5 pounds

Here are the stats and pictures as promised...

Height:     5’3”

Weight:    176  

BMI:         31.2 

I got awesome news today when I stepped on the scale!  Last Tuesday I made the conscious decision to start weighing myself.  Prior to this I didn’t know how much I weighed because I refused to know.  Throughout my whole pregnancy I was the kooky woman being weighed backwards so I couldn’t see the scale!  My chart had “Do NOT tell PT her weight” written across the top in big red letters.  I have always hated scales.  Even if I was at a good number I would get fixated and think I needed to lose just five more pounds.  Now though, I have decided it would be good to know my weight so that I can track any changes.  It was quite comical watching my father and me banter back and forth about whether or not I should know my weight.  You would’ve thought we were deciding how to resolve world hunger by the way we were going on about it.  Finally I pushed myself on the scale and kept repeating “I am not a number…I am HEATHER”!  I weighed in at 181 pounds.  Surprisingly I was okay with that number.  My goal isn’t about losing weight.  It’s about running a 5K.  You see, I think that, if my goal was reversed and my focus was solely on losing weight, I would be upset with how much I weigh.  This is why I don’t think dieting alone works.  Your goal is to lose weight but not necessarily change your lifestyle or find some physical activity you enjoy.  Today I was asked if I was dieting along with running.  The answer is no.  Let me first clarify so you don’t think I am sitting at home eating whatever comes across my plate.  (The old me would eat Twizzlers or popcorn and call it a meal.)  These days I am making more informed choices about what I eat and put into my body.  I realize that I can’t eat candy and snacks all day to live healthy.  It all boils down to moderation.  Two of my reasons for not “dieting” are as follow:  

1)      Dieting limits your caloric intake which I can’t do because of breastfeeding JW.  As a breastfeeding mother if I don’t provide my body with enough calories my milk supply will suffer.

2)      Dieting instead of making a lifestyle change seems counterproductive.  Why not just change your mindset and make permanent fixes instead of temporary ones?  Dieting, in my opinion, is a temporary fix. 

It would definitely be easier for me to diet and control my food.  Being a control freak comes easily to my Type A personality.

Without “dieting” I lost a whopping 5lbs in a week!  I almost fell off the scale when I saw 176lbs!  I ran out to the living room to my family screaming with excitement.  My dad took a picture of the scale for me so I could share with everyone how much I weighed.

 

Today I realized more than ever that exercise combined with healthy eating habits does work!

If you are interested in knowing your BMI find out what it is here.