In college I ran, lifted weights, roller bladed, and rock climbed. I was in amazing shape in college. I never really had access to a scale, but I do know I got down to 125 at one point. I probably weighed around 130 on my wedding day. But after I got married, I developed some bad habits. I never exercised. I ate snacks late at night. Lots of carbs, Lots of TV. I'm sure you know the "lazy lifestyle" quite well.
6 months after I got married I became pregnant. With my first pregnancy I threw up every. single. day. Even they day he was born. It went fom 20 times per day, to 10 times per day, to once a day at the end. But still, I managed to gain a lot of weight. I was about 160 after my first baby. I stayed at 160 the whole time I was nursing and came to accept that as my new normal. I decided to sign up for a half-marathon to lose the baby weight. I ran and ran and ran. I did lose about 10 lbs. But, I didn't change my nutrition whatsoever.
During my pregnancy with baby number 2, I ate constantly! It was the only way to stave off nausea. About a year after he was born, I learned about whole foods. I changed my diet, probably for the first time ever, and lost about 25 lbs. I got down to 148 and felt really great about that. I did not exercise though.
After baby number three, I was back up to 175. When she was about 5 months old, I participated in a boot camp and lost about 30 lbs. I got down to 145. This was through strict nutrition and a LOT of exercise. I did Shaun T's Insanity program from Beach Body.
After baby number four, I had lost my motivation to lose weight. I was back up to 175. I did manage to get down to 165 after she was about 10 months old. Then, I received a cancer diagnosis. Thyroid cancer. It was a fairly large tumor and spreading fast. I had surgery and radioactive iodine treatment. This was a difficult time for me mentally and emotionally. Between the time of the cancer diagnosis and the surgery, I decided to eat an alkaline diet. I did lose a little more weight from that change. However, after my surgery and treatment, I gave up on the alkaline diet and went back to my old bad habits.
Since that time, I have struggled with exhaustion and lack of energy. My thyroid blood tests always showed "normal" yet, I did not feel normal. I have had my dose changed about 5 times 4 times increased and once (most recently) decreased. I think I finally have my dose under control. I actually feel kind of normal now. I still get tired, but it is not longer the perpetual exhaustuion I used to feel. I think a combination of getting my dose fixed, exercising, and eating better I got down to 155/150 range.
About two and a half years after the cancer experience, I decided to get serious about my health and nutrition! I wanted to get back to my high school/wedding weight which I determined to be 135. I joined a 21-day fix challenge group. I followed the 21-day fix eating plan. I really liked the eating plan because I felt like it was well balanced and made sure you got all the important food groups. I did the 21-day fix workouts. I also did the Chalean Extreme program on Beach Body on demand. I chose this program because I love weight lifting. The challenge group started at the end of April. I was 153 at the beginning of the challenge. I lost the most weight at the beggining.
From July until now I have steadily lost about 1 pound per month. It has been so slow, that I have been extremely frustrated at times. I kept seeing these posts online of people who lost 30 lbs in 30 days. What was wrong with me? Why was my progress so slow?? BUT, I kept telling myself that if I kept going I would continue to see change. The time would pass anyway. I could either give up and stay the same, or keep pushing and make progress, even if it was slow progress.
Slow progress is better than no progress!
Here are two swimsuit pix. One from after baby number 3 and the other from this summer. I'm still not at my goal yet, but I'm feeling much better and motivated to keep going.
You are pretty amazing, Nicole!
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