From Matronly to Amazing, a MOH's Goal to Loose 20lbs in 24 Weeks

[PrairieDawn]

On April 5, 2008, I will be MOH for my sister. This is the gown she has selected for her three attendants.


http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGallery/store/product/Gigantic/12/_5475612.jpg

Its an adorable dress and I've already ordered it, but I'm not in the amazing condition that it demands. So, I'm determined to loose 20lbs in 24 weeks between now and the wedding.


...Pam

[PrairieDawn]

Background on the dress saga can be found in these posts:

http://www.mustloveweddings.com/forums/showpost.php?p=538233&postcount=71

http://www.mustloveweddings.com/forums/showpost.php?p=541252&postcount=79

http://www.mustloveweddings.com/forums/showpost.php?p=543025&postcount=88

http://www.mustloveweddings.com/forums/showpost.php?p=543813&postcount=94




...Pam

[Cindy]

That is a gorgeous dress. Same color for your sister's wedding? You can lose 20 lbs in that time. Good luck!

[PrairieDawn]

Hi Cindy! Yes, that's the actual dress and therefore the colour theme for her wedding, "chocolate and blush".

WOW! Congrats on YOUR weight loss! I'm gonna check out your journal.

I need to make a ticker for my siggy.

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

:wavey: That's a totally reasonable goal! Can't wait to see your progress!

[PrairieDawn]

Hi Jessica! Thanks for your support on EVERYTHING. Its good to have buddies. :D

Well, my ticker is UP. I haven't been weighed since my complete (and utterly embarassing) physical exam a month ago. My friend who is coaching me via Facebook messages says I am NOT allowed to weigh myself until I've been on "the program" for one whole week. That will be Saturday.

I'm still not sure what "the program" is, but suffice to say that I am hungry.

I've gradually cut out all refined sugars and obvious carbs (bread, potatoes, pasta) and I simply don't have enough veggies in my fridge at home to keep me full. I've been chomping on Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop! and have posted on a local barter list that I'd like to trade garden vegetables for Tim Horton's gift certificates. I cheated this morning by eating a slice of banana bread. Oh well. Until I go shopping, I have to make due. So much for planning this thing. LOL


...Pam

[MsJessica07]

Have you checked out the South Beach Diet book at all? My mom lost like 40 lbs on it, and the thing that makes me recommend the book is that the diet recommendations surprised me, especially about things like potatoes, but it's all based on the science of the composition of the food. My mom got it on Amazon for like...$2. And it's endorsed by my dad, who is a doctor, so it's a good place to start, IMO ;)

[Cindy]

Pam, my WL journal is quite dormant. I haven't posted in it since last May. I've been doing Weight Watchers and exercising with Turbo Jam (www.turbojam.com) I originally started exercising for myself and for my own wedding, but after I called it off, I just kept going.

[PrairieDawn]

Jessica, I am not familiar with ANY diets. I don't diet. Honestly, what I eat isn't all that bad (exepting Corey's potato chips that I MUST share.) My problem is the lack of exercise. I would look into Southbeach, but then I'd be on my own or having to make new friends to support me in the goal. Whatever my friend is doing is fine by me; I like being accountable to her. I trust her.

Cindy, Turbo Jam looks like a lot of fun. I 'm thinking I'm not ready for it, though. I have to ease into this. I have asthma and mild arthritis, so I'll be walking, bicycling and swimming to build up some endurance before I go for anything more jarring.

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

I think I missed the part where you were working with someone else on this :shuffle: No problem, it was just a suggestion!

[PrairieDawn]

Here's the story:

http://www.mustloveweddings.com/forums/showpost.php?p=543813&postcount=94

[MsJessica07]

I did read that, and then I think it just totally flew out of my brain. Oops. But yeah, I know what you mean. She'll hook you up though :)

[Cindy]

Pam, I have asthma too. I also have one BAD knee and one bad knee. ;) This isn't a lot of serious jumping, like aerobics. You can control the pace of it; I do a lot of "marching" when they're bouncing more. I think it's a great program and it has a 20 min. workout, which I absolutely love!

[PrairieDawn]

Good to know, Cindy. I'll investigate further. I think my kids might enjoy it, too.

...Pam

[PrairieDawn]

Potato chips when Corey eats them in front of me, which can be every night. I MUST have some. There are none in the house now.

Bagels almost every morning with light cream cheese.

Diet pop, one or two a day if its in the house.

Rice, pasta.

Double cream, single sugar in my Timmies, three times a week or so.

Cookies in the evening with my tea, three times a week or so, if we have any.

Chocolate bars when I’ve had a bad day… but I go for Thins now, maybe three or four times a month.

Burger King burgers and fries or pizza when the family goes out a few times a month.

Nuts when I’m really hungry.

Beer when its in the house… maybe every third month or so.

[PrairieDawn]

3:30 am – woke up starving - ate a granola bar and went back to bed

7:30 am - nothing in the house I can eat!
- ate a slice of banana bread
- coffee w milk and artificial sweetener (note to self, skip the sweetener next time...yuck)
- boiled egg

10:30 am - hungry - drank water

11 am - hungry - drank water and ate Smart Pop!

Noon - hungry - ate a fresh pear (no time for lunch)

1 pm - hungry - ate 1 Tim Bit and drank water

4 pm – hungry – ate 1 Dorito chip

(my co-workers have a buffet of junk food)

6 pm - supper
- cheese stuffed chicken breast
- 1 c salad w/balsamic vinegar and EVOO
- 1c steamed carrots

7:30 pm - 15 min FAST WALK

8:30 pm - need something SWEET - ate Dole fruit and gelatin cup

9 pm - tea with honey

[Cindy]

Try to keep baby carrots or some other vegetable you can nibble on when you're hungry.

[PrairieDawn]

Cindy, I know I need to keep something HANDY or I'll be eating Tim Bits and chips from the office junk food buffet. The other day I ate a bunch of baby carrots, though, and I got a wicked stomach ache. Too much fibre, maybe.

...Pam

[Cindy]

Stomachaches aren't any good! We have trouble with the junk food at school here too, not everyone is rail thin! How about celery strips or cucumber slices? I like carrots and both of those in 3 Cheese Light Ranch dressing.

[PrairieDawn]

I'm not supposed to weigh myself til Monday, but if my jeans are any indication, I'm loosing. I didn't wear a belt today. Big mistake. :D

Last night I joined Fitday.com -- my friend's recommendation -- so I can track my food and activity there. It counts my calories, carbs, fat, protein, etc.

...Pam

[Cindy]

:woo: That'a awesome about loose jeans! I bought jeans 2 sizes smaller and could have gone a third. I hope I didn't offend you with my suggestion of keeping something handy to snack on. I just meant I like the smaller vegetables (that way I don't have to CLEAN them) ;) Portable is definitely the way to go ;)

Congrats again! :excited:

[PrairieDawn]

My friend has described the diet to me in more detail. It was developed by a doctor who is a friend of hers. She was on the fat burning plan in the past as a guinea pig. She followed it to the letter and lost 9lbs of fat in one week. (I'm not as restricted, so I'm not going to have those results.)

She describes it:

Your body has three basic energy systems. You have the system it taps into for sustained activity (just hanging around), bursts of energy (chasing the dogs/ significant running) and sustained activity with a slightly elevated heart rate (walk, run, swim). It switches back and forth between the systems as necessary.

For short bursts and crazy stuff like running, it relies heavily on carbohydrates as a fuel source. But for slower more consistent activity it prefers to burn fat. For fat burning, walking for an hour will burn more fat per minute than many other activities done for a shorter period of time. Caveat. Your body stores about enough carbohydrates for 20 minutes of activity and will preferentially burn this during the first 20 minutes of activity.

So you go for a walk and the first 20 minutes you are burning carbohydrate. After that, as long as you haven't eaten carbs just before exercising...or are eating carbs while you exercise, you will burn fat. (If your body runs out of fat to burn (HAHAHA), it will start metabolising muscle. This will never happen to me.) It explains why millions of women are getting 20 minutes of exercise a day, and not loosing weight.

Here's our fat-busting plan:

Limit all carbs for one week.
The more you can limit the more effective it will be.

For those of us who remember the 80's, "The 20 Minute Workout" was a hoax! :eek:

[PrairieDawn]

Cindy

Offended? Me? Nope. :D Looking at my food diaries I can see that I only give in to the wrong foods when

1--its 3 am and I'm starving

and

2--when the right choice isn't handy

I do have an issue with my trainer friend that I need to discuss with her. She has given me feedback on my food diaries all week.

A--as per the above, she wants my carbs very restricted.

B--she also wants me to severely limit my fruit and veggies to low-glycemic choices

Hello?! What am I supposed to eat? :jawdrop:

- meat
- nuts
-seeds
- lettuce
- berries
- cheese
- yogurt
- milk
- protein bars (low carb: Detour, U-turn, and Five Star)

The basic idea is to;

LIMIT CARBS - so we don't burn them instead of fat, and so that our bodies are not triggered to store everything as fat.

LIMIT FAT - so we don't pack a whole bunch more on!

EAT LEAN PROTEIN - so we feel full, and don't go into starvation mode.

EXERCISE - more than 20 minutes a day so we hit that magic fat burning zone. The more time you can put it over 20 minutes, the better.

Those are the basic tools.

If I do this in a serious way, I'm gonna be darned hungry. Or very broke. Oatmeal has been my friend this week. It fills my belly and, for breakfast or an evening snack, it gets me through to the next meal. How will I do without that? And I love veggies! :hissyfit:

I need to learn about low-glycemic foods.


...Pam

[Cindy]

:hug: Good luck, my friend!

[PrairieDawn]

I've signed up on Sparkpeople.com, too. Username: PrairieDawnPam (aparently there is already a PrairieDawn there.)

...Pam

[Cindy]

Pam, I'm on SparkPeople too, I think I'm *Cindy*. It's been a while since I was there.

[PrairieDawn]

Cindy, I'm a bit overwhelmed by my attempts to be resourceful and accountable via the net. I've got a personal blog (that I haven't touched in weeks), two journals here, Spark People and Fit Day. (Not to mention my cat blog. Lots of writing. LOL) I may have to streamline once I figure out which site is best for me.

I've already decided not to journal on fitday.com . I really like the food and exercise calculators, but the community features are lacking... and I'm an extrovert.

I hear that sparkpeople.com has good information on low-fat, low-carb, low-glycemic index, etc, so I'll try researching there.

I've done good with my calories and am basically halfway to my current exercise goal of 30 minutes of walking a day. (Its a time thing.) I have achieved the goal twice so far.

Today I am feeling quite hungry and sometimes tired, too. Both feelings are cured by eating some nuts, but I need to do some cooking to have low-fat meats handy, instead.


...Pam

[MsJessica07]

my mom on south beach eats an omelettes for breakfast made from one egg and then the low-fat generic egg beaters. It fills her up quite well. Depends if you like eggs or not :)

[PrairieDawn]

Yes, eggs are good. I've never tried those egg replacers. Good idea, Jessica. Thanks. :)

I bought new running shoes today, but within moments of starting today's walk I discovered I have shin splints. Maybe I shouldn't have been walking in my old shoes. Maybe I've pushed too hard. Maybe I'm taking strides that are too big. I don't know. I may not be able to walk tomorrow. Tonight I'm doing exercises to stretch my shins out in case the muscles were too tight.

On the upside, my new Reeboks were regular $90 and I got them on sale for 24.99. They are super-comfy, too.


...Pam

[Cindy]

Yay for new shoes! That always helps. Hope the stretching helps your shin splints. I've never had that problem.

[PrairieDawn]

Sometime between Saturday evening and this morning I lost seven pounds! YAY! I'm burning fat! :banana:

...Pam

[Cindy]

Wow, that's amazing!

[PrairieDawn]

Yah, Cindy, I think so, too. My trainer said it would happen. She also said this afternoon that I may only keep 3 of it off through the week. :( She's adding carbs back into my diet.

[PrairieDawn]

I've been sick for the last five days and am still dragging my butt. I haven't been able to exercise and am barely staying on my diet. I'm not hungry, but I'm grabbing for quick food which isn't always low-fat, low-carb or low-GI. :(

...Pam

[Cindy]

Well, hang in there. That happens. You can get back on track.

[PrairieDawn]

Nine pounds gone! Eleven more -- and a dress size -- to go! I'm barely over my flu, but I must get walking again.

...Pam

[Cindy]

Good job! Keep it up.

[PrairieDawn]

Make that 11 lbs!

[SueMartin]

going well Pam..

[PrairieDawn]

Thanks, Sue.

Yep, I'm down 11 lbs! I'm so proud of myself.

I tried THE DRESS on again. Its gone from fitting snugly to being a tad loose. So, yes, I'm trading it with the other bridesmaid who purposely ordered her dress two-sizes too small and then decided that she shouldn't be dieting while she is breastfeeding. :rollingeyes:

I'm not gonna stress out too much. Worst case scenario, I'll have it let out or have laces put into the back. I'm the Maid of Honour, so I'm allowed to be a bit different, right? I'm pretty sure I can go down a dress size before April. Who knows, maybe I'll go down TWO sizes and need to have it taken in. THAT though motivates me, for sure.

Low carb is still my program. The low-carb diet isn't so hard now that I have the hang of it. I'm not as low as I was. I'm sneaking up to about 40% carbs now that I've added tomatoes and Multigrain Cheerios into my diet. I think I was closer to 20--30% carbs last week. I have to say that I'm not missing bread at all anymore. I am finding it hard not to over-indulge on nuts, though, when I have the munchies. Soy nuts offer the least carbs, so that's my choice. And I'm not missing bread or pasta at all. I am missing rice, though. And SUGAR. What good is fat and protein if there aint a whole lot of sugar in there, too? LOL I've been craving puddings and Lite Jello ain't cutting it.

My solution to missing fruit has been berries. I LOVE frozen mixed berries. I nuke 1/2 c. to warm them a bit and make them saucy and enjoy them with 1/2 c. of fat-free vanilla yogurt. YUMMY!

I owe most of my success to my trainer friend who is coaching me online. She is a bootcamp *itch but its working. LOL She is very complimentary towards me and my success, but quick to tell me when I need to do more. And its working. Honestly, I would have fallen off the wagon by now is not for her, especially with all the Halloween candy around.

My step-son, 13, is terrible. He taunts me every day -- sometimes twice -- by offering me his chocolate bars. He thinks its funny. Its not. I've got Jello fat-free/sugar-free chocolate pudding in the fridge and a Lindt 80% cocoa bar in the cupboard for whenever I get weak... which is daily.


...Pam

[Cindy]

Good for you. That other dress will fuel your inspiration. You'll look fabulous!

[hellobethie]

Just stopping by to see how you're doing. You're going to be awesome, and able to switch makes you look so great as the dress will fit better and reduce your sisters stress. Well done! Keep up the great work, it's very inspirational!
Beth

[PrairieDawn]

The size 14 fits! :bear2: My next goal is to loose another 10--20 lbs so I can wrestle the third BM for her size 12 dress.

...Pam

[Cindy]

:woo:

[PrairieDawn]

I'm 148lbs, down from 165! Just three pounds to go to my goal weight. I've saved a search on eBay for a size 12 dress in case I decide to really go for the gusto between now and April.

...Pam

[Cindy]

Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

[PrairieDawn]

One pound to go! 146!

...Pam

[PrairieDawn]

I did it! I lost 21 lbs! :bear2:

Christmas was great. I even ate cookies and banana bread. The two pounds I lost over the holidays must be credited to all the walking through the malls I did.

I've decided to loose another four pounds by Valentine's Day. Wish me health!


...Pam

[Cindy]

Good job! You'll look amazing!

[PrairieDawn]

http://photos-ak.sparkpeople.com/2/7/l272086872.jpg

December 15th. I've lost four more pounds since then. Yep. I need shoes. Please look for my shoe thread.

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

You look so good!!!

I think you'd look amazing with your hair back and some pretty brownish earrings!

[PrairieDawn]

Thanks, Jessica.

...Pam

[hellobethie]

You do indeed look fab!

Well done!
That dress really is lovely too.

[Cindy]

:bliss:

[PrairieDawn]

Jessica, I forgot to tell you that just before Christmas I switched over to the South Beach Diet. It is very similar to what I was doing and its easier to follow a written book -- and lots of web sites -- than my trainer friend who sometimes gets way too busy to answer questions.

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

I'm so glad it's working for you! That was one of the best things about South Beach for my mom too...lots of recipes and advice on what to do. My mom adapted all of the recipes from the celebrations book for our Thanksgiving dinner so that she could eat most of it, and it all tasted amazing! You're doing amazingly well, and I'm sure it feels great too!

[PrairieDawn]

Thanks, Jessica. I do feel pretty good. I need to try on the BM dress again -- with the Spanx and new bra ;-) -- and see how its fitting.

Is your mom still loosing or is she into maintenance mode?

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

I think she's involuntarily in maintenance mode...not down to her goal weight but I think she's feeling okay about where she is, and so it's harder to stay in the losing weight phase. She keeps saying that she's just gaining and losing the whole time...like a pound each time she weighs. I don't think she's that unhappy about it really though, because she does know what she needs to change if she does want to lose...

[PrairieDawn]

How long was she in loosing mode? How much did she loose?

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

Probably about 10 months...she lost about 40 - 45 lbs, and has probably another 30ish to go before her goal weight...a size 10/12, basically. She's hovering around a 16 right now, if that makes sense...I think she's just really excited to be in normal sizes, not the plus size anymore...she's a little woman, so that weight really made her look roly poly

[PrairieDawn]

I can totally relate. I was hovering on being a plus-sized petite. I'm thrilled to be a size 10P or 12P now. I should be able to wear an 8P and that's my goal. If your mom is interested, let her know about the South Beach group on Sparkpeople.com, ok? Its free. I'm PrairieDawnPam there and would love to chat with more SB experts.

...Pam

[MsJessica07]

I'll let her know. I'm not sure if she'd be interested, but I know she does online stuff for her Multiple Mialoma group (bone disorder sort of similar to leukemia, she's been in remission for 8 years or so), so maybe she'd take to it :)

[PrairieDawn]

When I started my quest in the middle of October, I had a size 16 dress that didn't quite fit. By the middle of November it fit. By the middle of December, I was into a size 14 instead. Today I tried the 14 on again. Its too big. :bear2: For fun I also tried on the corset I wore on my wedding day four years ago. I will be smaller for Sister's wedding than I was for my own. :thumbsup:

...Pam

[~Lizzybeth~]

That is absolutely amazing! And you look wonderful!! I'm so inspired now! Way to go!!:jump4joy:

[PrairieDawn]

Thanks everyone!

...Pam

[SueMartin]

you rock!!!!!!!!!

[PrairieDawn]

Two more pounds gone! I'm 138! :bear2: Maybe I'll be 135 by the wedding on April 5. Actually, I'm pretty sure I will be. :yesyes:

The leader of the South Beach Team on Sparkpeople has asked me to co-lead with her. I'd love to do it, but I simply don't think I have the time. I really shouldn't... .

...Pam

[PrairieDawn]

Despite three days of being off-program and six days of not working out, I lost another pound! Man, I should eat cookies more often!

I am using the Sparkpeople blog regularly, so if you are interested, please follow my progress there. I won't update this page anymore.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=PRAIRIEDAWNPAM

...Pam