I am stuck in my weight loss, folks. Yep yep yep yep. Eight weeks since delivery and the scale hasn’t budged. Nope. 195 lbs all the way through (it was less at one point, but basically that’s the “hover” line). It bugs me to no end. To make matters worse, my fasting sugars hover just over the 100 line (they should be under) – 107 today, 105 yesterday, you know, that kind of stuff. I am not too worried–they’re still pretty tame, but I would very much like to get into 80-90 territory and stay there.
There’s no denying that an adjustment in eating would probably do the trick. Now, I’m a breastfeeding mother, which means when hunger strikes, it strikes hard, and controlling it is dicey because, you know, you’ve got to eat enough to make milk (as little as it is, it’s still about 1/2 to 2/3 of my daughter’s meals – the rest is formula). I am still not eating “bad” things (starchy stuff or sugar), but I have been more indulgent in my choice of fruit. At the beginning of my diet, for example, I stopped eating things like oranges, peaches, bananas, etc.–basically anything that wasn’t a berry (save for the occasional apple). Well, that has gone out the window. Also, at the beginning of my diet I had forsaken all baked goods. Well, now that I’ve discovered almond flour (and a variety of other gluten-free, low carb flours), I’ve been baking up a storm. My latest: crazy simple almond-flour cookies (basically: for every cup of almond flour, add 1 tbsp coconut oil or butter, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup Splenda or so, plus some almond extract or vanilla, mix, form into rounds, bake, and voila). I have a few every morning with my coffee. My other indulgence? Sugar-free chocolate products and nuts. I say “products” because Nuts.com sells sugar free dark chocolate-covered espresso beans and almonds, of which I’ve partaken liberally lately. Now, sugar-free does not mean carb free, mind you (though a lot less than regular chocolate, granted), nor does it mean calorie-free. Nuts are wonderful–but not if you’re consuming them absent-mindedly throughout the day.
And suddenly, my failure to lose weight makes a lot more sense now, doesn’t it?
Never mind. To boost my weight loss, I signed up for a personal training program at my gym. It was a good deal in that if you sign up for 6 months it will cost you about $25/hr (twice a week), which is less than half of what personal training usually costs. And let’s face, any less than 6 months and you’re not truly serious about fitness, amirite?
My trainer is evidently superfit, young and bursting with energy at the seams. After the first training session I couldn’t walk for 5 days. Well, I did, but it could hardly be called “walking.” I needed to prop myself against walls and whatever else was around just to sit down. That was the effect of lunges, no doubt, the exercise that most gets me because I apparently can never do it properly (there’s tightness in my legs, it turns out, and I need to stretch a whole lot more and also? do more lunges!)
It got better from there–I just completed my second week, while also trying to do a little cardio on the side (spinning! was so happy to return to my original passion!). No effect on the scale though, but for that I suspect I need to ditch my almond cookie and chocolate-covered almond habit.
Oh, and I had another Bod Pod assessment to figure out my body fat percentage. The result? A disappointing 35.7% fat (rest is “lean mass”–muscle, bone, and water). My trainer had initially calculated my body fat on one of those scales that claim to do just so, and it came down to about 30%–which I would have been super-happy with, as it’s in the healthy range for a person my height and age. However, those scales are never accurate–the Bod Pod is. 35% is sadly, too high–I should be under 32% to be ok.
You know the crazy thing? When I started this health journey I had my body fat assessed as well and it was 40.5%, which is in the risky category. I’ve lost 50 lbs since then (roughly 20% of my original weight), but only 5% of my body fat. Isn’t that a bit depressing? And I’ve been exercising all the way through! True, I got pregnant, had a baby, and am now breastfeeding, which I think does something to your fat deposits (something must protect that baby, you know), but still, this goes to show how difficult it is to get rid of fat.
My goal at the end of these 6 months is to get down to 30% body fat. Now, that’s not in the “fit” category, but it’s in the acceptable healthy range for someone my age and height. Not an unreasonable goal, right–not an easy one either considering how hard apparently it is to get rid of fat.
So! I’ll try to be a little better about updating this (you know, accountability and all) but living with a 2-month old makes this a little challenging.
