Tips & Tricks (2022)

    It is so important for me to document this since I didn't really make notes about my weight loss in 2020 too much, when I lost 30 pounds (from 138 to 108!) between May and November. After Christmas that year, still remaining around 109 or 110, I didn't worry about my weight and stopped weighing myself. But over the next 18 months, until my 35th birthday in June 2022, I let myself gain all that weight back and more- more than I ever had before, and reached an atrocious weight (for my usually thin 5' 3" frame) of 152 pounds. As a reference, I was only 135 pounds the morning of Emma's birth.

  Here are some of my "eww-y" Before photos from May and June:

   While looking through photos from these months, I also found pictures of me that I took as reference photos on May 31st in the bathroom, in my bra and shorts, from four sides, but I am not going to post those! I think part of the reason why I kept allowing myself to gain weight, was because I didn't look as terrible with clothes on.. but standing in front of the mirror before my showers, I would stare, sigh heavily, and just think, "This is not my body."

  Anyway.. Let's get to the good part! :) 

   I finally got motivated on June 13th, a two days after my birthday. I had already been planning to lose weight and stocked up on weight loss/anti-binging books, diet pills, and gummies/ supplements. I made a collage of my gross body and another one with pictures of me dressed up with my friends from 2015 - some of my favorites - as well as some more recent Hot Mom pictures from the end of 2020. I started writing down everything I ate, and what times (without tracking calories), as well as making an effort to exercise again. 

   The first week of weight loss started off easily, since we all got Covid, so I was throwing up, and sleeping a lot, and had very little appetite. Michael also decided that he wanted/needed to lose weight again too. He definitely looked his best, in many years, in the months leading up to Emma being born! He got down to 185 pounds in May 2017, and he is 6 feet tall. He is aiming for that again now.