The Husband
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| Senior Prom |
The husband and I were 8th grade classmates. He endlessly teases me for this but I don’t really remember that. We also had a class together in the 10th grade which I don’t really remember either. I always knew who he was; I just do not remember these exact classes. This could have a lot to with my priorities and mindset of trying endlessly to be cool in the beginning of high school.
By senior year, we had a class together and several mutual friends. We became friends and spent time together in class as well as at other school activities. We started dating late senior year and went to Prom together.
I had a troublesome year after high school. I had a falling out with some of my family and was really struggling to find myself. The husband was there through all of this which really strengthened our bond. We got married after almost 2 years of dating, both 19. Because our lives were so different from that of my peers, we didn't hang out much with other people our age. He is, and always will be, my best friend.
The Kitties
George was born on February 3rd, 2009. I had been wanting a cat for a while but our first apartment didn't allow pets. We had moved and I was slowly working on changing the husband's mind. I started looking at the adoptables online on a whim and saw those giant ears. There he was. It was just meant to be. We adopted him the same day; went and picked him up the next. A week later we got a camera (ours broke a while back but we felt we had no reason to replace it) just to take pictures of the cute little bundle.
Antonio was a little different. He was born on April 18th, 2010. We had been talking about getting a friend for George because he was constantly by himself all day long. We had also talked about getting an orange kitty so that we could call him Antonio (for Banderas, who does the voice of Puss in Shrek). Then, my coworker was talking about how her mom had kittens she was trying to give away. I asked if there was an orange one. She e-mailed me his picture and once again, it was just meant to be. We got him about a month later, after updating George's shots to include protection against diseases transmitted between cats.
They've been best friends ever since. Well, mostly.
Struggles with Weight
Growing up, I was a fairly active kid. In high school, I ran track and cross country which pretty much allowed me to eat whatever I liked. I wasn’t super skinny (or I thought) but I was in a good range for myself. It was fairly easy for me to stay this way too. Sure, I was semi-active but it’s not like I tried my hardest at practice all the time.
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| Our Wedding Day |
2007: It wasn’t really noticeable when I started putting on the weight. After high school, I would exercise maybe 2-3 times a week at first and even less as time went on. I’m sure the pounds were slowly creeping on as my fast food intake skyrocketed but I don’t really know because I never used a scale. I had a job at a daycare which kept me fairly active during the day chasing toddlers which also helped.
2008: When I got married, I was not as small as I was in high school. My husband either. We are both very sad that our wedding pictures do not show us in good spots in our lives, health-wise, but they have often been used as motivation and a reminder of how far we’ve come. I estimate from the clothes I was able to wear around that time that I was probably around 160 pounds. I never stepped on a scale other than at the doctor’s office and even then, I tried to push it out of my mind.
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| Both at our biggest. |
But even that wasn’t my biggest. We moved and I landed a desk job. I was sedentary for 9 hours a day at work followed by a large-portioned, high-calorie dinner, followed by a couple more hours of sitting in front of the TV. Exercise was nonexistent. I ballooned to 180 pounds about 4 months after we got married. The turning point for me was when I was in my favorite store from my teenage years, American Eagle, to get some jeans and I had to get the highest size they had: a size 14. I have no full-body pictures from this time. Pictures at all from this time are very rare.
I decided to start watching what I ate and spent a couple weeks with a food diary to see where my calories were coming from. A few weeks later, the husband wanted to join in. We started using the apartment gym when we went to do laundry and a couple other times a week. We focused first on portion sizes. This also helped our grocery budget go further since the average chicken breast is twice the size of a normal portion!
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| Richard's 21st Birthday |
2009: About 6 months later, I had only lost 5 pounds. My exercise was scarce and while I was making healthier food choices than before, I still ate fast food often. I started to track my calories each day. The husband created an Excel spreadsheet that was much easier to track food on and I’ve been using it ever since. I started cutting out fast food and other high-calorie convenience foods from the grocery store. We had since moved to a new apartment complex with a better, safer gym that I felt more comfortable frequenting often and normally went 4-5 times a week. 6 months later, at the husband’s 21st birthday, I was down to 160 pounds. This is when I started blogging.
I continued to exercise often and learn new ways to make food healthier. I tried to fashion the blog like my favorite fitness and health blogs that kept me motivated. Even though my posting was sporadic, the habits of eating smaller portions and more real foods were sticking. I posted about my progress in September, coming out with feelings that I had been scared and embarrassed to share. I was constantly reading fitness and healthy eating material, learning as much as I could about how to make myself healthier. We began eating even less processed foods and more foods from scratch. By the end of the year, I had lost 10 more pounds.
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| January 2010 |
2010: I started the year at 150 pounds. I also started noticing that the weight was getting harder and harder to get off. I had my sister’s wedding to get ready for later in the year so I decided to try a new workout. I started using intense workout DVDs that helped. They helped me lose weight but they also helped change my body. I didn’t lose that much weight but I could definitely tell a difference in inches and dress sizes. By May, I was down to 146 pounds and a size 6!
May is when we decided to become vegetarians. We did this for ethical and health reasons. This was not a diet move for us. We just started talking about it one day when I realized that all of these feelings were there and I just had been turning a blind eye. The health reasons only came into light after researching the meat production process and the effect it can have on the nutrition of the meat. Food, Inc. was a very helpful documentary in our decision.
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| Family Picture! (Dec 2010) |
I continued to exercise and eat well and was down to 140 pounds by October, for my sister’s wedding. As we continued to learn more about health and other things, we became aware of the harmful effects genetically modified organisms can have on a person’s health. This led to our decision to buy only organic products or products that are involved with the Non-GMO project.
2011: I started the New Year at 143 pounds, padding leftover from a couple months’ of laziness and too many treats. I continued to climb as my diet slacked and my exercise motivation was low. My grandmother became ill in March, which really affected me. I got up to 148 pounds before deciding that I really needed to correct my behaviors.
I went through my already pretty-good diet with a fine-tooth comb, improving where I could and cutting out where I needed to. But the biggest change I made was in how I exercised. I was more diligent in running and started doing workout DVDs to tone but still wasn't seeing the numbers drop.
Then, I read The New Rules of Lifting for Women. I loved the ideas and attitude of this book. While I don't follow the plan in the book, I do follow the idea. I lift real weights (at 50 lbs, currently!), not 3 pound hand weights. I've always heard the high reps, low weight story for women but can honestly say (at least for me) that doesn't work. I have lost 11 pounds in just over months, and have gained noticeable muscle. My favorite thing about weight lifting is that I've noticed the weight coming off in the places it hadn't really been coming off of before. I honestly cannot rave enough!
I still haven't reached my original goal but I am still trying. The main thing I have learned from this journey is that fad diets don’t work. There is no magic pill. And no one should lose 10 pounds in two weeks. Weight loss that sticks is found by changing habits and assessing your nutrition. I am not a registered dietitian or a fitness expert. But I do know that I have lost 45 pounds and my husband has lost over 100 just by watching what we eat and staying active. Just by assessing how much food we really need to eat and not eating more than that. It’s not easy but it is possible.
I went through my already pretty-good diet with a fine-tooth comb, improving where I could and cutting out where I needed to. But the biggest change I made was in how I exercised. I was more diligent in running and started doing workout DVDs to tone but still wasn't seeing the numbers drop.
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| July 2011 |
I still haven't reached my original goal but I am still trying. The main thing I have learned from this journey is that fad diets don’t work. There is no magic pill. And no one should lose 10 pounds in two weeks. Weight loss that sticks is found by changing habits and assessing your nutrition. I am not a registered dietitian or a fitness expert. But I do know that I have lost 45 pounds and my husband has lost over 100 just by watching what we eat and staying active. Just by assessing how much food we really need to eat and not eating more than that. It’s not easy but it is possible.
And with that, welcome to Confessions of a Vegetarian Bakeaholic! I hope you find the information here both helpful and entertaining! Feel free to e-mail me with any comments, questions, concerns, ideas, etc!
