Downsizing Part 3 - Moi

So last year I started on this downsizing kick.  I wanted to downsize our lifestyle.  I wanted to downsize our budget.  And I wanted to downsize me.

I've never been thin.  And when I'm depressed or stressed I eat.  And I love to cook - and bake, so that doesn't help.  When I got pregnant with my daughter I was 230 pounds.  Four years later I was 294 pounds.  We went on a cruise and I couldn't buckle the seat belt on the plane.  I couldn't fit into the theater seats on the cruise.  I was wearing a size 24.  My four year old told me her friends at school asked her why her mom was fat.

It was time for change.

I decided that instead of a diet, this time I'd try to change the way I eat forever.  And the way I exercise.  Forever.  It took me a long time to get started.  The cruise was in November.  I joined a gym in January.  I started eating salads (really big salads!) for lunch in February.  Every time I mastered something in my routine, I added something else.

By October I was down to 240 and a size 18.  I was working out for about 45 minutes every day.  Life was starting to feel much better.  

Did I mention I was a smoker?  Yup.  About a pack a day.

I woke up one morning in October, and I didn't want a cigarette.  Just didn't want one.  And (although I have had some cravings) I have not had one since.

My therapist thinks that I was using nicotine to manage anxiety and depression, and when I started working out regularly, I didn't need the nicotine any more.

I must admit, that after I quit smoking I did replace the behavior a bit with chocolate. 

I'm currently at 247.  I gained back seven pounds in the five months since I quit smoking, although I am still working out at least six days a week for about an hour each day.  It seems like I've been working out to support my chocolate habit recently.  So now I have to say good bye to my friend sugar.  It will be hard.  I depend on sugar when I am tired, grumpy, PMSing, happy...  you name it.  But sugar is going to have move on.

My goal for this year?  I like to get under 200.  I haven't been under 200 since before I got married.  Like maybe 1999-2000?  Wow.  So there you go. Good bye sugar, hello 199. 

I will depend on you guys to help keep me honest.