Weigh in Wednesday: Hard

For the past week, I have been thinking is how hard it is to lose weight. And I couldn't figure out why I thought that - I have lost 125 pounds for goodness sake! But these last 18 I want to lose are just killing me {weigh in for the week was 168}. I have been having the mind set that I need to just do something for the next few months until I hit goal and then I can change what I am doing. And that is wrong. I keep thinking I can just eat healthy until I get pregnant and then take 9 months to eat whatever I want. Wrong {although I am sure there will be some "naughty" food in there somewehere}. Or that I need to eat healthy until we get sealed {got pictures to look good for!} or until Clint & Macy get married {it's coming - gotta look good for THOSE pictures!}. But that's all wrong - what I do now is what I will do forever. I don't WANT to do a diet that's temporary. I committed to make a lifestyle change.

Words can't express how much I love this - it's all hard. Choose your hard.

I was reminded the other day about "the Beebaw diet". A while back, a personal trainer at XSI in Lehi was telling Brynne & me about how you should eat like a king in the morning, like a prince at lunch and like a pauper at dinner. Brynne immediately said - "that's how Beebaw lost his weight too - it works!". For those who don't know Beebaw is my dad's dad who passed away last January. Amazing man, wonderful grandpa. I have so many wonderful fond memories of him. The last few years of his life, his doctor told him that if he didn't lose some weight and get his diabetes under control, he might lose the use of his limbs. Although that worried Beebaw, he wasn't too scared. And then the doctor told him he might go blind. Yep, Beebaw got a gym pass the next day. My grandpa LOVED to read - he had like 4 PHD's, 3 masters degrees, and 12 bachelors degrees or some crazy thing. He taught at BYU until he passed away. He LOVED learning, reading & learning about the Savior through study. So learning he might lose his vision was NOT ok. And he did this whole king, prince, pauper thing and he lost a LOT of weight. I remember seeing him after WAY too long and thought - wow why on earth are you so skinny?! He seriously lost a LOT of weight. And he still ate normal people food. He just walked around a track. But he lost weight. Because nutrition is 80% of the battle.


One of my favorite movies of all time. Best quote in the movie!

So anyway, the thought came to me the other day that I should do the Beebaw diet. So I figured, hey why not. I'll give it a shot. HOLY SMOKES! I wish I had listened to that personal trainers advice a long time ago and done this sooner!! Ok, first off - I eat around 1400 calories a day. Some days it's closer to 1500 - usually in that ball park though. Depends on how many calories I burned in the morning, since I am aiming for a 1000 calorie deficit each day. I used to eat around 200 calories for breakfast. Now I am doing 400. And let me tell you - when I look at my breakfast each morning, I feel like I am eating an absolute FEAST. It looks like SO much food compared to what I used to eat. But it's all healthy. And I count all the calories, and measure it all out still. And guess what? Morning snack comes, and I'm a little hungry but not starving. Before, morning snack could NOT come fast enough.


This girl is one of my heroes. Seriously. Chalene Johnson, you have saved my life. And I have this hanging on my wall - it is NOT supposed to be easy.

And then lunch comes, and I'm still not all that hungry. So afternoon snack comes and I'm feeling like I could eat something but I am not starving, and then dinner comes and I eat under 300 calories and feel TOTALLY fine. On a day with an intense cardio workout, with an 8 hour work day, with running errands and doing laundry, I feel totally full and content on 1400 calories. That was NOT happening before. Tell you what. I was hungry. And grouchy. And irritable. And depressed because I wanted food danggit and now, I don't feel that way. I don't even think "ok time for dessert" because I honestly feel like there is no room in my stomach for it. And I am eating the EXACT same amount of calories. Even a little bit less!! This works!! I totally wish I had done it sooner!!

And it doesn't hurt that I am eating 6-8 servings of vegetables a day lately. That seems to help a ton. Vegetables have very low calories, but they take up lots of space in my stomach so I don't feel hungry when I eat them. And I have been buying vegetables I want to eat, not just ones on sale or whatever. If I want some tomatoes, then guess what? I buy tomatoes. I wanted asparagus the other day, so yep - I bought some. And I look forward to getting to eat my yummy vegetables I am looking forward to.

And I realized that there is no reason to only have 1 serving of fruit a day. If I have the calories, I can have more fruit. So I started having 3 servings a day. Oh my gosh - that has completely helped my sweet tooth. I know that I have a juicy peach or a crunchy apple or a cup of berries with greek yogurt waiting for me at my next snack, so sugar hasn't been tempting. I wish I had started incorporating fruit into my diet more sooner - it has helped a TON!

I can do hard things.

Yesterday I went over my list of Crazy Cool -  things that would be AWESOME if they happened this year. And there were a few that weren't so exciting, or wouldn't be happening this year so they needed to be replaced. One of the new items on my list is to have gone 60 days without a binge. That would be SO stinkin' awesome! I would be SOOOOO proud of myself. So guess what? I am on day 4. And that's not a huge deal - weekdays are relatively easy for me. But now I have something to think about on the weekends - a REASON to not binge.

I decided my definition of not binging is that I have to write down everything I eat. EVERYTHING. Like I said, weekdays I do awesome. Weekends, not so much. So I am going to keep an accurate journal, since my body keeps an accurate journal. It knows if I eat something that I didn't write down.

And I am feeling SO PUMPED right now! I am proud of myself for the changes I have made and how well I am doing. I missed my workout yesterday {dumb DVD player was being lame and it didn't occur to me to jump on the elliptical or do Turbo Kick} and I still ate PERFECT. PERFECT!! NO BINGING!! AND I HAD YOUNG WOMEN'S LAST NIGHT! People - that does NOT happen. I screw up when I am away from my house. I screw up when I don't workout. When there is cookies in front of me. And there was. And I did NOT screw up. HECK YES!!!

Got a good sweat picture this week - this was last Wednesday after Elliptical and Lean Circuit 3. Lean Circuit 3 is pretty much all chest - tons of push ups and chest work. And my body was feelin' it. But look at that sweat!!! I was SOO proud of myself!

Can't wait to tell you on Monday that I am on day 9 without a binge. Can't wait to report how good I feel from how I have been eating. This week, one of my goals is to take pictures of a few yummy things that I eat. So stay tuned for next week!