so tempting, I love all these tips and look forward to incorporating some into our daily life too!

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  10. Whitney!! This is amazing! Good for you!!

    AND this makes me so excited because it is exactly what I'm doing right now to try and lose the remaining after Finn weight. It gives me hope that what I'm doing will work if I take the time to let it!

    I'm pretty much implementing all of the same things as you- no more mindless drinks/snacks for extra calories, getting up and moving at least once a day(for now I'm doing the elliptical during an episode of a show!), and way more water.

    Oh yeah! And once a week weigh ins too. I just weighed in this morning and that number went down. Hooray! I'm already hopeful to weigh in again next Monday :p

    Anyway, enough about myself. I know it isn't easy- so I'm incredibly proud of you for all of your hard work and patient dedication!!! GO YOU!

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  11. Awesome - and from someone still fighting the battle - I applaud your really do-able steps your took. I need to add exercise and you're motivating me!

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  12. Whitney! This is awesome- CONGRATS! That's huge, and to do so with making healthy lifestyle changes that have obviously become habits is so, so smart. I can't stand extreme programs/diets/supplement based plans because that's not realistic longterm!! You are doing GREAT friend- so proud of you!! xo

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  13. Wow, this is such an accomplishment! Congratulations! I love your tips and your "Stop Sign" exercising with Olive's encouragement brought a smile to my face! You definitely inspired me to get back on the treadmill this morning and resume my water drinking in 2018 after bad holiday behavior got me off track. So inspired by you, keep up the fantastic work!

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  14. Congratulations!! I know that's so much work! But so worth it in the long run! You look great! And are already inspiring.me to lose this baby weight...in 5 more months, lol.

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  15. You look amazing! Way to go! Love how all of your little changes added up to be results. So good. I really struggle with being brave enough to get on the scale each week. I need to just get over it already!

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  16. Whitney, so proud of you..I would never have dreamed you were 50# overweight..Congrats on your discipline, motivation, and hard work..You are a beautiful young woman...Love Gram

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  17. Whitney!!!! I could tell that you had been loosing weight, especially over the past couple of months, but wow-wee!!!! SO immensely proud of you. All of those little changes really added up to some amazing results.

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  18. This is an amazing accomplishment! Way to go - and that's so cool that you did it all in your own way, a way that fit your own needs and your family. You're an inspiration!!

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  19. What an amazing accomplishment! You should be very proud of yourself. I always have a hard time drinking water, I really should be drinking more water, especially with all the walking with the kids. I love the story about Olive and the stop sign, my oldest daughter likes to say to me ready set go, but then she does it like 5 times in a round, I think I might try the stop sign trick.

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  20. That is amazing! Congrats you are rocking it! I switched to water mainly (I drink PowerAde sometimes) over Christmas break to break my pop addiction. So far so good. I have had a couple caffeine-free pops though. I love the idea of running to the stop signs and how the kids get involved with you. Such a fun activity for them (also learning). Keep up the great progress!

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  21. Congratulations! That is awesome!!

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  22. Awesome! What's best is that you feel better! I am starting out on trying to lose a set amount of weight for the first time in several years. I have lost a couple or so pounds so far but just taking back control over my eating has made me feel better about myself more than anything.

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  23. You look amazing, Whitney! You should be so proud of this awesome accomplishment! :)

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  24. That is so great!!! Congratulations!!!

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  25. Congrats! I want you to know that I enjoy your blog. I found you a month or so ago on another blogs Friday Favorites link up. Great job on the weight loss!!!!

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