The Weight Loss Story

Many of friends have been asking me how I lost weight and transformed my body over the past 7 month. I thought creating a blog would be a good way to share it with all of you who are interested. I started working out with Rachel Ryan, a personal trainer/nutritionist and owner of rachelryansfitness, in Chester, CT, who is just wonderful! Since January, I have lost about 20 pounds, gaining instead, lean muscle mass. I have also increased my strength, flexibility, and cardio capacity. I had muscles hurting I didn't even know I had!

This is not a fun process, in fact you could say it's just alot of work. But I can tell you this, now that I've lost the weight, it is very rewarding. Rachel has also been my weight loss "coach", putting together a nutritional/eating plan based on my fitness needs and food preferences. I have been keeping a food diary on a website called "The Daily Plate". Rachel can then monitor my program online and make suggestions and "tweaks" to my intake. Yes, it means having to add up every morsel of food you put into your mouth. It's amazing when you start writing down and keeping track of the calories you eat each day how you become very conscientious of what you are eating. But more than that, when you have to report back to someone on what you had to eat that day, it makes it hit home even more. Nothing like getting that text everyday, "what did you eat for lunch? what's for dinner?" It makes it very difficult to cheat...

Every day I log in what I eat with the calorie count. I find if I don't do that, I'm not nearly as careful about what I eat. It's way to easy to grab something as you are walking by and pop it into your mouth if you're not writing it down. When you are keeping track and writing everything down and have to stay within a certain calorie count for the day, there are decisions to be made about whether or not you really want that "thing". You only have so many calories in a day, so you have to really decide what you want to "spend" those calories on.

Now for me, it's all about the chocolate. I love chocolate and I want it everyday. So when the kids are grabbing a cookie for themselves and I think, "well it's just one cookie, I can have just one" - that one cookie means I won't be able to have my 5 chocolate covered almonds that I absolutely love!

But you might be surprised to know that since January, I don't think a day has gone by that I did not have chocolate. You wouldn't think that a person could lose 20 pounds and eat chocolate everyday, but I did. I figured out a way to work in my chocolate and still loose weight. In fact, as I'm writing this right now, I am having my chocolate covered almonds...and writing it into my calorie count for the day. You see, it is possible to have your cake and eat it too...and lose weight. It just needs to be part of "the plan".

And then there's the exercise, yes, it's true, you do have to exercise. I always thought that I didn't have time to exercise, there's so much going on with work, kids, etc. you know the routine. But it's amazing how you find the time once you decide this is something you really want. Exercise for me now, is like eating lunch, it's just something I need to do everyday. Do I take a day off every now and then? Yes I do, but not very often. I find that for me, it's way too easy to get out of the routine, it only takes missing 2 days for me to lose my momentum, so I don't allow myself to do that. Actually, I am at the point that if I don't exercise one day, I don't "feel" good. I need it now.

A friend of mine asked me the other day, "Is it hard to eat different things than what other people are eating?" The answer is "yes!" It's really hard when you are out of your normal daily routine. I find the weekends to be really difficult, especially parties and outings.

There are still days when I may vary "off the plan" - Diary Queen's Blizzards are a favorite! So if you're in a car with me and you spot a Diary Queen...please don't ask if I want to stop, just keep driving. But those are the times when having a personal trainer/nutritionist are helpful. A quick text or phone call can make all the difference. I have been in restaurants trying to decide what to order and texting Rachel to see what I should have - actually, I usually have the kids text for me because they are way faster than I am. She talks me through it and we find something that lets me stay within "my plan".

There you have it, that's how I've done it. There are challenges everyday to overcome, but it does get easier. And when I fall off the horse - and I do fall off the horse, Rachel & I get right back on it and off we go!

I'll keep my blog updated so you can follow my weekly challenges and hopefully hear about my successes also. If you are going through something similar or thinking about taking this journey yourself, I would love to hear from you!