Putting It All Out There...Part 2

So, remember this blog from like back in May or something?



I blogged about my diet so that putting it out there might in some way hold me responsible for my success or failure. And, for the most part, it did. I was 100% committed for about a month and a half and I lost a good amount of weight. The diet worked in phases so you could gradually let the foods you really want back into your life. By the time I got into Phase 3, I found myself cheating every once in awhile, for an occasion or something. I did, throughout the diet have a once a week cheat meal which was seriously my saving grace. Something I could look forward to each week. And my exercising has always been consistent. Since the beginning of the year, I have faithfully worked out 4-5 times a week (and not just sissy stuff either, I mean grueling spinning classes and weight lifting). And I never gained any weight back.
But....my body just wasn't responding as quickly as I wanted. Yea, the pounds were slowly coming off and I was definitely getting more toned with the workouts, but it was really hard to stay motivated when the scale just seemed frozen for such long periods of time.
So, I did something drastic. My sister and I had been half-heartedly contemplating visiting this medical diet center we'd heard about and doing this intense program that really produced results. So we went one day and suddenly, without much time to even think about it, we were doing it. We just dove right in and I can't say we haven't looked back since because we seriously have, but certainly not with regret. It has been three weeks and two days since we started and I have not had a stitch of sugar or starches since.
To be completely honest, the diet makes me totally miserable. I am hungry and irritable, I won't lie, but the results cannot be ignored. And for that fact, I get by each day. One day at a time.
For some reason, I'm really hesitant to write the actual pounds lost in this post (I'm actually extremely reluctant to even post this blog), perhaps because I really don't want to admit to everyone out there how overweight I really was. I mean obviously people can see when you are carrying extra weight, but because I am tall, I am able to mask a lot of pounds better than someone who is on the shorter side. Plus, I think that if I say how much I have actually lost in the last three weeks people might think I am starving myself.
Well....I am. But not in the bad anorexia way. I'm starving myself of all the bad habits (and pounds) I was carrying around due to emotional eating and two very big baby boys. You know, some people have those great genes that allow them to pop out baby after baby and you'd never even guess looking at them (and some of those people read this blog...). Some people are somewhere in the middle where, sure they gain a few pounds, but with a little work they make things right after the baby is born. And then there is the Emmons genes, I swear I even look at a doughnut while pregnant and I've gained five pounds. Now, I'm not going to sit here and say (or write) that I was perfect while I was pregnant: always working out and eating right. Are you kidding me? I was an emotional basket case both times and I medicated myself with food. But I continued to work out moderately and I really didn't eat that bad, maybe 25% more than I normally would. But, if I have lost weight at a rapid pace the last three weeks on this diet, I gained it just as fast when I was pregnant. And particularly the second time around, it didn't just come off. My body has a funny way of adjusting to its present state and maintaining it, sometimes defying reason (except, of course, when I am pregnant and my body assumes the metabolic rate of an elephant). I have to do major things to shake it up and do what I want.
The diet is really not all that long considering the results are more dramatic. I'm hoping to be done and into the three week "phase two" period in about a month. But, because of its extremely specific nature, cheating in the first phase is not allowed one bit. Not even a bite, which is absolutely excruciating. Buying and preparing food for my husband and children has become nothing short of torture. But you know what? So far, I'm doing it and I am dang proud of myself for it.
I know what you all are thinking...that sounds so crazy she will probably gain all the weight back once she starts eating normal again. I thought that too, but the way the program is designed, it is not common at all to gain the weight back. Everyone I have talked to who has done it has kept it off with the exception of a few pounds and they eat pretty normally (though the whole emotional eating thing has to go...)
So here I am with my goal realistically in sight, for the first time in five years since I became pregnant with Ashton. This is sad to say, but it is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I guess you just don't realize how much food is a part of every day enjoyment until you are carefully monitoring and missing all those things you used to take for granted. But I have had plenty of time in the past to enjoy them (and did) and I will eventually enjoy them again (in moderation). But for now I have decided that fitting into my pre-pregnancy jeans is going to be my sweet reward this go around.
(P.S. Jamie is doing good too, she looks great, though her weight loss has been much slower since she has so much less to lose....which kind of worries me that I may hit turtle speed eventually and have a tough time staying focused....but for now: one day at a time).