Let Failure Be Your Teacher

A simple Google search on "how to lose weight" returns 236,000,000 results in just under 2-tenths of a second. With so many options, its no wonder people like me get overwhelmed and just give up!  This time, I am sticking with what I know (mostly...)

I was successful a while back in losing upwards of 20 lbs ( I have since gained it all back...).  At the suggestion of my sister (yes, the runner I not-so-secretly look up to in her health motivation!) I signed up for MyFitnessPal, a free mobile app that lets to you track your calories and build a support team.  I especially love the barcode scanner for quick calorie entry!  In conjunction, I bought a food scale so I could accurately log my portion sizes.

I did this Sunday through Thursday and gave myself a no counting cheat day on Fridays (Friday is standing Pizza Night with the children...) It was working excellently!

So if I lost 20 lbs, where did it go wrong?  I logged and counted and counted and logged for 2 months and got tired. As soon as I quit logging and counting, guess what? I gained every jiggly ounce back!  The problem? I did not allow the app and scale to teach me a lesson, instead I just followed it blindly.

Starting today, I will be back on MyFitnessPal and using my food scale.  This time, I am using it as a tool to teach me portion size - to learn the lifestyle changes needed so that when I put the food scale away this time, the lessons remain (and the weight remains gone!)








http://www.myfitnesspal.com/  - If you want to follow me, I am JacquelynAgeeWaddell

Difficult Doesn't Mean Impossible

I, like most moms, packed on the weight after my first child...the birth of my second child only compounded the issue!  Having been tiny my whole life pre-mom role,  I had (have) no idea how to put the effort into healthy living, weight loss and fitness.

My sister is an Army wife and is the epitome of fitness motivation; I absolutely love her to pieces but reading her facebook statuses about her daily runs (yes - plural!) exhausts me!  I wish I had an ounce of her motivation! And while we are being honest, I am jealous of her ability to be so motivated! I have tried several times to lose weight and have generally been some what successful, but I lose interest, get bored and give up.  I am a "I need to see results and I need to see them NOW" kind of girl.  That isn't necessarily the best mindset when tackling weight loss!

So, while reading one of my sister's posts about a 13 mile run (what?!?), I thought... I really need to do this! But, I can't....I kid you not, the two posts following that one in my newsfeed were two photographs that made me think.

The first up was a photo a friend had shared that listed 50 reasons to exercise.  As I read through the list, it hit me - while I have used my kids as an excuse for having gained the weight, I SHOULD be using them as the reason to lose the weight!  Parker and Shawn are all the reasons I need to be healthy and get my life back!

The very next post solidified the idea for me.  Losing weight is hard. Losing rolls is hard. Losing the waving arm flab is hard.  But so was 9 months of pregnancy. So was labor. And the pain and suffering was well worth it! I have told my children more times than I can count that nothing comes easy and everything worth having has to be earned. "Difficult doesn't mean impossible, it simply means that you have to work hard."

Well played, God.  I hear your message loud and clear!

Now, those of you that are squeamish, look away...I am about to break the silent woman code.... are you looking away yet?

I will be 28 this year and carry 215 lbs (as of this morning) on a 5'2 frame.  Ouch.  The real slap in the face? Take a look:

omgosh?! Did I just reveal both my real weight and my real age?!? I told you to look away!


So, in 12-step fashion - My name is Jackie, I love to eat, and I currently HATE to work out (its too much like work!) --> Let's start this journey to lifestyle transition!!