Weightloss: The Past Revisited.

* This post was originally written and published on May 21, 2013 and is a direct copy/paste from my old website.

My wedding day on June 21, 2008 I weighed a healthy toned 125 pounds.

We got pregnant with our honeymoon baby and I gained 40 pounds that pregnancy. Seemed okay. At the time.

After I had our first daughter, we got pregnant with our second daughter 7 months later. I had only lost 20 pounds up until that point. I gained another 40 pounds during that pregnancy.

Try to keep up with me here. At this point, at the end of my 2nd pregnancy, I weighed a whopping 190 pounds. My dad and I weighed the same. I had almost caught up to my husband in weight as well. I think I went a little overboard.

(Here I am visiting my grandparents after having my second child- 175 pounds- my highest “non-pregnant” weight)

After I gave birth, I went to 175 pounds. Still WAY to heavy for my 5’2 frame. I began to work out, going to the YMCA as often as I could and trying to eat lots of vegetables. I did a veggie fast for a week but it wasn’t enough food to breastfeed with so I couldn’t do it long. Through lots of hard work, I finally made it down to 145 pounds. 30 pounds lost! I should have kept going but I was satisfied at that point in my life. I enjoyed food too much to keep losing weight.

We got pregnant a little over a year later with our 3rd child and I was determined to eat better and not gain 40 pounds. And by eat better, I mean not eating a gallon of ice cream a week BY MYSELF and not drinking 2 gallons of milk a week BY MYSELF. Yah… I was a little out of control. I can admit that now.

During my 3rd pregnancy, I gained 30 pounds. So, at the end, I was 175 pounds, and after I had him, I went down to a steady 165. By this time… I just felt gross. I felt uncomfortable. You know what I mean…. the flub drooping over your jeans. It’s disgusting. I just felt so unhealthy. I had FINALLY hit that moment where enough was enough and I was determined to be healthy.

(This is me after I had my 3rd child- 165 pounds)

I know I know… I had 3 pregnancies in under 4 years… this is to be expected. Well… not to my extent. I didn’t work out and I ate HORRIBLY! I am a total sweets addict! I LOVE sweets! I would eat them all day every day and still feel great. It was bad.

Anyways, I knew that I was not going to be comfortable and feeling good if I was going to keep going at this pace. And since we want so many children, I’ve got to get a handle on my lifestyle now! I need to get healthy. I need to take care of this temple God gave me.

I knew that I wasn’t going to just diet to lose the weight. I knew I needed to make a lifestyle change. I needed to change how I eat, and be purposeful about getting exercise every day. Now… let me make one thing clear. I love being active- but I love to do it in sports and activities. I HATE (I never use that word, but in this case, I will) exercising just to “exercise”. Like who just “runs” for the fun of it? Well, I do now! After my son was born, I just started low key, making transitions in my eating- cutting out and cutting back but still getting all the necessary nutrients my body needed (especially since I am breastfeeding.) I started doing Zumba on our Wii. Then I found an at-home workout video I LOVED and started doing that. (Any moms who want a great video, easy to do at home and comes with a Hulu plus membership, ask me about it!) As soon as the weather got warm enough, I began jogging. And for the first time ever, I actually kind of enjoyed it! It was great feeling! I got hooked up on MyFitnessPal and have a great community of friends and family on there to hold me accountable. I bought some small weights to use at home and tend to have a dance party with my kids each day.

Having 3 small kids at home and a household to run, I usually only fit in 15-30 minute workout segments at a time, but I try to get a few of those in each day to make sure I’m burning calories. I try to stay at 1200 calories per day and get all the necessary nutrition I need. It has been a long haul but I am making progress.

After I had my son, I made goals. I wrote them out and I hung them up where I can see them in my kitchen every day. I wrote down what weight I wanted to be at by certain months and then my ending weight goal. I put up milestones (weddings, anniversaries, birthdays) to motivate myself to lose weight in time for these special events. You may have seen on Pinterest and other websites all these inspirational quotes with pictures of slim women with the “perfect” bodies. I never liked those. I’m 5’2, curvy, and can build some decent muscle mass. I am never going to look like any of those women- and I don’t want to! I love me! I want to look like ME! I want to be a healthy ME! The way the God made me! So, I grabbed pictures of myself when I was at the best shape in life (before all my pregnancies) and I hung them up around my house so I could see them every day. When I open the fridge- there is a picture of me in a swimsuit and a note next to it that says, “Eat healthy, Megs!.” On my vanity I have pictures of myself hanging uo and notes saying “Get that cardio in!” These are just some of the things I did to motivate myself to keep going! And each time I weighed myself, I wrote down the weight, date, and time of day I weighed myself and over the months just watched the pounds shed off. It was such a steady decline but I kept with it, never really “seeing” results but “feeling” the results. Until I reached my goal weight and I looked in the mirror and I SAW IT! What a great feeling that was!

The really cool thing is that there was no need for a gym membership. No need for a personal trainer. No need for crash diets, diet pills, or any of those “extras.” I did this! Well, through God I did this! All the glory to Him! I didn’t need to spend a ton of money to get on a special meal plan. I just needed to stop buying/eating junk food and eat healthy. I didn’t need to spend hours at the gym. I could do my workouts at home and when I could make time for it. It IS possible!

(This is me on the right with my gorgeous sister at Easter time 2013- 133 pounds- almost there)

My goal weight has been to be at my pre-pre-pre-pregnancy weight of 125 pounds and as toned as I possibly can be for just having 3 kids basically back to back to back.

(Me with all my gorgeous sisters at Keena’s bridal shower- 127 pounds- only 2 more pounds to go!)

It has been a pretty interesting journey- never thought I’d gain enough weight to have to lose it… but I did. So, starting this “journey” from the point of after I had my 3rd child- it has been 10 months so far. (With the more intense weightloss tactics starting when he was 2-3 months old. More realistically, it’s been 7-8 months of actively trying to lose weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.)

I am so incredibly happy to say that I have lost a total of over 40 pounds! I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I am so incredibly grateful to God for the discipline He has taught me. For the encouragement He has provided me. For the truth He has revealed to me of taking care of this body He has given me. Thank you, Jesus!

This has been a lifestyle change for me. Not a fad. Not a diet. But a complete lifestyle change and one that I truly love. Not to say I never splurge or have a delicious dessert or juicy hamburger, but I try to look for the healthy, natural, organic options more often. I choose to get a workout in and be active more in my daily life.

My grandma Marxhausen gained 11 pounds in one of her pregnancies (7 pounds of which was the baby.) And she told me she just ate normal (because that was the only thing to do) and she craved oranges. It was a perfect pregnancy, perfect delivery, and perfect baby. That showed me that I don’t NEED to all the extra stuff I always thought I did because “HEY I’m pregnant, I can eat whatever I want.” Sometimes (okay, most of the time) it’s just not worth it. (Don’t get me wrong- I will DEFINITELY have a couple scoops of chocolate marshmallow ice cream, just not every night haha.)

I look forward to what God has next in store. My next pregnancy will be my first healthy pregnancy that I will eat right and actually work out during it. I’m excited to see any differences I may notice in actually being healthy during pregnancy.

A part of me is disappointed in myself for being the person who gained enough weight that now that I have lost it, it is extremely noticeable but I’m going to praise God for it! I’m going to take what I learned from it and continue to grow!

Thanks to everyone who has supported me, JOINED me in the weight loss journey, encouraged me along the way, prayed for me, and every little comment made was motivation to spur me on!

And thank you to my super fantastic husband who has rejoiced with me over every pound lost! I love you Seebz!