Fluffy to Fabulous! A work in progress. « I said "I do", now mommy of two…

Fluffy to Fabulous! A work in progress.

Well, I have debated for months about doing this post. Partly because it’s a bit personal, partly because I didn’t want to publish what I am doing, and partly because it’s just embarrassing (how did I let myself do this to…myself?).

“Um, hello, Jenny Craig? My name is Dot…(slight pause)…and I’m fat.”

Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s how that phone call began the last week of May, 2011. Several things have led me to the point of calling Jenny, and I’ll give you the brief rundown. I’ve always been the “bigger” girl, not necessarily fat, but curvy for real with soft hips, thighs and killer ta-tas. I stabilized at a near perfect size 14 at the end of high school, and relished the attention from men in college. I enjoyed my body the way it was and did little to no dieting and/or exercise. I know, bad BAD Dot. My first real attempt at losing some serious weight was right after college graduation. I signed up for a year with LA Weight Loss. It may be great for some, but after a few months it was just not the program for me. Having to go to the center three times a week for weigh-ins and discussions about your salad lettuce varieties and bowel movements…no thanks. Trying to get over there three times a week was inconvenient enough! I had two gigs with Weight Watchers, one before I got married and one right after. I did like the program and I lost about 20 pounds each time. It was easy to count the points and track my food and stuff, but the other women who attended the meeting time I chose to go to were super irritating. I was the youngest by far, and these old and older ladies just sat there and yapped on and on and on…it’s a 30 minute meeting ladies! Just spit it out and move on! I’m all for encouragement and inspiration, but I do not care to hear your life story in EVERY meeting. So…I stopped going. Twice.

Now fast forward almost 7 years and two kids later. I have not only accumulated “happy marriage weight”, but I also have leftover baby weight (and I wasn’t exactly tiny before I got preggers) and some emotional-eating related weight due to my dad’s unexpected illness and ultimate passing when my first son was 8 months old ~ he was 56. And this past May when my second son was 8 months old, my mother-in-law suddenly passed away due to diabetic complications ~ she was only 51. This is some heartbreaking and scary stuff! I had that “A-ha” moment that Oprah talks about so frequently, and knew that if I could avoid all the potential health hazards that come from just being overweight, that I had to jump on that pronto. No time to waste. I want to be around for all three of my men, and I want to see my grandchildren grow up. I have to make some changes. NOW.

Having tried the diets that ask you to check in at meetings and allow you to feed yourself has not worked for me, so I seriously researched Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem. I needed something that provided the prepared food for me while I learned portion control. Jenny won overall because I liked the client reviews more and the food options were more up my alley. I called Jenny the last few days of May, set up an account and had my first food delivery on June first. No meetings or centers to go to, I weight in once a week at home, and I have one consultant who calls me once a week during nap time. I sifted through the entire menu the first month or so, and now only get the things I really really like, while still feeling like I have enough variety.

Now, here comes the part where I hold my breath, cringe a little and tell you my stats. I’m making significant progress and am seriously committed to this change in my life, so here we go:

June 1st, starting weight ~ 246.8 (OMG – I know)

Today, September 27th ~ 201.0

Current total: 45.8 pounds GONE. Y’all – that is more than my almost-three year old!

I feel better, I sleep better, I am learning the right things to eat and how much of them. The feelings of deprivation have changed dramatically…it’s easier (note: easier not easy) to turn down treats and temptations (sweet tea especially, large amounts of pasta and bread and ice cream). I still get Starbucks once in a while, but my grande Cinnamon Dolce frapp. has turned into a tall Cinnamon Dolce frapp. with skim milk and no whipped cream (hey – it still tastes good!!)

And another awesome thing entirely unto itself – my clothes don’t fit! I bought two pairs of cheapy jeans at Target for transitional purposes (my pants were bagging off my ass and I could pull them up and down without unzipping them), and smart girl here INSTEAD of buying a boatload of fall and winter clothes and upsetting my hubby with the Visa bill, I bought two wide belts – one woven brown leather and one black stretch with silver accents – to belt all my too-large shirts and sweaters and get through the winter.

My goal is to be the foxiest version of myself, and to have all my weight lost by next summer. I’ve lost 45 pounds, and have about 50 pounds to go (seems extreme, but think here ~ I’m only 5′5″ – 150 pounds is right for that height). I want to be healthy and active for my little boys and a goddess for my husband (he’s always made me feel like I am, but I want to feel it, too). Is it weird to want my sons’ friends to think their mom is a fox??? I mean, later on in high school and college…not in kindergarten. And NOT that I intend to do anything like Stiffler’s Mom! Just saying.

Here are some of the “before” pictures I am sending to my JC consultant. I need to get on a fitted shirt and my transition jeans and get Matt to take a picture for me. You can make your dreams happen. You can reach your goals. But you gotta get off your tush and DO something about it. It won’t happen all by itself, and as many times as I wished for a bag of Tinkerbell’s pixie dust, to the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t exist.

Be prepared – I don’t want your retinas to burn!

For comparison, that’s my sister on the left. She’s a smidge taller and has always been very svelte.

Watch out – rear view! This is just a week after I started JC.

With my son, in September 2010 (about 6 weeks after son #2 was born)

Current pictures will be added soon, I promise! Just wanted to share the news and major transition I am making. Hell, hopefully you guys will be like my fabulous Jenny consultant and keep me accountable! (Now tell me to start doing cardio ASAP).

OK – it’s not perfect – I’ll get a good one up soon, but this was a few weeks ago on a Sunday outing with my boys.