I (Lindsey-Belle) also blog on Win, Lose or Blog (a healthy weight loss competition blog). Last January I had the pleasure of working with Brenda, who was a Win, Lose, or Blog season three contestant. Brenda won 2nd place, competing along side 7 other ladies. Keep reading to hear about Brenda’s journey:
~Meet Brenda~
Well hello! I am Brenda from Therapeutic Crafting . I, like many people, am on a weight loss journey. I have had some ups and some downs, but, right now, the scale is mostly going down:)
Here is a picture of me at my heaviest (don’t tell anyone, but in this picture, I weighed more then I did when I was 9 months pregnant with my almost 3 year old daughter.)
I started the Win Loose or Blog competition in January. During the competition I lost 13.2lbs and 4 inches off my waist. Here is me after the competition with pants that no longer fit. Look at the first picture again. I am wearing those same pants and they actually fit:(
Let’s get a close up of those pants. Seriously people, that is 4 inches missing. Kind of puts things in perspective doesn’t it!?!
Want to know my secret!?!?!?! I don’t have one. I just exercised a lot and ate healthfully. Let me tell you, it is a huge motivator when your weight is posted online for everyone to see.
Recently I hit a plateau where I wasn’t losing any weight even though I was exercising 2 hours 3 days a week and the other 3 days, I do 1 hour. Sunday I rest. So, want to know what I did to get myself on track again. While my daughter is napping, I usually get bored and start eating. Around 2:30 pm is when I would mindlessly eat. I started putting my daughter down for a nap 1 hour earlier so she wakes up around 2 pm and then we leave the house. I am not around food, so I am not tempted. We go for a walk, to the park, run errands, what ever. The point is I targeted my weakness and did something about it.
I LOVE sweets. Like think I might die without them, stuff my face with them if they are in the house, have no control over myself, love them. I just don’t bring it into my house any more. When I get that uncontrollable urge to eat sweets, guess what, I can’t. There is none.
I also stopped eating after 8pm. I have actually been waking up hungry for breakfast now:) Instead of eating, I get a BIG drink of water. Then, I play a game with hubby. It keeps my mind off of food and I get to spend quality time with hubby!
My point is find out where you are tempted most and remove it from your life. Have a game plan of what you can do to avoid those situations where you know you cave. Stop thinking, “I will just have will power.” Having will power is good, but would we really be overweight if we “just have will power”? Not so much. I am being real with myself and just taking the temptation away.
Well there you have it! Weight loss in a nut shell. Exercise, eat healthy, and control your portions. The truth is, it’s nothing new. It’s just making ourselves do it that is the goal:) So, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to be real with yourself and make a came plan to avoid temptation. Go for a walk, read a book, call someone you haven’t talked to for a while, read success stories online, watch Biggest Looser (that always motivates me). Good luck!
HUGS,
Brenda
Thank you so much Brenda for sharing such down to earth advice! These are such great suggestions that we all can learn from. Let’s take Brenda’s assignment & run with it!
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