Losing the Pregnancy Pounds Part Two: My Plan for January 2013

A series of posts about losing the weight I gained with my pregnancy.  I didn't start this blog to be a weight loss blog, but it is a big part of my life right now so I can't help writing about it. 

Losing the Pregnancy Pounds Part One: My Backstory

My Plan for Kicking off the New Year

My first goal for 2013 is to lose 30 pounds.  I'm normally not one to flaunt it about that I'm going to try to lose 30 pounds because what if I fail and then everyone knows and that makes me feel awful?  But I NEED the accountability and the pressure right now to make myself do this.  And, for me, at least right now, it's not about getting skinny, it's about being healthy.   I'm carrying around a lot of weight from my pregnancy and it makes me feel awful all the time - not just in self esteem (though certainly that too), but physically not like myself - no energy, tired all the time, back aches, headaches, etc.  I want and need to start feeling better so I can be my best self!  Who wants to live life NOT being their best self?

So how am I going to reach this goal of mine?  Here's my plan for January:

1. Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred: Every. Day. For this whole month.  The best part about this workout is that it's only about 20 minutes long, so there is very little excuse to not get it done.  Even if it's 10 or 11pm and I haven't worked out yet, I am able to just DO IT quickly, and then get a shower and head to bed.  (Working out in the evening works for me - if I tried to work out in the morning I would NEVER do it - I know this from experience.)  I also love this workout because it combines strength training (with 3 lb hand weights) and cardio.
2. My Fitness Pal:  Add me as a friend if you have one too (my username is lizflinn)!  This is a great site for tracking your calories and exercise.  You can put in how much weight you want to lose per week and it tells you how many calories you should net per day (net calories is calories eaten minus calories burned).  I also love that you can add friends and encourage each other!  It really helps me stay on track!
3. One cheat day per week:  I've always done this while dieting/losing weight, and it helps me stay with it.  If I'm super strict with what I can/can't eat and never let myself indulge, I will inevitably give up.  If I can look forward to a meal I've been craving all week for a date night on Friday night, then it helps me stay on track for the week.  Then I can eat what I want, and get back to tracking calories the next day.  It works for me.  
4. Weighing in once a week: It's important to me to not become obsessed with the number on the scale (it's so easy!), so I try to weigh myself just once a week - every Wednesday morning.  I picked up the "Weigh In Wednesday" idea from blogging on Tumblr, and I think Wednesday works well because it's opposite the weekend (when I usually eat more calories and/or have a cheat day).  It's hard for me to not want to jump on the scale and see results the second day, but it's important to be patient.

And so far so good (yes, I know I'm only through three days so far).  I've been under my calorie goal for the past three days, and I've done level one of the 30 day shred every day.  I also wanted to go to Zumba today, but it was cancelled - but next week I'm going to try and add in Zumba.  

This Friday night is date night, so I am looking forward to indulging a little bit in a nice dinner and possibly a movie out with my man.  Then it'll be back to the calorie tracking on Saturday.  I'm really hoping to see good results on Wednesday!