How to Lose Weight Without Giving Up Your Favorite Foods

I've written an updated, in-depth version of this post, which you can find here.


Someone wrote me an e-mail recently that inspired me to write this post. She mentioned she was having a hard time getting on track, and that she might as well wait until Jan.1st to start losing weight.

Whenever I hear people say something like this ("I'm going to start on Monday" or "I'm going to start Jan. 1st" etc), I cringe inside. I never offer my advice unless someone specifically asks me, because I hate it when people give me unwanted advice. But here is what I would say to that person...

I always preach about ONLY making changes that you're willing to do for the rest of your life. A lot of people hear that, and think it makes sense, but they don't really let it sink in.

The only reason that someone should dread making changes to his or her lifestyle is if the changes are TOO difficult and miserable to do.

There is no reason to dread starting your dietary changes RIGHT NOW. If you're going to make changes that you're willing to do forever, there is no reason whatsoever to wait until Jan.1st.

There is also a big difference between the phrases "can do" and "willing to do".  Anybody CAN make changes; but not everybody is WILLING TO make those changes. When deciding what changes you want to make to your lifestyle, you have to ask yourself (and really think about it before you give an answer), "What am I WILLING to do or change?"

I would suggest making a list like the example I made below. On the left column, write down things you are not willing to change forever; and on the right, write down some changes that are only a small sacrifice and you honestly don't mind doing them (something you're not going to dread!)

Remember, these are just examples. Only you know your personal battles and changes you should make--so try coming up with your own list and then start RIGHT NOW. It's not like you're heading to be slaughtered; they are just a few small changes that you're willing to do right now.

For a moment yesterday, I actually thought to myself, "I'm only 1.5 pounds from my goal weight right now. If I cut back on calories this week, I'll for sure reach goal at my next weigh in!"  But that is the exact mindset that I try to discourage from others. I'm not willing to eat less than I am right now FOREVER, so I decided that I'm not going to change a thing--I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing recently, and if it takes me 2 or 3 more weeks to reach goal, so be it. At least when I get there, I'll know that I'm already doing what I need to be doing in order to maintain.

Even if you're only willing to make one change right now, that's better than nothing. I didn't make all kinds of changes at once when I started losing weight. I wasn't even willing to exercise at first. But eventually, as you get used to your new habits, you just might be inspired to make more changes--because you want to, not because you have to.

I understand the "waiting until Jan.1st" mindset, I really do--I've said that phrase God-only-knows-how-many times in my life. But now that I've actually lost the weight and lived this lifestyle for 2 1/2 years, I know much more than I did before. And "starting Jan. 1st" is almost guaranteed to fail. There is a reason people make that New Year's Resolution EVERY YEAR--it's because the last year's resolution failed.

Remember, anybody CAN make changes; but what changes are you WILLING TO make forever? :)

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Buttercream frosting, oh my!

I've been so happy all day because of my weigh-in this morning! It's really dumb that a silly number on a scale can make or break my mood--but thankfully, it's been only good numbers lately, so I'll take it :)

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned that I HATE pedicures! That's why I've been procrastinating. I get grossed out by the thought of other people's feet in the little tub, and germs, and all that. Also, when they scrub your feet to exfoliate them? It's AWFUL--I hate even thinking about it. It's like fingernails on a blackboard to me! So I do my own toenails, but I haven't been able to after my surgery (it's hard to bend over that far for that long). I'll try and do it this week.

I just got home from my aunt's house. She invites us over every year in December to decorate Christmas cookies. She makes a ton of cut-out cookies and bakes them, and then the kids (including her grandkids) go to town decorating with frosting and tons of sprinkles.

Buttercream frosting is one of my top three biggest weaknesses (the other two being cookies and ice cream... and since this is hypothetical, we'll throw chocolate in there too. Oh, and marshmallow fluff).  My aunt also made chili for dinner, and homemade macaroni and cheese. I decided to have a little of each, and mixed them together--it was delicious! There was a lot of other food, but nothing that was calling out to me like the desserts. Brownies with frosting, cupcakes with frosting, and cookies with frosting... it was like buttercream heaven!

I decided not to eat any dessert while I was there, but I chose what I wanted most (a cupcake) and brought it home with me to eat for my treat tonight. I'm looking forward to it!

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I went for another three-mile run today. It was raining outside, so I decided to do the dreadmill. I put on my shorts and sports bra, and then thought about how much I used to love running in the rain. So I changed into my pants and a sweatshirt, put on a warm headband and some gloves, and did the run outside in the rain. It was fantastic!

I had to go REALLY slowly, though. My upper abs still have a weird pinching kind of pain, so I didn't want to do anything to mess with it. I just kept saying to myself, "Slow and easy, slow and easy..." because when I zone out, it's easy to go too fast without realizing it

Even going slow and easy, I felt pretty sore at first. My inner thighs and hips are still sore from the run I did on Sunday, but I knew that was just "normal" soreness, so I pushed through it. But I was very careful because of my abs. After running, I felt really good.  I noticed that my breathing wasn't as labored as it was during my first couple post-op runs (but that could just be because I was going slower).

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A few people asked me about running faster. While I'm certainly no expert, I did start out extremely slowly while running and then got a lot faster. There are lots of different ways to do it--the most popular being a speedwork run once a week. You can do that with interval training--run slowly, then run really fast, and repeat. I did this on the dreadmill because it was easy to keep a consistent pace.

You could also do a tempo run, which is a "comfortably hard" pace. Go faster than you normally run, but not so fast that you feel like you're going to puke. Just run hard enough that you wish you could go slower, but you could still push through and keep going.

My first sub-30 5k run (July 2010). I was so proud I took a picture :)

When I was a beginner, I didn't know about intervals or tempo runs... I just made goals and worked toward them each time I ran. For example, my first goal was to run 12 minute miles (for 3 miles total). Once I met that goal, I started pushing for 11:30 miles, then 11:00. A BIG goal was to get under a 10:00 mile, and then a sub-30:00 5k. I would run 3 miles, 3 times per week--trying to finish a little faster each time.

That worked really well for me, actually. I increased my speed significantly doing it that way. This past summer, I focused on doing "real" speedwork (intervals and tempo runs) to try and PR a 10k race. It didn't help at all--and I didn't get my PR :(  I think next time I'll just do my own thing again. It's okay to break the rules and figure out what works for you!

Also, the more you run, the faster you'll get. If you're only running one time a week, you're not going to improve very quickly. You have to run to get better at running, if that makes sense :)

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I can't remember who asked me if I would post my food logs again, but I'll try and do it once in a while. I'm not counting calories, so I'm not measuring any food out. But I'll list what I've been eating :)

Breakfast- Snickers protein shake
Lunch- Cold no-bake cookie oatmeal in a peanut butter bowl
Snack- cinnamon almonds, string cheese
Dinner- chili with cheese and onions; macaroni and cheese
Snack- cupcake

Gonna enjoy my cupcake now!

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Just a weigh-in

I will write a "real" post later, but I did my Wednesday Weigh-In this morning and I'm excited to change my stats, so I decided to post this now :)

Down 1.5 pounds since last week

(Obviously, I still need a pedicure!  Oh, and someone asked me about the tattoo--just a stupid ladybug I got when I was 18).

Body fat down 0.3% since last week

I'm VERY happy with my weigh-in today!! At 134.5, I'm only 1.5 pounds away from my GOAL WEIGHT. I've never in my life actually reached my goal weight; when I reached my lowest-ever weight of 128, my goal (at the time) was 126. So I was two pounds shy of goal when I gained some back. Since I reset my goal to 133, I'm now just 1.5 pounds away from actually REACHING GOAL.

It's possible that I could reach goal next Wednesday! That's so strange to me--but I'm excited. I want to think of some way to celebrate reaching goal. I know that I've been at this weight before, but like I said, it wasn't "goal" at the time, so I didn't feel like it was a success. Maybe that sounds dumb. But reaching goal weight is something that I've wanted to achieve since I was about 10 years old!

Can you think of any (inexpensive) ways for me to celebrate when I do reach goal?

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What the?!

So I was more than a little shocked when I logged into Blogger today and saw these stats:

Lately, I've been getting 3,000-4,000 pageviews per day, so I got kind of scared when I saw those huge numbers today! I've been getting a LOT of hits from Pinterest (which I don't belong to, but I kind of maybe want to join to see what the hype is?). Anyway, when I started my blog, I liked how it was kind of my own private little place on the internet where I could share all about my life and not worry about who saw it. 

With 10,000 pageviews today, I panicked for a minute, thinking about all those people that saw pictures of me in my PANTIES...

But the attention has been only positive (so far) and now I think this is actually kind of fun. I can't imagine why that many people find me interesting enough to view my blog, but hopefully I've inspired some people to make changes in their own lives.

So, I'd like to say welcome to my new readers! I don't have all the answers to weight loss (nor do I pretend to) and I still struggle constantly with my weight, but keeping this blog has been the best thing I've ever done for myself. It helps me stay accountable, and I've "met" sooo many fantastic people that inspire me and motivate me, and just make me feel good about myself--something I never used to feel before.

I hope that what I have written on my blog can help somehow--by seeing all things I've tried and failed at or succeeded at, maybe it will help in your own journey. I can't stress enough that ANYBODY can do what I did--it just takes a hell of a lot of determination and an excuse-free mindset! ;)

If you're just finding my blog, you might want to start with the FAQ's page. In short, I made up my mind that I was GOING TO lose 100+ pounds in a year (this was in August 2009); and I counted my calories diligently, weighing/measuring my food and being completely honest with myself. Over 16 months, I lost 125 pounds--with a few big hurdles along the way, like breaking my jaw, and binge eating. About halfway through my journey, I started to run for exercise--and I HATED IT at first, but I've grown to have a love/hate relationship with running, and I'm kind of hooked on it now.

I have an amazing family--my husband, who I've been with since high school; and our two boys, Noah (7), and Eli (5). We have four cats, all named from Friends characters: Chandler, Phoebe, Estelle, and Paolo.

Last month, I had the most amazing experience in that I was a guest on The Dr. Oz Show. It was so much fun!  And most recently, I had a lower body lift surgery to remove excess skin from my mid-section. I've been documenting all of that info, and will compile it into one blog post soon.

So, if you're interested in following along in my life, I'd love for you to introduce yourself in a comment or e-mail :)  Thanks for reading!

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Four weeks post-op

I cannot believe it's been 4 weeks since my surgery!! I remember thinking that six weeks seemed like SUCH a long time to recover, but I'm already 2/3 of the way through the worst of it. I only have to wear my compression garment for two more weeks.

I had Jerry take some weekly comparison pictures today. Again, it doesn't seem like a big change since last Monday, but I do notice a subtle difference in the pictures (for the better); my stomach seems a little flatter:

3 weeks after lower body lift

4 weeks after lower body lift

The best part is, I definitely noticed that the swelling is going down. I'm still swollen in my lower abdomen, but it's much better than it was a couple of weeks ago.
My incision is healing really well, too. It looks red right now, but my doctor told me it will look worse before it looks better--she said it would get red and then start getting paler, and after a couple of years, it should be very light.  The incision above my butt looks REALLY good--it's barely noticeable. I'm too shy to show you that one, sorry ;)

My belly button still looks pretty red inside, and the incision inside of it is kind of hard feeling. My surgeon told me to put Aquaphor on my incisions, and it would soften up. The red marks up by my ribs show how tight the compression garment is.

I'm still (slowly but surely) working on the post about all the surgery info. I've gotten a lot of good questions from you all, so I will try and answer all of them.

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Jerry and I ended up not doing much today. We went to Goodwill, but they didn't have much of anything. I bought the kids some snow pants, and myself a denim skirt and two tops--but nothing special. It was strange looking for clothes; I'm so used to having to find either long kind of bulky tops to hide my belly, or pants that go up high enough for me to tuck my belly into them. Now that I've had that skin removed, I can wear tight jeans AND tight tops, and I don't have any hangover of skin. I was kind of confused while looking for clothes, because I had to keep reminding myself that I don't have a bunch of excess skin on my belly.

The skirt that I bought is actually meant to sit very low, like right across my hips. I would never have been able to wear it before. Jerry saw it and his eyes got huge, and he said, "You HAVE to buy that!"  It's fun being able to wear a whole different style of clothes, and have no limitations. I guess I'm obligated to show a pic of the skirt now, too ;)

 Hmm, now that I see a picture of it, I'm not sure that I like it anymore. My mind is very backwards sometimes. I'll think I look absolutely terrible, but then when I see a picture of myself, I'm surprised that I actually look good. Or I'll think something looks really good, and then when I see a picture of it, I realize I was wrong.

When I was getting ready to go on stage with Dr. Oz, one of the producers put a necklace on me, that I thought was really ugly. I looked in the mirror and told her I didn't like it. She took my picture and showed it to me, and I realized I was wrong--so that's the necklace you saw me wearing on the show.

When I get ready to go out with friends or a party or something, I have to have Jerry take my picture to show me what I look like in different outfits, since I don't "see" it in the mirror. Same thing with my weight--I always think I look fat when I look in the mirror, but when I see a picture, I realize that I look normal. Does anyone else do this, or am I the only one with a fucked up perception of myself?! ;)

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I was actually pretty sore today from my run yesterday. I forgot what that feels like! My inner thighs are feeling the burn, as are my hips.  I love that feeling!

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Determined to do three

After yesterday's run, I kept worrying that taking a month off really did set me back to Day One as far as running goes. I expected it to be so much easier. After I broke my jaw, I was running again in two weeks, even though I had to breathe through clenched teeth for six weeks because my jaw was wired shut. I remember being super dizzy from the medications I was taking, but I still ran.

So after yesterday's mile on the dreadmill, I was feeling really discouraged. This morning, while my kids were at church, I decided to go for a run outside. I dressed nice and warm and told myself that I would do three miles--but if I had to stop and walk, it was okay.  I left the iPod at home, so that I could hear my breathing and see if it sounded strained or as miserable as I sounded yesterday. Then I started running my favorite three-mile route, the peninsula by my house.

It was cold, but the perfect running weather kind of cold. I could have done without the headwind on the way out, but it was so nice to be running outside, that I didn't mind. I didn't see a single person outside, like I normally do. I started feeling the burning in my lungs at about 1/4 mile in. I just slowed down a little, but kept moving. The first mile went by slowly. The second mile I was really enjoying, because I was going nice and slow and just trying to pay attention to how my body felt. Then the third mile, I was ready to be done and just wanted to get home.

I finished the three miles without any walk breaks. When I got home, I did another quick video, to compare my breathing to yesterdays. It sounds much better.

It's interesting, though--I was going through my old blog today and came across this from a couple of years ago:

"I thought I was going to DIE--well, throw up, really--when I did the Week 3 Couch to 5k workout yesterday. It was really hard to do the 3-minute run. And I don't even run fast. I do my walking at 3 mph and my run at 5 mph. I'm so out of shape. I'm really dreading doing it again tomorrow. I hope it feels easier."

A three-minute run at a 12 min/mi pace made me want to DIE?! LOL

I think that until I start training for the half-marathon (sometime in February) I'm going to just run three miles three times per week like I did when I first became a runner. I'm going to take the next couple of days off to let my muscles recover from today. But I'm so glad that I was able to run the three miles I did!

After the run, I noticed a weird twinge-like pain in the top of my left thigh and another in the upper abdominal muscles. I really hope that is normal. I might call my surgeon tomorrow just to check.

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Jerry's been working EVERY DAY lately, and he has tomorrow off--I'm so excited to spend some quality time with him!  And by quality time, I mean we are going to have a super lazy day of a movie marathon while the kids are in school. We have some free movie passes that we have to use this month, so if there is anything good playing at the mall, maybe we'll do that instead.

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First post-op run

Last night was a lot of fun! Renee, Jessica, and Alicia came over to watch Hood to Coast, and we opened a few bottles of wine. Renee brought hummus and veggies, Alicia brought crackers and smoked cheese with almonds and cranberries, and Jessica brought dark chocolate bark with walnuts and dried cherries. Everything was delicious!  I had about 2 1/2 glasses of wine and probably too much chocolate ;)  It was totally worth it!

This morning, I caught up on e-mail and then was reading my book when I really had the urge to go for a run. I couldn't leave the kids to run outside, so I had to do it on the dreadmill. I'll be four weeks post-op on Monday (I can't believe it's been that long already!) and I figured I'd try and do three miles.  I sent the incline at 1% and started out at an 11:00/mi pace, but quickly went up to a 10:00/mi pace because I was feeling fine.

Then I started to feel the burning in the back of my throat. I haven't felt that since I was a beginner! It's the feeling of being out of shape and winded. I was so irritated at myself, but I was determined to keep going. Then I thought about it, and realized I really shouldn't be mad at myself. I was only 3 weeks and 5 days post-body lift surgery, and I was expecting to run three miles right off the bat!  So I finished a mile and called it quits. I'll see how I feel tomorrow, and I might run again on Monday if I feel okay. I'll try and do a mile and a half next time.

When I stopped, I was SO out of breath, and I am not used to that. Even when I would run 8-10 miles, I could catch my breath pretty quickly afterward. I decided to take a short video clip of myself after the run, and I'll compare it next time I run to hopefully see an improvement. I'm not exactly a pretty sight straight off the dreadmill, but here is the clip:

I was kind of dreading my first run, so I'm glad to be done with it now. I'm going to do minimal running at least until Jan. 1st, but I'm glad to know that I can at least still run. I was worried that my legs wouldn't work anymore or something!

Jerry and I took the boys to the skating rink again. We had coupons for free admission that expire tomorrow, so we wanted to use them. It turned out to be a waste of time. Noah said his leg hurt as soon as we got there, so he didn't want to skate. Then Eli was mad about something (no idea what) and he refused to skate. We told the kids that we were leaving.

We were the only people in the entire place, and I think the employees thought we were leaving because the kids were bored because no other kids were there, so they gave us more free passes as we were leaving. I ended up booking Eli's birthday party there for Jan. 14th. My kids have always had their birthday parties at our house, but they went to a party there recently and they really wanted to do the same thing.

Jerry just left for work, so I'm hanging out with the boys tonight. I taught them to play Old Maid and they think that game is hilarious, so we'll probably be playing that all night. And watching Dirty Jobs. ;)

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Picture frames

I seriously just wasted spent my entire day hanging picture frames. I'm terrible at hanging them--I can't figure out where to put each frame and then I get them crooked and off center, or I measure wrong, and they just look bad. So today, I was determined to do it RIGHT.

Jerry called the cable company this morning because our internet has been SO S.L.O.W. for the past three days or so (if you've been waiting for an e-mail or response from me, that's probably why you haven't heard anything! I'll try and catch up tomorrow). They said they'd send someone out, so I waited around for the cable guy. While I was waiting, I decided that I really needed to fix the frames and finally add the others that have been sitting in a closet for about four years (literally).

It was so hard!! I acted like a little kid having a fit--I screamed and stomped my feet, and told Jerry I was going to tear the house apart out of frustration. Lol, and I wonder why my kids are so dramatic! I finally figured out a system with a piece of paper with lines drawn all over it--it wasn't perfect, but I think I did pretty damn good!

Yes, that took me all day long. I'm just so glad that it's done now, and I don't have to look at the frames that were on the wall before, all crooked.

The cable guys (there were two) gave us a new modem and splitter under the house. Now the internet is working quickly again, and it's much less frustrating.

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Some of you asked what I used the cookie butter for--yesterday, I spread it on a few graham crackers and at it that way. I imagine it would be good on a Nilla Wafer, too. Or, and I can't wait for this, oats in a jar!  When it gets almost empty, I'm going to make my cinnamon raisin cookie oats and put it in the jar to eat. Yum!

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I have some runner friends coming over in less than an hour to watch Hood to Coast with me, so I have to cut this short. We'll have wine and snacks, too. Jerry's working tonight, so I'm really looking forward to some girl company!

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It doesn't get much better than this!

I've had such a great day today! It always seems like good things happen all in the same day and then everything will be boring again for a while.

I started today by trying on some jeans that I was hoping would fit (my goal jeans)--and they did! Then I went a step further, and tried on the one pair of jeans that I never in a million years thought I'd be able to button and zip and actually wear in public--they fit too!! Remember the Lucky brand jeans I bought this summer? They were super low cut and I never thought I'd be able to wear them, even with a tummy tuck. But I tried them on for shits and giggles today, and...

Ta da! And I don't even have a muffin top, so I can wear them with fitted shirts. Before, I couldn't even get the jeans up all the way, let alone buttoned. Sorry I keep posting so many comparison pics--I'm not fishing for compliments, I'm just in total AWE at the results of my lower body lift!

Speaking of which, I got my XS compression garment in the mail today. When I took it out of the package, I just thought, "Holy crap, how am I supposed to fit into that?!" because it was so tiny. Here is a pic of it on top of my goal jeans (which are a size 4, so they're small as it is):

 

You can see why I was worried about putting that thing on!  After some wrestling and holding my breath, I managed to get the hooks and zippers done, and now it's on. I can't really take a deep breath, but I'm compressed ;)  I have to wear this for 3 more weeks. I actually kind of like the compression feeling.

I also got something VERY exciting in the mail today from Lindsey at JavaMuser... When I opened the envelope and saw a Trader Joe's bag, I knew it was going to be good...

It felt heavy and cylindrical, so my first guess was some sort of nut butter. But it was BETTER, Friends. What could possibly be better than nut butter, you ask?

I did what anyone would do, and opened it immediately. I ate a spoonful right from the jar, and my kids must have heard my Oh-this-is-so-good moaning, because they wanted to try it too. I gave them a tiny little taste and they loved it of course. I told them sorry, but this is going on Mama's special shelf in the pantry ;)

It tastes like Snickerdoodle cookies or something. So yummy!  I've only been to a Trader Joe's once, and that was when I went to visit my brother in St. Paul, MN.  We don't have one around here, unfortunately. Thank you, Lindsey--you know me well!

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Today was Renee's birthday, and we went out to lunch four other girls (six of us total). It was so fun! We went to a restaurant called La Fiesta, which I'd never been to before. I ordered a lunch portion of shrimp fajitas, and unfortunately, they weren't very good. Actually, they were the worst fajitas I've ever had! But the company was good, so that made up for it ;)

After that, Renee, Jessica, and I went to Cabela's for Christmas shopping. I didn't need to buy anything, but it was fun to look around. I stopped at Kroger for a few things on the way home, and didn't get home until almost 4:00 when the kids get home from school.

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About the cookie socks giveaway... I wrote down everyone's names and then used a random number generator to pick a winner. It ended up being #2, who was Susan Snyder--congrats, Susan!  I already have your address from sending you the Gocket, so I ordered the socks and had them shipped to you :)

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SO EXCITED!

I'm going to write more later (and include some more pics), but for now, I'm just too excited not to share... I can wear my GOAL JEANS!!

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