How I Lost 27 in 4 Months

How did I lose 27 pounds and 14 inches in 4 months?  I ate everything I wanted and sat on the couch all day!

HAHAHA,  we wish don't we?  No, I did not eat and watch television all day, but I wasn't miserable these last 4 months either.  I actually lost more than I intended (originally my goal was 20 lbs) and I still enjoyed myself!

I've written about it before, but I am towards the end of my weight loss journey so I wanted to let you all know how it went.

At the beginning of this year, my husband and I were just very disappointed in our eating habits.  The eating holidays had passed (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) and we had fully enjoyed ourselves during that time.  We ate what we wanted, and it came to bite us in the butt.

Well, I wish it bit us in the butt because then that would mean we lost weight!

No, those holidays actually slapped more pounds onto my body, a body that was already out of shape.

So, it wasn't a new years resolution, or something we were giving up for Lent.  This time, we just wanted to lose weight for us.  For your's truly.  I wasn't doing it for anyone, but for myself.  To make me feel better about my body and give myself more energy throughout the day!

We signed up for Nutri-System (again) and on January 9th 2017, my weight loss journey started.  It is now May 9th 2017 and to date, I have lost 27 pounds and 14 inches.  I'll be honest with you all.  I weighed in at 190 pounds.  After my 3rd baby, I just couldn't get it off.  I was nearing 200lbs and that scared me.  Even at almost 6 ft tall, 190 lbs is too much for a woman my size to weigh.  So I was at 190 lbs, and now am down to 163.  I really wanted to make it to 160, but since my original goal was actually 170, I am pleased with 163.

I have lost inches in my waist, hips, thighs, and arms.  All equalling 14 inches lost. I've gone down over a pant size, and my shirts fit so much better!

How did I do it?  NUTRISYSTEM AND WORKING OUT.

I LOVE Nutrisystem.  It pretty much takes all the prep work out of your food.  You are provided with breakfast, lunch, (afternoon snack for men), dinner, and dessert.  Planning meals was often my downfall, as well as the time it took to prep the meals.  More often then not, we would just order, or go pick up food because it was easier.  With Nutrisystem, you just have to pick one meal, and microwave it and your done.  You will have to add in a few items that you get at the store, which are referred to as Smart Carbs - fruits/whole grain crackers/pretzels etc and Power Fuels - proteins/cheese/yogurt etc.

Sooooo easy.

And the food is actually pretty good!  I mean, what other diet can you have chocolate muffins for breakfast, Mac n Cheese for lunch and then Pasta and Meatballs for dinner?  They have different options for their plans.  You can get the Basic - they just send you the "favorites", Core - you can pick which foods you want (we did this one), and Uniquely Yours - this is the only option that includes frozen foods.

The shelf stable food was good enough for us, so we didn't spend the money for the frozen food. If you are a little more picky, you may want to spend the money and get the frozen.  They will send it in a cooler in dry ice so that it is still frozen when it's delivered.

At first, I was starving.  The portion sizes are what your suppose to be eating regularly, but seem really small at first.  So, the first few weeks was tough.  Once you get into it though, its really not bad at all.  Sometimes, I'm even eating when I'm not hungry (because it's important to stick to the plan).

The customer service people are usually very helpful.  If you are at a standstill and need help, they will help you tweak the diet so that you can start loosing weight again.  There's also a fantastic Facebook Support group that people are very active in!  They will help with recipe ideas (you're able to change up the meals a bit and be creative if you get bored), finding deals and coupons/promo codes, and just general support.

Along with the diet, I started going to the gym (again), and actually have stuck with it!  For me, I need help with being pushed, so I started doing the group classes.  If I go to the gym just to work out on my own, I don't know how to push myself enough to get a good workout.  Going to the group classes are fantastic because they will give you modifications to make things easier, or less stressful on your body, all the while pushing you to your limit.  I love it.  I take 3-45 min classes most weeks.  1 class of Power Pump and 2 class of HIIT (high intensity interval training).

Actually, I know that with going to the gym, I may be slowing down my weight loss progress because of the muscle I'm gaining, but then I see how I've lost 14" all around and I'm so proud of myself!!

There were definitely some tough weeks, where the scale wouldn't move, but I just kept with it, knowing that what I'm doing is creating new healthier habits, and in the end, will be worth it.

I want to end with letting you all know that I still went out and had "cheat nights".  There were birthdays and events that we still wanted to participate in.  The important thing when dieting, is not just doing something short term, where you go back to old habits when your done. You are learning a new way of living, how to eat and be healthy.  Life happens, and food events will come up.  It is important to learn how to live with these situations.  If you're going out to a family dinner, maybe don't get the appetizer, meal AND dessert.  Learning portion control and smart choices is what it is all about.  Once your body gets used to having healthier food and smaller portion sizes, you won't crave all that bad stuff anymore. Or if anything, you'll be okay with just having a small piece.  My son, husband and myself all had birthdays during this time.  We still celebrated with desserts.  We weren't depriving ourselves of that, because then we would probably crave it more. Instead, we went ahead and had that smaller slice of cookie cake.  In the end, one slice of cookie cake that week didn't hurt us, and we didn't resent the diet.  Win-Win!!

I highly suggest this diet.  I know some people do have different health concerns, so please consult your doctors first.  This diet works a lot on low calories, but high protein an fiber.  If you are interesting in just trying out some of the food first, I suggest this week trial pack, or some of the individual items such as, breakfast variety pack, variety bar pack or the Nutricrush shakes.