Self Cleaning

Warning: this is a little long, but stay with me. A few weeks ago I looked at the calendar and realized that, yes, it's that time again. Time to get into a bathing suit and I just wasn't feeling it this year. I think the stress of the last months with MIL situation had taken it's toll and I'd really been feeling so blah in my life. Not only my life, but my lifestyle habits I was creating. Bad habits. Of the snacking variety. Of the non exercising variety. You know how it is. Or is it just me? Well I decided I was going to finally get off my lazy arse and do something about it. And now, happily, I can post about it because I've been successful. Had this crashed and burned, you never would have heard a peep from me on the subject. Just like a woman right? And just like One Fabulous Mom posted about all last week, I feel I have "cleaned" up my body, inside and out. Here's what I did and want to share with all of you.

1- I became a crazy water consuming maniac. Now I've been through periods of drinking lots of water, but it had stopped. So I started drinking a lot. My poor Brita filters were/are doing a workout with me. To be green, I also refill water bottles so I know how much I am drinking, but have also tried to stop purchasing so many bottles. I've started buying the huge 3 qt/ 5.4 oz bottles to keep in the refrigerator. Anyway, my skin looks hydrated.

2- I STOPPED SNACKING. Now this is hard. I think we all tend to snack if we're bored. That's me. And I usually buy those 100 calorie snack packs, but who cares if you're downing 3 bags at a time! So, I just quit cold turkey. Now if I'm hungry I eat 4 or 5 smokehouse flavored Diamond almonds. Yummy. Good fat to consume, too. If I'm hungry making dinner, instead of sampling, I drink a full glass of water. I never skip breakfast anymore. This helps with a.m. snacking.

3- I cut out all soft drinks. My weakness is Diet Coke, albeit caffeine free DC. Carbonated drinks just aren't good for you. They do weird things to your stomach. So have not had one in 3-4 weeks.

4- I dusted off my 12 lb weights and started lifting weights for my skinny arms. I'm trying to tone this post birth body all around. I also go walking with the stroller or use my elliptical machine. I'm doing sit ups on my mega exercise ball as well. Now this feels like a losing battle because I think my stomach muscles are shot, but I'm trying... I feel so much better now that I'm exercising again. I used to be a runner and would like to eventually get back into this as well.

5- I have reduced my portions at meal time. This is a biggie. I think gradually I had been adding more and more food to my plate! I still cook relatively low fat as always (I substitute turkey for beef all the time), but I serve myself much smaller portions. AND I EAT SLOWER.
That's a biggie, too. My stomach doesn't feel like it's missing the extra food. I still indulge my sweet tooth, but I eat a 1/2 cup of ice cream instead of a cup or I eat a Weight Watcher's cookie or one of those fat-free chocolate pudding cups. I try to stop all eating by 7:30. But, the water consumption continues so I'm not tempted to grab a last minute snack at night.

All of these things I had heard/read somewhere or another and they have really helped. I have lost 8 pounds and have kept it off so far. It wasn't so much about the weight as it was the toning to me and just an overall 180 turn from what I had been doing. Try it. It may work for you, too!
I feel so much better about myself and about that bikini. Well, no, that's not happening, but my tankini and I are friends once more.