Friday, July 10, 2009

Introduction to: Lose the Fatty Friday!

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, Fridays...for the next seven weeks, are going to be dedicated to helping you lose any unwanted pounds that you have collected on your body. I weighed 197 lbs. at my last weigh in before I had Bree, and now I am 128 lbs. It wasn't easy, and there were many tears and fat days that went along with this year and a half of weight loss. I am not going to tell you at anytime during these next 7 weeks, that losing weight is easy, because it's not. But, if you are determined, disciplined, and dedicated...it will happen.

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I still can't believe the before and after pictures. I can't believe that I was that big, but I was. I began the weight loss procedure almost immediately after Bree was born, but I didn't know what to do. I had never really had to lose that much weight before. I was a chunky kid growing up, but slap some braces on my teeth, and that's a guaranteed weight loss process all in itself. I couldn't put my braces on my teeth this time. My freshman year of college, I had dropped down to 115 pounds, because all of my classes were uphill, across campus from where I parked my car. I was walking an average of 4 miles a day, uphill. Not to mention, I was in the middle of mental breakdown and not hardly eating anything. It was a very, unhealthy, weight loss.

So, since I wasn't having a mental breakdown and walking up hills six hours a day, or not eating because of the pain and aggravation that braces can provoke, I had to for real lose weight. I had to do it the right way. That's when I began googling all kinds of exercise programs. That's when I ran across Lelsie Sanson's Walk At Home videos. I highly recommend these videos. They are pretty awesome, and I could tell a difference right away when I begun using them...consistently. Being consistent is definitely ONE of the MANY keys to losing weight.

After using the Walk at Home videos, I successfully made it from a size 14, to a 12, to a 10, and then to 8 in matter of four months. Even after all of that weight loss, I still wasn't happy. I still had that post pregnancy belly flab, and I was not loving it! I did something I shouldn't have done though, and took a Summer off. I'm sure I gained weight during this break of not exercising, because when I wanted to get back to it...it was harder than when I had originally started.

That's when I discovered Pilates. Pilates literally changed my life. It is a wonderful, stress relieving, body building, exercise. You use your own weight and strength to perform moves, and it is surprisingly addicting. I went through a few Pilates DVD's before I finally found the right one. I came across Brooke Silar's "Pilates Weightloss for Beginners" and fell in love right away. You can purchase this DVD at any Walmart or Target.

Although exercising is a wonderful thing, it is pretty much pointless if you still eat whatever your eyes cross. In order to be healthy and lose weight, you have to eat healthy. Too many times have I watched women go to the gym daily, and then cross the street a pick up a Big Mac with fries and a large sweet tea. You can't lose weight doing this, and in my opinion, you're just wasting your time. I am also, a FIRM believer in that good ol' H2O. If you cut out all other liquids (soft drinks, tea, etc...), I promise you that you will automatically lose 10 pounds just by doing that. People think I am crazy when I say that, but it happened to me, and I've seen it work with others too.

Each Friday I am going to issue a Challenge for you to work on that week. This week's challenge is to switch all of your liquids over to water. Resist any soft drinks or tea. Coffee is okay, but make sure you don't drink more coffee than water. If you have never done this before, or don't like the taste of just plain water...add a lemon to the drink. Nevertheless, resist the temptation for all other drinks and practice the three D's: Determination, Discipline, and Dedication. You want to lose weight? Drinking strictly water is the first step!

Alright, so that's it for this week. Tell me what you guys think, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!


In Other News...
Mrs. M from "I've Changed My Name to Mommy" chose me to be featured on her "Fabulous Find Friday"! Head on over to her place, and read my interview! You might find out some stuff about me that you might not otherwise had known. She's also a pretty cool lady, so make sure you follow her if you haven't already!

6 comments:

MrsM said...

Awww, how sweet! You're cool too :)

I eat healthy and I keep active (I love Pilates too, though I'm partial to Windsor when I have the time), but there is just no way I can give up the Diet Pepsi. I sleep an average of 3 hours a night, and haven't slept more than 5 hours in more than two years now. My body is more Diet Pepsi than blood...and that's the way it has to be just to keep my eyes open!

I do know that you're right though. Even diet soda can keep weight on longer than it should be.

BTW, your before and after pictures are awesome! You must not have gotten any stretchmarks, though. It doesn't matter if I was 118lbs again there is NO WAY I could ever wear a bikini. The next person to see my bare stomach besides my husband/kids is going to be the mortician!

Samantha said...

It's amazing how AMAZING Pilates can make you feel. Ever since I made the switch to water a couple of years ago, I literally feel sick if I drink more than one soft drink of any type. I do have a certain weekness to Pepsi though. The other reason I avoid soft drinks is because they make my hand swell up pretty bad. I guess it's all of the sodium and carbonation?

I did have stretchmarks, but they fade with a sun tan...lol, they aren't too pretty in the winter time. But they are on my sides mostly. I'm still paranoid about them, I just try not to think about it...lol

Jenny said...

You look wonderful! I got to 198 during my pregnancy and was able to get to the 160's using Leslie Sansone DVD's. She is great. I joined WW when my daughter was 3 and quickly went down to a size 4, 128 pounds! I am still a size 4, but leveled out at 132 and I haven't done WW for over a year.

I so wish I could wear a bikini though. Maybe I should try out the pilates!

Samantha said...

Thanks Jenny :) Leslie Sansone is great, and she helped me get down to 140 where I was leveled at for more than 6 months. I'm pretty sure I wear a 4 now, but I'm always scared to try on a smaller size, because if it doesn't fit...I'm going to feel fat...lol, but all of my 6's are hanging off of me. I can only get a few minutes out of them fresh out of the dryer where they fit perfect, before they get broken in and start to hang :(

I highly recommend Pilates. Not only for the weight loss and muscle building part, but because it is such a stress reliever. I do mine in the mornings, so it helps me stretch and get all woken up, so I can have the energy to chase my like 2 year old around :)

I am currently working on toning up my tummy, which is not easy. That's why I have fat days more times than none :( But when I look at my before and after picture, I see how far I've come and I can't believe it!

Thanks for the comment and for the follow :)

CLint said...

Man your blog is really looking good. I wish I was that dedicated. Your first link is dead in this post. I might check out those dvds you talked about

Samantha said...

Thanks Clint! I've been working on it a little bit at a time, and am finally happy with how it looks :) I fixed the dead link...it was a typo & a mistake on my part. Grrr...

Those DVD's are awesome. I got Paul to do the Walk At Home video with me a couple of times, but his pride got in the way. He didn't like doing a workout video at home led by women.