A few years ago, I wrote a post freaking the eff out about weighing 143 pounds. For those of you new to my blog, I started this whole fitness thang by losing 50 pounds. I started at 189 and got down to 139, in case math is not your strong suit. I even lost a few more pounds after that, and my lowest weight was about 135, a weight that is more than normal or even “heavy” to some, but I thought made me look too gaunt. (Friends who didn’t know me then but have seen photos say they would like to give that Theodora a cheeseburger.)
I vowed I’d never let myself weigh over 140 again.
Then I vowed I’d never let myself weigh over 150 again.
Then I vowed I’d never let myself weigh over 160 again. And 160 is where I finally drew the line earlier this year. (Slash my therapist — “you’ve been complaining about feeling uncomfortable in your body for a while — what weight would you feel comfortable at? I told her 145-150, and we agreed that was totally doable.)(And yes, I know, perhaps she and I should be working on accepting my body, etc, but…)
I know the actual number “doesn’t matter.” I know I work out and try to get enough sleep and try my best to eat healthy and I know I am overall in good shape and better than the average bear…
But I don’t fit into a lot of my clothes, and frankly, I don’t really like the way I look right now. And I know I certainly have some work on my healthy eating habits to do…
…which is where my buddy Tina comes in!! She launched a nutrition/meal planning service a few months ago and had asked if I wanted to try it and write about it. EFF YES. Tell me what to eat, Tina.
I’ll go into the actual service in future posts, but for now, I wanted to tell you what I’m working on.
TRACKING
I hate it. It works. End of story. This blog started with photos of every meal and man did that accountability work. But so has MyFitnessPal in the past…until I start seeing some results, get cocky and stop tracking. Tina’s service provides you the macros you should hit and meals that are friendly to your macros. I just upgraded my MFP to get the version that allows you more control/customization over your macros.
I’m also committing myself to tracking every effing glass of wine. Not just the nights I have one glass, but also the nights I have…more than one.
WINE
Which brings me to…wine (/alcohol.) I like wine. I drink probably more of it than is healthy for weight reasons, general health reasons and certainly mental health reasons. (Wine makes you feel better about things…until it doesn’t and makes you feel way worse.)
PLANNING
Omg, this is so cheesy, but fail to plan, plan to fail. If I don’t have a general game plan of what I’m going to cook/eat, then I’ll end up grabbing something that’s not as healthy for me. Even things that *seem* healthy out just aren’t. They’re always bigger portion sizes than what I’d make at home and you really never know exactly which ingredients are in them, right? Something nutritionists + Tina have always recommended is also planning in MFP, or wherever you track, your day ahead. So, if I know what I’ll be having for breakfast and lunch, I can input those and know how many calories I have to play around with for wine, I mean, snacks. I also like that Tina’s plan gives me both macros AND meal ideas. So — I can use her meal ideas the times I do get to plan and just keep macros in mind when I can’t (i.e. work lunches, etc.)
PROTEIN
I love me some eggs and jerky and feel no meal is complete without protein. So, I was totally getting enough protein, yes? For an active person with weight loss goals, probably not. It’s a good thing I really like protein. More eggs and jerky, here I come. Slash random ground meat? Cool.
ACTUAL NUMBER GOALS
I started at 159 last week and have already lost one pound. My goal is for 155 by end of April and 150 or less end of May. These will take work but I think totally doable.
Any questions, especially for me to pass along to Tina about her service?
This is me right now… The feeling uncomfortable in my skin part anyway. I’m looking forward to hearing your tips on reining it in… Everything you said you struggle with is me, too! So relatable.
Good for you. I joined WW and it’s the best thing I ever did for my weight loss and maintaining it.
I finally was realistic this year also, and started tracking every day (not just weekdays) and stopped drinking totally for two months. Before this I would eat healthy during the week and then do whatever I want on the weekends and then be surprised when I wasn’t losing weight and even gained during the winter. It wasn’t my favorite but it sure was effective and I dropped about 4 percent body fat in that time and feel great! It sucks and it’s tedious but you do just have to put the work in and you will see results!
@Courtney: I had lost 3 pounds last month and then went to Nashville and really only ate super crappy for maybe 2 days? But have had to struggle to re-lose that, because, 30s.
@Theodora Blanchfield: Yup! So frustrating. I just have been setting smaller goals since I know if I try to drop down to a crazy low calorie amount I won’t stick with it. I also have been weighing daily (I know this doesn’t work for everyone) and the app “Happy Scale” is really great with this. Even if you have daily fluctuations the app shows your trending weight which can still be downward over time even if you’re up a few pounds due to water retention or whatever. I think remaining committed is just the key even if you have a bad day (or couple of days).
I love this post and all of your posts like this that are so honest and relatable. I can’t wait to follow your journey. XOXO
Thanks for posting this. I have been struggling to lose since December and it’s nice (ok, maybe not the right word?) to see that it’s a challenge for even someone like you who has had such success in the past!
Your information is very very useful to me.
How can I use Tina’s service, please help me.
Good for you! Planning is essential, and keeping track is a bit tiring, but it works!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of Tina’s program! I did her 4-week plan back in Feb/March and posted a review on my blog, but I won’t share the link here and taint your opinion. I hope you’ll be really honest with your thoughts – I thought there were some really great aspects to the plan and some things that could have been improved. They are actually giving me a re-do since they’ve made some updates since I first did the plan, and I’m in the midst of week 2 of that now!
@Chelsea @ Chelsea Eats Treats: you know I’m going to go looking for it now!!
@Theodora Blanchfield: Haha – fiiiiiine, here you go. 🙂 http://chelseaeatstreats.com/thinking-of-signing-up-for-designed-to-fit-nutrition-heres-what-i-thought/
This post really resonates with me b/c I am in the exact.same.boat. Working out is not the issue, slow metabolism (hello 40! :)), overeating and too much alcohol is the issue for me. I won’t even get on the scale but I can tell by the way my jeans fit (or, um, don’t really) and the way my workout clothes look, that I’m in trouble. I can’t get back to a place of motivation (I just ate a donut) b/c It’s almost like my attitude is now to be fat and happy (but I’m not happy). Or that if I don’t try, then I can’t complain. But if I try and fail, that’s worse almost?
I don’t have a point except to thank you for your honesty and to give me HOPEFULLY the motivation I need…..
You and I are in the exact same spot in terms of weight/goals. We can totally do this!!!
Yes to tracking, it works getting back to basics. I want to lean out for summer, I haven’t gained any weight lately but I am at an easy to maintain while kind of eating too much because I am really active weight…and would like to drop whatever that weight is to get the fluff off my abs 🙂 so hi macros!
I’m curious with macros if Tina has suggestions for chipotle/noodles/panera meals. I love a good plan, but with grad school I can’t make breakfast/lunch/dinner every day of the week.
Thank you for this post! I am exactly at this same place right now. I feel frumpy and not attractive and I am not able to fit into comfortably my clothes for work right now. I just feel plain jane. I look forward to hearing about your experience with Tina’s plan. Along with you, she is another one of my daily favorite bloggers!!! I read her posts, as well as yours, daily! Thank you for the continuous inspiration and awesome blog. I love your posts and how real you are! 🙂
Me too, me too. I’ve gained about 10 pounds over the past year just from being lazy at food selection. It’s so easy to reach for the less-healthy option every now and then, and dang does it add up quickly. About 1/3 of my wardrobe is unwearable right now and another 1/3 is wearable but I don’t love the way it looks or feel comfortable in it. I’m hopping back on track lately basically so I can wear my favorite clothes again! I miss them! Good luck to you, we’re cheering for you.
Hi Theodora, I just landed up here. Good to know you could lose so much and are inspiring others to do so. As a fitness enthusiast myself, I think tracking your progress and keeping a record of everything really helps. Most people would skip this step.
This seems like a great and healthy way of losing the extra pounds, Theodora!
Hi5 Theodora!!! Even I am a big fan of Wine 🙂 I think we both are travelling on the same boat.
Thanks for these honest posts. It’s refreshing to see a realistic up and down journey, the kind that we all go through!