100 Days

I am putting aside laundry and the housework waiting for me to end my blogging hiatus. I blogged about how busy November was and then December seemed to be even busier. We traveled to the US for the holidays and it has almost taken me and the baby 4 weeks to recover. This week I finally feel like my energy level and sleep patterns are back to normal. Not sure when we'll be doing that again because UGH! That's all I have to say about that.

So...at the end of last year, I was rockin' the gym and healthy eating and weighed in at 127. This was very exciting for me. Getting below 130 was a major victory because it seemed like it took me forever. It basically took me a whole year after my son's birth to get down to that number. Then I went to the US and ate everything I love and miss. January 1 my weight was 131. (Too much InNOut) :-( I've been eating a little better since returning to Switzerland and am happy to say I weighed 127.6 this morning. Yay! However, my goal is 115. So, here is the point of my post:

I watched a few episodes of MTV's "I Used to be Fat." It's where teenagers who have 80-100+ pounds to lose spend their summer exercising and learning how to eat healthy to reach their weight loss goal before they go to college. It was so inspiring. These kids (I can say kids because I'm almost twice their age, right?) worked so hard to achieve their goals and the results at the end of their 100 days were amazing! It was the motivation I needed to get off the couch and back to the gym. I decided to give myself 100 days of really putting in my best effort to reach my weight loss goal. With 1 day down and 99 to go, I am feeling very positive.

I want to share just a little bit about why this is so important to me. About 4 years ago when I was dating my husband, my weight reached the highest it had been before pregnancy. I was inspired to make big changes in my life. So, I started waking up at 4:30am to be at the gym by 5am so I could workout before I had to be at work at 7am. I tracked every calorie I put in my mouth. I worked on the 18th floor of City Hall and started walking the stairs twice a day. The only time I would "cheat" was once a month when my now hubby would visit or when I would visit him in Texas.

The biggest change in all of that for me was FOOD. Food. It can be such a blessing and a curse. Since I had limited calories, I was focused on low calorie everything! My favorite meal was a fat-free hot dog on a whole wheat bun with spicy mustard and 14 fat free pringles. Yum! I had it all down to a science. But now, things are very different. Swiss people have a much different philosophy about food. They believe you should eat the full fat, full calorie food but eat less. I know it might be better for you (you see a lot less processed food) but sometimes I JUST WANT A PRINGLE!!! Low calorie yumminess like snacks and ice cream (and FiberOne and fat free milk) are just not available here. Baked chips don't exist in Switzerland (why??? They are so yummy!). It has taken me some time to come to terms with the food options here. The cold, hard truth is that in order for me to achieve the results I want, I have to give up some things that I really like. Maybe not give up entirely, but give up the frequency with which I like to enjoy them. I have to put the "diet" mentality to rest and adopt a whole foods approach: fruits, veggies, protein with the occasional splurge added.

I could go on and on and on about this. It has been on my mind for weeks now and I am just coming to accept that I have to take a different approach. I am ready to move forward with what options I have available. It just has to be done. So, off I go to the grocery store for my veggies and protein. Day 99 will be a success!