Just a girl who used to be fat...

I have had several people ask me what I do food wise as far as losing weight goes.
Most recently, Katie, asked me if I would post about how I began my "healthy eating", so I thought I'd run it down for those curious.

Six weeks after I had my first son in 2009, I had gone back to the doctor for my postpartum checkup and had noticed I hadn't lost a single pound. I was still at 198 lbs.
I was breastfeeding and really just thought it would "fall off".
WRONG!
So that is when I made up my mind that I HAD to do something.
So many of us (me included) have tried to lose weight so many times and failed for one reason or another... 99% of the time it's lack of motivation.
I've been asked how I stayed motivated.
It's hard to explain, but when I set my mind on REALLY losing the weight, it wasn't hard anymore.
I wasn't resentful, or angry that I had to do it. I just sucked it up and knew it had to be done.
I am a firm believer that it really just has to "click" for you.
You have to finally just say, "okay, screw it, I am doing this and NOTHING is going to stop me".
And that's what I did.
Once I made up my mind, I started out ONLY changing my eating habits.
I had done Weight Watchers in the past and knew it worked, so I started counting POINTS again.
I LIVED on Smart Ones for months. I had one every day for lunch at work.
I also scoured HungryGirl for recipes since she has WW points already calculated for you.
It wasn't hard, really. Once I had decided I was 100% committed to losing weight, I just went for it and did it.
I completely stayed away from fast food (my vice) for the first 3 months of my journey. I couldn't trust myself there, so I just did what I had to until I retrained myself how to eat.
I drank a TON of water, I'm talking nearly a gallon a day.
I just did what I knew I had to.
We all know what's healthy and what we should and shouldn't eat, it's just a matter of committing and DOING it.
One healthy meal at a time. One healthy decision at a time.
Eventually that will lead to another, and another, until it becomes second nature.

What really kept me motivated was seeing the scale go down.
Every time I'd get on the scale and I'd lost a pound or two, I got this crazy high and felt like I could do anything. It was a snowball effect and before I knew it, I had lost over 50 lbs. and dropped nearly 6 sizes.
I was also motivated by people's negative comments.
I had heard a few of the things some people were saying about me and it really just made me push harder and want to show them I could do it.
My clothes not fitting was a huge motivator for me.
I had nothing to wear, as all of my pre-pregnancy 14's were too small, so I poured myself into my maternity jeans.... talk about determination.
I was determined to get back into my old sizes, and even more determined to get into my "skinny jeans" pile that had been shoved in the back of my closet for years.
Another HUGE motivator for me was YOU GUYS! I blogged about my weight, struggles, and successes and you were there to push and encourage me! I can't thank you enough for that. It means more than you will ever know.
It wasn't until I put it all out there in my 'My Soul is Bared' post that I was really held accountable to myself and all of you! I had to start by being 100% honest with myself before I could move forward.
Blogging was a great way for me to be accountable, and I totally recommend it.

In December of last year, I basically just got bored with WW and started counting calories. Don't get me wrong, WW worked and in 3 months I had lost 15 lbs., but I really just thought "I can do this on my own" and went for it.
Starting out I used Sparkpeople to count every single thing that I put in my mouth and I didn't eat over 1200 calories a day.
December is also when I decided to add in exercise.
I started the C25K program and signed up for my first ever 5K in March.
Training really helped me drop some wicked pounds, it seemed to just melt off.
By race day, I had lost nearly 40 lbs. in a 5 month period.
All by watching what I ate and running.

I still keep to a strict 1200-1400 calorie diet.
In recent months, I have branched out into more raw eating- I don't eat nearly as many Smart Ones as I used to, but more salads and veggies.
I buy everything fat free or low fat and substitute nearly every ingredient in any recipe for a lower fat version.
For lunch now, I may have a big salad with cherry tomatoes, low fat cheese, carrots, cucumbers, and fat free Italian dressing.
Or a veggie patty on low calorie wheat bread with mustard, low fat cheese, low fat mayo, lettuce, tomato, and an apple.
Eating out for me is easy now.
It used to KILL me every time we went out to eat because I craved the bad stuff.
Now, I look at it like everyone knows I'm trying to lose weight, so I feel like they are watching to see what I order. 9 times out of 10 that alone makes me order something healthy.
That and I really crave the healthy stuff now.
It's all about re-training your body and listening to it's needs.
Portion control! You can have whatever your heart desires.. IN MODERATION.

I can honestly tell you I feel amazing.
I am so proud of myself for doing this the RIGHT way, and I KNOW once you make the decision to REALLY kick those pounds to the curb, you will too!

I am not a nutritionist or an expert of any kind, I am just a girl who used to be fat.


To see my weight loss progression pics click HERE.
To see what I looked like at different weights click {HERE}.

UPDATE:
After having my second son in November of 2011 I began my post baby weight loss #2.
This time around I have 50 pounds to lose. Stick with me as I journal it all here and fight my way to my ultimate goal of 120 lbs.