I lost 20 pounds!!!!

Beginning in October to mid November of last year, my husband and I changed our eating habits. We have lost 20 pounds each!!! I am wearing clothes that I haven't been able to put on in 6 years.

Let me share a bit more of myself so you can see where I started. I have 4 children, they were all born in the last 8 years. I weighed 224 pounds at 5'6" high when I became pregnant with my first baby. I have never been skinny. My lowest weigh was probably 150 pounds when I was 15 years old. But if you look at my photos of when I was a child, or a teenager you wouldn't say I was overweight or obese. Take a look at the photo above.  I am the little girl on your left at around 8 years old.

After my first daughter was born I was able to lose pretty much all the weight except for 10 pounds and that's how it went with each pregnancy. My husband is a meat and cookie eater and with 4 kids it's easy to turn that into an everyday habit. I love fruits and vegetables and also anything that is creamy, sweet and fattening, i.e. ice cream, fettuccine Alfredo, cheese, chocolate mousse... you get the idea. :)

Recently, I found this website where I bought my DD7 some cool adventure books about a homeschooling family. The author is a vegetarian and that got me thinking. Then as I read her blog I found this doctor and what he said made a lot of sense.

For about 5 years of my life, during my college years, I was a vegetarian. I remember losing a lot of weight just eating a lot of high fiber, complex carbohydrates like beans, whole wheat cookies, brown rice, vegetables and fruit and keeping it off. I remember having lots of energy and no health problems.

Then I read Wendy's book, and I made a re-evaluation of myself and my life. I realized I needed to adapt and make whatever eating habits I take on work for me. I have tried many different diets throughout my life: Weigh Watchers, the Zone diet, the South beach diet, fasting, juice diets, portion control diets, diet pills... From these experiences I learned a few things about myself:

1) I don't like to count calories or do portion control. Right now with 4 children I just don't have the time. Before children, I would become obsessed with the numbers and the journaling. All I could think of all day was what I could eat, how much of it and then the next meal, the next day, how much that would add up to... it was crazy! So no! that did not work for me.

2) I don't like food restriction. I love fruits and vegetables, I don't have a problem including them in my diet. I do have a problem with being without a certain food or dish I like for a long time. I need to take a break of depriving myself.

3) I like meats but not that much that I could go on a protein diet only. I also don't think that is the healthiest lifestyle ever. I love my carbohydrates... the more complex they are the better: brown rice, beans, whole wheat pasta, legumes and more. I really don't care for white bread or even potatoes that much.

4) I breastfeed all my children for at least 2 years and get pregnant that often too, so I need a healthy diet with variety.I also need a diet that would work on the go, with children, at home, at a restaurant ... you get the picture. :)

5) The last diet I went on was just before I became pregnant with my first baby. I was doing Weight Watchers and I lost 10 pounds in 6 weeks. And then for 2 weeks I wouldn't lose anything. I didn't gain any weight either but I was not losing although I was doing the diet obsessively and exercising. That's when I found out I was pregnant.

So with that data, I suggested to my husband that we do an experiment. From Monday to Friday we would eat only fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates but no sugar, or any processed food whatsoever. We would also cut off meat. There would be NO portion control which would mean we could eat as much as we wanted. On Saturday and Sunday we could eat anything we wanted. Everything that had been off our menus could be enjoyed on the weekends. Within 6 weeks we both lost 20 pounds each.

I will share in my next post some of our actual menus. And how my husband and I were able to make it a lifestyle and cook for the whole family. :)

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. This post has informational content only and it describes my personal experience. Please consult your physician when deciding to diet and exercise.

Have you ever gone on a diet before? What results did you have?

Be blessed,

Tereza