Tuesday 14 April 2015

Easter Gains & This Time Last April...

Today is my beautiful friend Liz's birthday - this time last year we headed to the local University (University of Bedfordshire) together for Body Composition Testing using a Bod Pod & Tanita scales. You can read all about how we got on here.

Liz and I at Bod Pod testing on 14.04.14 (left) and at our friend's 30th party on 11.04.15 (right): One year on. 

A year has passed, and since then I have seen a huge change in not only the numbers on the scales, but also in the way I feel mentally about food, the way I eat, exercise and how I feel in my own skin. 

I thought that being that it's exactly a year since I hopped into that Bod Pod it would be cool to look back and celebrate how far I've come in the last 12 months. 

In the post from a year ago I state that my final target weight will be 11 stone - since that date I have hit that target weight and gone on to realise that I can lose further weight, and instead I have changed my target to a stone less, 10 stone. 

Although I haven't reached that 10 stone goal yet, I am only a few pounds off it now, and plan to happily maintain between 10st - 10st 5lbs once I've hit 10 stone (at least once!) and can then embark on the 'maintain my current weight' stage. 

The Numbers

Last April 14.04.14 (according to the Bod Pod & Tanita scales)

Weight: 13 stone 4 lbs
Fat Percentage: 42.6% (>33% = overweight)
BMI: 30.8 (>30 overweight)

Today 14.04.15 (according to my home body fat % scales)

Weight: 10 stone 7lbs
Fat Percentage: 28% (17-28% = 'healthy')
BMI: 24.4 (18.5-24.9 = 'healthy')

That means I have: 

  • Lost 2 stone 11 lbs in the last year
  • Reduced my Body Fat Percentage by approximately 14.6%
  • Reduced my BMI by 6.4 points on the BMI scale from the overweight to healthy category. 
It feels really good to be in the position where I've done more than I ever imagined I could when I embarked on this journey 19 months ago: I will feel even better once I've hit that final 10 stone weight & can officially say I've reached my target and don't have any more weight to lose. 

Reaching that 10 stone target weight will see me book in another Bod Pod testing session, to mark the end of my weight loss journey, and show me how far I've come from beginning to end. It will also mark the beginning of a new emotional chapter for me, as Hubby and I have agreed that once I get to that 10 stone goal, we will begin trying for Baby Bishop #2. We always wanted to have more that one child, but when I was pregnant with Bert (and classed 'high risk' in part because of my weight) I vowed to myself that I wouldn't get pregnant again until I was a healthy weight. I want to be the healthiest mum possible for my children, and I'm proud of myself that I'm achieving exactly what I set out to do. 

Easter Gains

One of the ways I can tell I've changed most through this weight loss journey is the way I feel about food now. Before, at my heaviest I was obsessed with food in quantity, and worried less about the quality of the eat - just as long as there was a big portion to fill me up, and sate my insatiable hunger! I would eat 'bad' food all the time, and feel constantly guilty for what I was putting into my body, which meant I never truly enjoyed a piece of cake, or chips etc as I would feel so guilty afterwards, and beat myself up about it on almost a daily basis. It was a viscous cycle. 

Now, I feel so differently about how I eat. First and foremost the way I eat now is completely moderate, controlled and balanced. Each day I make sure I burn what I eat, and try hard not to go too far over or under my daily calorie goal. I walk briskly for an average of 26 miles per week, and I cook mainly from scratch for each meal.

I still eat lots of 'bad' food - but this time I throughly enjoy them and rarely feel any guilt - this is because I now know that I've worked hard to enjoy them, and that on the whole the 'treat' won't mean I'll put weight on, as I'll have done enough exercise to burn it off. 

Conversely, on occasions like Christmas, Easter, a weeks summer holiday and my birthday, I will now consciously decide to have some time off from being moderate, and will choose to eat over my calorie goal by however much I like - this is just for a very short period ( a day to a week) and while doing this I now know that I can easily shift any weight gained by having extra good weeks to follow the time off-plan. I still don't feel guilty, and throughly enjoy being temporarily over indulgent with my food. 

Saying that, these indulgent food times are still different from the way I used to eat - I have changed so intrinsically that I could never go back to eating the way I used to, even for just a week. I no longer 'waste' calories on sugary or milky drinks, shop bought cakes/pastries, I no longer eat ridiculously large sized portions, even during my 'treat' times. I no longer eat three courses when eating out 'just because': if something doesn't jump out at me on the starter and/or dessert menu then I won't have that course. Also, during these treat times I still try hard to count everything I'm eating: accountability is so important to me now - I know that I need to know just how 'bad' I'm being - it helps me to still make sensible-ish choices, and reins me in when I'm at risk of getting silly and potentially over eating by far too much. 

Mentally, I feel so much more balanced and in control since losing weight- because I'm in control of my body (for what feels like the first time ever) I also feel balanced and controlled in my mind, I can think clearer, feel proud of myself, and my confidence is beginning to grow and blossom. 

At weigh in this Friday (10.04.15) I'd put on 1 lb after a week of Easter indulgence with my family. I wasn't upset, I didn't feel guilty or ashamed. I knew what to expect on the scales as I'd counted everything I'd eaten, and had eaten lots more than my normal weekly food intake. 

It was a fun week full of lovely treats with my mum, stepdad, and twin sister staying with me. I throughly enjoyed every single treat from fish and chips on Good Friday (which actually made me feel really ill afterwards, although I enjoyed it at the time of eating) to homemade Simnel Cake, homemade bounty bars, a 'healthy' fry up on Easter Saturday morning, bread and butter pudding with custard for lunch on Easter Saturday, a bit chocolate here and there, chips with my salad and a warm carrot cake dessert at our Easter Sunday meal out, and a homemade curry and naan bread, a homemade Rhubarb and Ginger trifle, and a homemade cream cheese pastry beef mince pie during the week that followed. 

An indulgent Easter week which resulted in a 1 lb gain: totally worth it! 

Saying all that, my 'indulgent' week also saw me walk in total 38 miles!! So I did a fair amount of work to burn off all that indulgence. If I hadn't have worked so hard physically I would have most definitely seen a huge gain on the scales, but I did work hard, and it made me enjoy the treat food all the more! 

Balance, balance, balance. 

To round off last week I got to go to my lovely friend Erin's 30th Birthday party all dressed up in my new party dress which I found in a local charity shop for under a fiver! Bargain! It was weirdly exhilarating to wear something so different to what I'd usually wear: as the weight has come off I have found myself getting so excited about fashion, and being much bolder in what I choose to wear. I can finally communicate my personality through my fashion choices, and am having a lot of fun creating a new size 12 wardrobe! 

Me in my new charity shop find party dress! This picture makes me giggle - I'd just finished getting ready to go out & my sister (who was babysitting for me) took this shot - Bert had just realised that Mummy was going out - hence him crying at the baby gate - bless him! 

So, I wonder where I'll be on 14th April 2016?? 

Maintaining at 10 stone? 

Pregnant? 

I wonder....

Exciting times ahead for sure! 

Mrs B

xxx