Down another hard earned pound. 13 pounds overall. 13.2 if you want to get specific. At this point I am hoping to get to half of my original 35 pound goal, and I think I can do it if I really buckle down. Which I have been. I am starting to teach myself how to run again, which is really the most mom friendly workout in that it is quick, I can do it with my girl, and I tend to feel a lot less stressed/murdery afterwards.
Thank you all, again, for your tender words last week.
Especially on the scars. It does help to see them as a reminder of our miracle, I do think it would be a whole lot easier to think of them as beautiful if they were just a weeee bit smaller. Winks. I’ll get there.
I also want y’all to know that I do not walk around my daily life berating myself. A few of you mentioned you wish I wouldn’t be so hard on myself, and although it might sound like it in these posts, but I really don’t hate myself or the way I look. I know to a lot of people I might not even seem overweight, but this really isn’t about how other people see me. As I have said from the beginning it is about being comfortable with myself, so that I can reflect a positive and healthy relationship with my body and with food and exercise to my girl. And these posts are the time each week when I reflect on how things are going, and I try to be really honest with y’all about the things I am struggling with because I have found talking about it to help, and your feedback is always amazing.
There’s some deep seeded issues with food and exercise and my body floating around in my head, and I do feel like I have started to address those by airing them out and taking the long way in this journey of sorts. And while I haven’t full wrapped my head around loving my scars, I definitely do love my overall body a lot more for keeping our girl safe and cozy.
I guess I would say it makes me feel more connected to my body.
I have also learned some hard truths.
Perhaps, none harder than the truth about guacamole.
Delivered to me unceremoniously by Simon Doonan.
“Suddenly the hostess plonks a bucket of guacamole on the table and the frenzy goes into overdrive…the dudes storm the guac, double, triple, and quadruple dipping their chips into the sloppy green oily mush…Restraining myself from shrieking, ‘Stop it, girls! Just stop it!’ I make the effort to switch to analytical/caring/concered mode. Have these dudes any idea how much fat is entering their bodies? How will they offset this catastrophic intake of calories in the coming days and weeks? Are they planning on doing a cleanse?”
“There’s a lethal amount of fat in guacamole,” he went on. “A friend of mine was just going off to Mexico, and I said to her: ‘If you get kidnapped, remember to tell your kidnappers: no guacamole. You cannot be in a confined space ingesting guacamole. You’ll become so enormous.’ ”
But wait, I wondered. Isn’t avocado supposed to be good for your skin?
“Maybe if you apply it topically,” he said.
BUT SIMON!!!
Guacamole is green! Like vegetables!
And delicious.
Way harshe.
And would you believe me if I told you that I genuinely had no idea guacamole was that bad for you? And don’t talk to me about good fat, fat is fat when you are trying to lose weight. It has been a pretty mind blowing fact to wrap my head around over here, but knowledge is power and if I am going to partake in some calorie-a-palooza I would at least like to be aware that is what I am doing.
This reminds me of another one of those sneaky “good fats”: peanut butter.
I actually loathe peanut butter. But every day for about a month post baby I would have a snack of peanut butter and apples because I thought that was healthy as in diet. Literally, I was gagging on the PB thinking to myself that if I could just manage to choke it down, I would be skinny in no time. Ummm false.
I just wanted you guys to be aware the level of confusion and readjustment we are dealing with here.
Please let me know if you suspect there might be another secret calorie bomb in my repertoire that I might be blissfully unaware of. But if any of you tell me brussel sprouts are fattening I might have a melt down, so tread lightly.
Oh, and because I am sure you were all waiting with bated breath, I am cutting the weave. After June 1 as a celebration when I get finished with this public humiliation diet.
*btw, I am going to stop blogging about the dieting weekly after June 1, but I am not quitting, just continuing on with my goals privately*
I’m sure the struggle is constantly on your mind, but your inner strength will win in the end! I’m 7 1/2 months pregnant now and it was been difficult to see other parts other than my belly growing.
I’ve always been a runner and cutting back on workouts and seeing my legs and butt lose so much tone has been a major adjustment for me. I just keep thinking how much I’m going to use that BOB Jog when the baby’s old enough! Stay strong! ~Brooke
Way to go! 13 pounds is a lot! It wasn’t until my son was about 18 months that I started to see some semblance of my old body. Keep up the good work and the good attitude!
Hummus tends to have a lot of calories.
Don’t worry, you can still have some avocado! Just limit it to 1/2 of one so you’re only taking in 150 calories. Calorie-counting is how I lost 25 pounds, so trust me it is key. If I get a guac craving I make a tiny serving using that 1/2 an avocado, measure out 1/2-1 serving of chips depending on how many calories I have left for the day, and it works like a charm. Everything in moderation and you’ll be good to go!
You go girl! And also I KNOW guacamole is full of fat and I still eat it almost daily because it’s just too good to quit. Dare I say I might even choose that over ice cream these days? Take that, Simon.
way to go!!
but remember the calories we drink everyday, esepcially all the calories in alcohol! switching to water saves so much calories.
I’m a nurse…last week I went to a seminar about “healthy living”. The speaker (who is an MD and registered dietician) said if it didn’t swim,walk,crawl or fly don’t eat it… And if it’s white it’s not right (Aka-sugar). He said if you can follow that closely, you’ll drop weight fast and keep it off. If you’re like me it’s TOUGH! Biggest eye opener- oatmeal is sugar! Say what?!?
Just thought I’d pass it on.
Way to go! You are doing great… and just think that if you keep in up, in another month, you’ll have lost 5 lbs more so on. I really hope to see some before and after pictures when you get to a point that you’re happy with!
That part about guacamole is crockamole. Yes, it does have a lot of fat, but humans are biologically designed to have a decent amount of fat in their diets. It is the combination of fat AND sugar/gluten/starch that causes weight gain and heart disease. Natual fat from meat and fruits/vegetables will not work against you if you keep sugar out of your diet… which sucks because I love me some chips, and guacomole on a salad isn’t quite the same.
I actually feel better and loose weight more quickly if I keep the good fats in my diet and eliminate other things like sugar, alcohol, etc. I eat avocado, nut butters, smoked salmon and other fish daily (in an appropriate portion size) and it just makes me feel fuller for longer!
Bailey…
First of all, way to go! Keep up the good work. I know that you will reach your goal. PS… your humiliation diet posts have been a great reminder to me that I need to stay with my fitness/healthy eating goals in order to be bathing suit ready in 3 weeks!
K.
If only we could eat whatever we wanted and still lose weight. Can someone please make that happen?!
The running is great because soon you will be chasing your baby girl all over the place!
You are doing great though! You will reach your goal.
Bailey,
Learning new information about food continues to shock me daily. I am kinda re-inventing the way I eat myself. I got on a “kick” after I came across Robin O’Brien. She is a huge advocate for food labeling and when I watched her video on youtube, I almost fell off my chair. Everything we THINK we know about food is basically not true. Not saying this to be a downer, but just that re-adusting how we eat is (to me) insanely stressful, because it’s hard to really know whats good and whats not. I I just finished “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Polan (The guy who did the documentary Food, Inc.) and it gave me a good base on where to start.
Anyhoo! Good luck with everything
Isn’t the truth about guacamole devastating? I had my calorie awakening last summer when I started calorie-counting. It sucked at first, but it helped me to prioritize and cut down on mindless eating. I was like, “really? that random handful of peanut butter M&Ms I hardly remember eating was 300 calories, and that is equal to ~1.5 glasses of wine? Eff that, next time I’ll save it for wine.” Hence, calorie-counting leads to awesome decision-making.
Also FYI: if you love brussel sprouts (which are my go-to, filling diet food) you should try roasting sliced-up cauliflower in olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt/pepp, and lemon juice. Amazing and like zero calories.
Wine = rolls, sad but true…. Cocktails are the same, but faster.
You’re doing great!
Had to post as I love how honest and open you are being – have not commented in awhile as am soo busy but have been following a long. Also – owe you picks of the country chic bday party partly inspired by you and they are AWESOME and let’s just say that DANCE PANTS come into play quite a bit….
I know you said no “good fat” talk but I can’t help it – it’s true! Avocados, flax oil etc. The main thing is no carbs right?? And no sugars. Isn’t that what works? BUT SO HARD!
Stretch marks: that sucks. I didn’t get them and I was enormously pregnant three times but I do have that wrinkled crepey tummy skin and I think (from when I suck in my gut) that as I get skinnier it will just get wrinkly-er…
I have friends that did a tummy tuck and that allowed the skin with stretch marks to be cut away but the scar from that is pretty big too so it’s a trade off.
I will say this: As you feel more and more healthy, fit and generally toned and strong you will stop caring so much about the stretch marks. I think it is harder for you as you are a youngish mom – once you are a bit older it doesn’t seem as big a deal to not wear a bikini and to wear a sexy one piece instead and also as you get older you care less about that stuff and more about your general state of “not falling apart”. Perhaps not very motivating!
But sorta true… Ha ha! Once wrinkles come into the picture it puts stretch marks in perspective! Gosh I am really painting a dire picture!! 
Also it is all so new – the changes – and you get used to them. You are still in that first year of postpartum and baby blues and hormones so GO EASY on yourself and you will see that when she turns 1 you will feel in a totally different place mentally/physically.
Just in time to do it all again with baby #2!
XXOO
Really? That’s weird, in this month’s Cosmo both avocados and peanut butter are on their list of “9 foods that melt away flab.” That’s so disappointing!
I know, I know, you don’t want to hear about good fat but avocados have just that– good fat! The real issues come with carbs and high fructose corn syrup (which is in EVERYTHING). I don’t know what I’d do without my avocados..
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/06/cl.healthful.foods/index.html
Hi Bailey! I am a long time lurker/lingerer and just wanted to say thank you for making me laugh. I was literally covering my mouth at work, trying to act like I was coughing while reading this post. I find you to be hilarious. Excellent work on your diet. Don’t let the man get you down though, everyone needs some guac every once in a while.
I’m new to your blog, but these diet updates are some of my favorite posts. Please don’t take them away! I’m in the same boat, weight loss wise. I had my son October 1st, and boy, did I get huge! It’s a challenge losing the weight! We can do it though. Just takes lots of dedication!
Just cut the carbs honey, and go crazy on fat from meat, avocado, cheese and whatever you love. And also stop counting calories! My baby is out in about 4 weeks, and I’ve got long way back to my jeans… But knowing that by cutting all carbs (yes, oatmeal is sugar!) and increasing my metabolism I’ll get there. Eventually
good luck gorgeous!
I just told my husband you loathe peanut butter. He’s having trouble comprehending. His favorite flavor in life is peanut butter. Spoonfuls of it daily. I swear, a jar of peanut butter is on the grocery list every week! Maybe try almond butter. I hear it’s good fat.