Welcome to Social Hour

If you found us from Alison's post, welcome! :-)  Alison is just starting her sugar free journey, so go to her blog and give her some love too!

I wanted to give a shout out to Naomi, a fellow IQS-er. We quit about the same time last October and a few weeks ago she wrote a FABULOUS blog post about quitting sugar. She took the time to write the Quitting Sugar ABCs!  She has some amazing points about quitting, tips and tricks and other great information. Go check her out here.



A little update from me: 

I have been doing really well with quitting sugar.  I feel great and I'm down to my lowest weight again (I've been up to 158 for awhile, but now I'm back down to 154).  We've been playing outside in this lovely abnormally warm weather, which has been great to keep me moving!  I went to the gym this morning and ran my fastest 5K ever! 3.12 in 30 minutes!   I am planning to do a 5K at the zoo here at the end of May and my new goal is to finish in under 25 minutes.

Of course, there are stumbling moments. To celebrate our new swing set & fire pit, we (read: my family, not me) made s'mores last night outside.  I realized it was wwaayy too soon for me to be exposed to charred marshmallows.... mmmmm  

But these cuties really loved it! 

Ahhhhhh.....

That's more like it!!!

(2nd Detox/Day 6)

I am all of a sudden NOT having cravings. My mood hasn't been in the toilet and I haven't been stuffing my face with everything known to man.

I forgot how "even" feels. I have eaten WELL over my Weight Watchers points for the last few weeks, resulting in some pretty ugly weigh ins (up to 157.5 last week!)  This week, I'm down 1.5lbs. I found it hard to decide what to eat today and when I did, it filled me up just fine! Loving it.

We've been assembling a swing set for the past week, so I've slacked in my running (boo!) but the swing set is almost complete (just need to add swings and anchors!) so I'm back to my regularly scheduled running ASAP!

On the road again...

Just like Jen, I'm back to quitting sugar completely again.  I found that I'm uncomfortable, bloated, crabby & emotional - all things that I wasn't when there was no sugar in my system!

It's been a hard week. I've wanted to quit multiple times already, but I haven't done it!  I am even going back and reading the blog for inspiration and to remember WHAT THE HECK I was eating last time I did this :-)

I am keeping a bit of fruit in for the first week or two. I made the baked steel cut oats for breakfast this week, since I've been having a hard time figuring out what to eat for breakfast now, and used blueberries and apples in the casserole.  But I'm trying to keep it only to breakfast time and not snacks throughout the day (or else I'd be eating 3-4 pieces of fruit just trying to get through!)  I am also excited to have found ketchup with NO SUGAR ADDED!! Very exciting for a ketchup addict! It was a big win with my preschooler and I'll learn to love it too.

I'm also heavily relying on Jillian Michael's detox water. 60 oz of water guaranteed to be in my system (I've really been slacking on the hydration!) and here's hoping the dandelion tea works it's magic too!

I'm excited to know a few people who are quitting sugar starting on Monday. It will be great motivation for me to know that they are following this path for the first time and to remember what it was for me to do it last October.

I ran five miles in 54 minutes yesterday.  Again, I'm not fast, but I am definitely improving and getting somewhat faster. I attribute my increase in strength to my yoga and Pilates classes. I feel SO MUCH stronger and in control than I used to. I highly recommend finding out if you have access to either or both of these classes! A great investment of time.

Begin Again

Hey, Jen here! Yes, I'm still alive. I just have been crazy busy and stink at the blogging thing! Thankfully Nicole is amazing and on top of this thing. :) If you've been reading, you know that I did the half marathon with her. My plan was to walk - I have knee problems and nodules on my lungs and a digestive disorder and a nice pile of other medical issues going on here lately (seriously, I'm a 26 year old with the body of a 90 year old), so running just won't happen. So, walk I did.

I actually kept pace with Nic for the first mile or so, but I stopped for water and broke my stride. This was my fourth half marathon, but the roughest one for me yet. I won't lie: I felt awful. My knees started hurting at a moderate pain level about halfway through and no amount of Tylenol or BioFreeze seemed to help. I stream all my music on my new phone (thank you Spotify & Pandora), but got poor Internet signal, so most of the event was done without music too. Blunt honesty: this one sucked. I felt bad and I wanted to quit most of the way. But I didn't. I crossed that finish line and I earned that medal just the same! Most of the people who care about me most have advised this needs to be my last event. For the sake of my health and so that I don't need a knee replacement before I turn thirty, I need to be kind to my body.

But what CAN I do?! Because now I haven't been to the gym in months. I'm using my health (and my busy schedule) as an excuse. Yes, there are things that I can't do. Yes, I need to take it easy and listen to my body when it says "enough is enough!" But that is no reason to avoid it altogether. If running hurts, I can walk. If the treadmill is too much, the elliptical is easier on the knees. If intense cardio is causing my lungs to burn, I can still do strength training. So today, I'm committing to go back. I'm determined to keep the healthy, active lifestyle as much as possible.

As far as my weight, I had gotten as low as 137 pounds, but I've been holding steady around 142 for the last couple of months. My WW goal weight was 140 - and you are considered to be holding steady in maintenance mode when you are +/- 4 pounds. So I'm there. I'm at goal and have been for quite a while now! I'm glad I'm there, but I'm not quite happy with it. I know I can be better. And being in the gym and staying active is the big part of it. I just feel better, stronger, and more capable when I'm in that routine.

And lately, my emotions have been all out of whack. I am getting really easily stressed, very anxious a lot. I feel less stable than I did before. And I remembered that when I started the no sugar journey, that was how I felt. But it went away. I felt happier and more stable when I wasn't consuming so much sugar. It seemed that the sugar highs and the crashes that soon followed caused my emotions to follow suit. So I have to give that another go too!

Yes, I am busy. I have a ridiculous amount of things going on in life... I work a full-time and a part-time job, I have a wonderful boyfriend, I have a messy house that always needs cleaning and that also needs the deck replaced in the upcoming months. But I am done using the blessings in my life as excuses. Instead, I will use them as motivators to push myself to be the best possible version of myself. It's time to cut the sugar and lose the mood swings. It's time to get back in the gym routine and do what I can so that I am the strongest and healthiest I can be. It's time to get back into the lifestyle I loved so much. Here we go!

When does my brain catch up??

Here it is, the mega-self-help side of For My Tummy. If you're not into it, please stop reading ;-)

I went to the Y this morning for my weekly Pilates class. Then I ran my fastest mile yet (9:59!) and lifted for about 10 minutes.

When I was done, I headed to the locker room to shower and noticed my reflection as I passed. For a brief moment, I wondered who it was. 

Because even though THIS is what was in the mirror:

THIS is what I still see:

So WHY. Why is it that I see myself 33+ lbs heavier? Why am I having such a hard time realizing that my body has changed?  My pants size is down to a 10, I'm wearing clothes I haven't worn since shortly after my wedding. And yet, I still FEEL like the "fat kid" I used to be.

For anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight, how long does it take your mind to catch up with your body?  How long before I realize I'm NOT the heavy person I used to be?  How do I stop being scared that any dessert or fried food I put in my body will send me directly back to that 188lb place I just got away from?

I think I would feel so much better if I could fully appreciate what I've done, but I still look down and see that my thighs touch, my arms are flabby and I have rolls on my belly (and stretch marks, but I'm not worrying about those - those are my baby battle scars :-).   In my head, I KNOW I'm doing well - 33lbs lost and I just ran a freaking half marathon!

So sorry for the intensely negative post. I'm really trying to be transparent and that's where I am right now.  Now excuse me while I go eat an entire blueberry cake.

Coasting.

I haven't posted in awhile. I'm having a rough time...  not keeping sugar free, suffering post-race depression (if that exists!) and not losing weight. I'm not GAINING, but I'm back where I was in July - fluctuating between the same few pounds (154-157). I haven't been gorging on sugar, but I also haven't been watching that hidden stuff in sauces or dressings. Also I've been eating fruit again (including bananas, but I'm not back to 4+ in a day :-)).

So I'm not here to blow your mind, I'm not going to be inspiring anyone today, for sure.  Just wanted to give a little status update so you don't think I've fallen off the face of the earth.

A "healthy" weight?

I am four pounds from my "goal weight" - 150. My intention tonight was to blog about how to start FEELING like the weight is gone.  However, as I started looking at "ideal weight calculators," (a little research onto my goal number), the numbers were so vastly different! I think that's going to be where I need to start as I think about my "goal" and whether or not it's where I want to stop. 

 I remember that at 175, when I set my "ultimate dream goal" of 150lbs, I thought "Right. My body that has carried and birthed two children, in my 30's now and addicted to sugar? NEVER GONNA HAPPEN."  

And yet, here I am. One year and some change after giving birth to my son, I am 33lbs lighter, the smallest I've been in at least 7 years, more athletic than I've ever been in my *entire* life...  I'm staring at 150lbs and it's so attainable now.

Here are just a few of the results of the calculators - I put 5'7" tall, female and 154lbs into each. 

 

So while my 150 goal is within all of the recommendations, I'm realizing how much lower the MIDPOINT is - 140 seems to be closer to "ideal" than 150. 

So how do I determine where my stopping point is?  What do guidelines do you follow? Do you go by how you feel? Medical tests (cholesterol, etc)? Pants size? Athletic accomplishment? 

My next post is going to be a little self-help/therapy session, so if you're not into that, skip it ;-)