My Weight Loss Journey

On the Jenny Craig forums someone asked how to keep up their motivation once they've been on a plan for more than 6 months... it got me to thinking about what I've done in the past, what has worked and what hasn't worked. I think a large part of making the program into your lifestyle is your mindset. Here was my response:

I really started gaining weight in college when I completely stopped playing sports and led the typical college life of too much bad food, alcohol (not a ton but even a little is too much when it comes to calories) and not enough physical activity. During my junior/senior year of college I tried nutrisystem which is just gross and that lead to failure on that plan... then I went to weight watchers which I had success on but I was also going through a big breakup and I didn't have a huge appetite so it was easy to stay within points although looking back I was using my points on JUNK!!! Not on fruits and veggies and protein,  but on fast food and carbs. After 3 months, I had lost 40 pounds or so but stopped when I went back to school and quickly gained them back. 

After college I joined the Peace Corps and lived in Niger, West Africa for 2 years. I walked or biked EVERYWHERE and while the foods were high in starch everything was fresh and mostly unprocessed. I weighed in the 180's and was in the best shape of my adult life. I ended up marrying a local and when we moved back to the US I quickly gained everything back and more, got pregnant after 2 months and kept gaining.

So, by the time I joined Jenny Craig I was plain sick of being sick! I'm not going pretend that I went gung ho and NEVER ate off plan because that's not true. But what I did was write down EVERYTHING. I used Jenny's menu planner and wrote all over it, still use them to this day though I get the blank ones to write in my meals on my own. I also log everything into myfitnesspal. It was a sore wakeup call when I saw exactly how many calories I was consuming and it changed my mind as to how I wanted to eat. 

I still enjoy Chipotle, candy, and other previous favorites but now I really want to STAY at my fighting weight  Also, I have really started getting into blogging. I do it for myself and for others to read if they want. I also take tons of pictures and look for motivational quotes. Constantly seeing pictures of my former self and my progress keep my going doing 90% perfect on my diet and 10% of "off plan" but still it's controlled. I count out my portions... no more are the days of sitting down with a box of cheez its or cereal. No, I literally count out 18 chips or measure 1 cup of cereal.

The longer you do this the easier it gets. But, you have to realize and decide that THIS will have to be your new way of life. If you do all this hard work and then just stop at goal... your work will go down the tube. I also read a lot of blogs about people going through the same type of journey.

Also, get active. Start slow and do what you can. I started with a wii and Just Dance... then was given a gazelle machine then I started the app c25k and then branched out to a hip hop dance class, body pump and spinning. I've tried lots of things and the more active I got the more I can't stand to NOT be active. Just be patient with yourself. For me it will ALWAYS be a struggle... always be an extra hour I have to spend planning my meals the week before, etc but I feel GREAT and it's worth it...

Now, here are some pictures I took last night of my old jeans (size 24) although I actually started in a 26... now I'm in a 14/16 depending on brand:

Me in my 14's from TORRID!!! Best plus size shopping, EVER FYI

These don't look as big, I am wearing my other jeans underneath too. But they were ROOMY

Front view

I plan to get real portraits taken with my before pants when I'm completely done losing weight and that picture is going in every room in my house.... okay not seriously, but it will go in my bedroom on a large canvas and a 4x6 print on my fridge.