Making the decison to lose weight

February 2009 - Before the weight Loss

One of the things that I am constantly asked is how I lost weight before my wedding and how I've managed to stay in shape throughout pregnancy. First of all, I am FAR from being a textbook "fit mommy". In fact, I'm eating a bag of Cheetoes right now as I type! But before we get to talking about me in present day, let's talk about me 1 1/2 years ago when I first got engaged in April of 2009.

I was not overweight, but after graduating from college and having a very poor diet limited to fast food and all you can eat buffets, it was probably the heaviest I've ever been. I normally have an average frame that is not too skinny but not on the heavyset side either but at that time I was 5'1" at 126 lbs and wearing a size 8. Not only that, but I was extremely out of shape! After Anthony popped the question, I made it my personal goal to get back to my pre-college weight of 115 and I had 13 months to do it. 11 pounds may not seem like a lot, but it is definitely not easy coming to the realization that you can't just eat whatever you want anymore and stay skinny.

One of the things that I learned throughout the process is that weight loss is a progression through better food choices and a more active lifestyle. Some of the first decisions that I made were to incorporate at least 30 minutes of daily exercise into my life and to start consuming less than 1,800 calories a day. One of the things that helped me with my calorie goals is the Lose It! App on iPhone. You can't expect to stay under your limits if you don't keep track of what you eat so if you don't have access to something like this, I highly recommend to keep some kind of a food journal. For foods that I didn't necessarily know the calories for, I'd would just estimate but always on the higher side to be safe (this goes especially for Filipino food!) I also bought myself a "Calorie King" Book that listed the calories for popular restaurants. I was shocked to find that some of my favorite dishes were over 2,000 calories!! Needless to say, those were some of the sacrifices I had to make.

I can say that reducing my calorie intake during meals made me quite hungry all the time so I began to snack on fruits, yogurt, and nuts at least every 3 hours. It definitely helped with my metabolism and I have continued this routine til this day throughout pregnancy. Another key thing was drinking A LOT of water! I tried to consume about 3-4 16 oz bottles a day on top of cutting out all other beverages from my diet. By doing just this alone I lost about 3 lbs in the first month. Alcohol is definitely a setback for any diet so try to avoid it if possible.

As for exercise, I was extremely out of shape so I had to work myself up to a good place. It's really discouraging to try and do something that you know your body can't handle so it's always a good idea to start somewhere (anywhere!) and condition your body as time goes on. I started taking my dog on a walk everyday. I'd do it right when I got home so I didn't have time to plop down on the couch and get stuck there (which I know happens to many of us!). I'd walk at my own pace for about 30 minutes and call it a day. It worked out to be at least one mile a day.Soon enough, my walking turned into jogging and before I knew it, we were jogging about 2 miles a day. I was not losing weight drastically yet at this point, so after 2 months of walking and jogging, I started to work new things into my exercise routine.

If you hate the gym like me, try home exercise DVD's. It's easy to just get home, change, pop in the dvd and get moving. And, you don't have to embarrass yourself if you're not comfortable driving to the gym and working out with a bunch of people who are more fit than you. I started with Hip Hop Abs because my mother in law lent to to me so I figured, why not give it a try. It turned out to be a really good core workout that was fun to do! It was definitely a good place for me to start. When that started getting easy and I wasn't sore anymore, I started to do Tae Bo videos that were a little more strenuous, but still good for beginners. Pretty soon, working out everyday was a must in my life. My day would feel incomplete without it because I just loved the feeling that I'd get after I finished a video. If I wasn't feeling up to doing a video one day, I'd just casually walk my dog to get my exercise for the day in. By summer of 2009, I had lost about 6 lbs. The weight didn't come off right away, it took months to get where I was. I had to just be patient and continue eating healthy and staying active. Weight loss doesn't happen overnight but I was VERY determined to lose the weight..To really push myself, I even ordered my wedding dress in a size 4 even though I wasn't quite there yet.

Finally, I started doing the Insanity workout routine probably by August of 2009. This is definitely for more advanced exercisers but after 1 month of doing it, I really started dropping the weight. I think by Christmas I was actually below my goal weight of 115 and was now tipping the scale in at 112 lbs and fitting back into a size 4. With the wedding still 5 months away, the important thing was just to maintain my new figure and not to go back to my old eating habits just because I had finally reached my goals.

April 2010 - After Weight Loss

Eventually, with the holidays and all the stresses of the wedding planning and our busy schedule, I did get a bit off track with the exercise routine and diet routine in those last few months, but still tried to fit in an Insanity video or a jog at least 4 times a week. By the wedding, I was a healthy 115 lbs and was able to fit perfectly into my size 4 dress!

The importance of being healthy has never left my mind. Now that I'm pregnant, I am once again determined to stay fit and healthy. With all my cravings, it's been impossible to stay away from sweets and some french fries, but I've managed to continue staying active. It's been a little harder now that I'm in my third trimester and my lower back is not cooperating with me, but I'm proud to say that up until now, I've managed to continue doing workout videos and walking my dog at least 3 times a week. I am currently at 138 lbs (I was 120 during my first prenatal appointment in July 2010) and feeling great! I have not seen any signs of stretchmarks yet or noticed a major drop in energy...But I'll save all THAT stuff for a later time.