If you follow me on Instagram, you know that since starting a Whole Food/South Beach type diet, I've become kinda nerdy about taking pictures of my food. Sometimes, it's because the food is actually pretty, but more often it's because I'm still a bit awed that the stuff on my plate has such an effect on how I look and feel.
It's not like I was eating so terribly before; but in my world, physical activity has always trumped diet. Given the choice between running a half marathon or cutting calories, I choose the half marathon every time-- no question. For years, it's allowed me to get back into shape after having kids, while still having my cake and eating every last bite. ;)
However, after Baby R, no matter how hard I pushed myself physically, it seemed that my weight loss just stalled at about 6 months post-partum. It refused to budge for over a year as I tried to convince myself that this was the new normal and to get over myself already.
So imagine my surprise when I kicked out refined sugars and flours, dramatically increased my veggie intake and booyah! I lost a whole dress size in a month. Even better, I stopped craving sugar after every. single. meal. Mind boggling.
In the beginning, I felt pretty light headed, so instead of running about a million miles a week, I've reduced it to about 4 miles a day and added a Jillian Michaels workout in the afternoon.
The results, good and bad:
Good- my wardrobe has doubled as I'm able to fit into my old clothes.
Good- all that shredding has left my arms with honest-to-goodness definition.
Good- I actually eat all that lettuce that we planted in the garden.
Good- I don't feel guilty about the food I serve my family.
Good- multivitamin? Who needs a multivitamin?
Bad- wild salmon and fresh veggies are expensive.
Bad- when I splurge on a bit of sugar or carbs, I usually crash hard. As in falling into a three-hour coma/nap.
Bad- Little Miss C keeps asking why I'm on a diet, and the whole "for my health" and "this is a lifestyle" answers don't seem to be cutting it.
Bad- no amount of diet and exercise seems to be enough to fix the loose skin on my lower belly, so I find myself daydreaming about a tummy tuck. Which forces me to face the fact that no matter what the state of my body is, I can always find something to be insecure about.
Mmm, all that talk about food has made me hungry. I'm off to throw together a spinach and raspberry salad with almonds and poppy-seed dressing....
3 comments:
I have to admit your diet has been very intriguing to me. After, my other kids I always got back to my pre pregnancy weights by one year postpartom, it is one year and I am 10lbs heavier! still. SInce finding this out I have more icecream than I have my whole life?! why do we do that. Time for some discipline I guess.
Yay for you! I am doing a similar thing (although I hate the D word!). I can't believe the withdraws I had from sugar and the emotional hold that crud had on me! I am almost 3 full weeks into it and I feel so awesome!
We can dream of a tummy tuck together! (heaven knows I could use one!)
I love your blog! I found it one day and the first post I read was "The Other Mother" and I loved your writing from that day on. Nice to finally comment!
I, too, have changed my diet to incorporate more fruits and veggies and less sugar/grain/flour in the last few months. I also started eating less animal products and being a little more mindful of portions. I've seen results in the last few months that I haven't seen in two years of working out regularly, mainly with toning up and more muscle. I recently heard that eating is 70% and exercise is 30% so I've kept that in my head and try to not be so hard on myself when I miss workouts but keep on eating clean.
I just followed you on instagram too (danidillard) so don't think I'm just a random, I enjoy your posts and will certainly enjoy some fellow food pics! :~)
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