My weight loss journey--don't judge me; just be proud of my accomplishments.

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything. I thought I would update you all on what's been going on in my life. My husband, David and I have been doing the South Beach diet for the past three months. I've been staying active--working out at the gym--as always, but I attribute my weight loss to the change in my eating choices. I've always been well educated in food and nutrition but the hard part for me was just doing what I know by making healthy choices in eating. Last time I lost weight was back in 2005 before I got pregnant with Alex. I was 220 pounds at the end of my first year of teaching at South El Monte High School, which I had gained while going to school full-time for several years at CSUN as well as student teaching and full-time teaching. It just kind of crept up on me as it happens with a lot of people. My co-worker and friend, Jen Poulsen, was doing Curves, so I bought the books, read them, and started changing my nutritional intake to what they suggested as well as applying what I learned in college nutrition classes--that I used to completely ignore! I lost 40 pounds that summer and then got pregnant, and started applying my knowledge of prenatal nutrition and continued to lose weight. Don't hate me, but I think my metabolism was at it's best when I got pregnant, and regardless of how much food I ate--healthy, of course, I continued to lose weight. In addition to that, I had stopped taking medicine that I couldn't be on while pregnant or breastfeeding, that causes an increase in appetite. So then I had a decreased appetite, but no nausea or vomiting. Yeah! I lost an additional 15 pounds during the first half of my pregnancy and then gained that 15 pounds back during my last half of pregnancy. I was not concerned, nor was my doctor, and my sister had the same type of experience with her pregnancy. So, I figured I had the same genes as her, and knew because I was still 30 + pounds overweight, it was a non-issue. So, I left the hospital the same weight, minus an eight pound baby, and still about 30 pounds overweight. I continued to lose weight, which I attribute to stress--new baby, new home, new life. I was nursing and trying to just get the most nutrient dense items into my mouth as quickly as possible before I had to care for my baby again (Edamame was my favorite snack and I drank so much water, my nurse at my well visit said my urine was the best looking she'd ever seen!). Alex was not gaining weight but maintaining weight. I was losing weight and losing my mind! After three months of nursing, supplementing, and totally stressing out over it all, I weened Alex and my weight loss started tapering off. Alex started gaining weight and started eating solids and turned out to be quite the chunky monkey! I went back on my medication that has the dreaded increase in appetite. I started putting the pounds back on and ended up at the same weight--post delivery of Alex when I got pregnant with Isabelle three years later. I, as before, lost about 15 pounds during the first half of pregnancy and gained the 15 pounds back during the last half of pregnancy. Again, normal for me, but not normal for most women. So, I was back where I started, when I had Isabelle, 30 + pounds overweight. I chose not to nurse Isabelle because I was high risk for postpartum psychosis which is more than just the normal baby blues, and worse than postpartum depression. I had discussed with my psychiatrist different medications that I could take that would not result in the same weight gain due to increase in appetite. She offered a couple of choices and my new psychiatrist through Kaiser Permanente was actually an intern who has a specialty in Women's Mental Health. She not only knew what meds I could go on for my specific condition, she had new knowledge that my previous doctor didn't have (being an old timer with no new tricks up his sleeve). She suggested two meds that she felt would work well for my disorder as well as being OK to be on during my next pregnancy! Whoot, whoot! I was super excited that I wouldn't have to risk my mental health for the physical health of my baby! So, I started feeling better as she played with my "cocktail of drugs", as I lovingly refer to it, and escaped postpartum psychosis with lots of therapy sessions. I managed to improve my mental health as well as my daughter Isabelle's physical health. Yeah! Success number one! So, I started going back to the gym and working out. I managed to maintain weight for a while and then my weight started creeping up again. I knew that it would be easier to maintain then to gain it all back and have to go on a strict diet, so I looked into the South Beach diet. I had all the books that I had read many moons ago when I was on Curves, because there was a lot of South Beach Living items in the grocery store. So, I compared the two diets in 2005 and again in 2010. I decided this time to go South Beach style. They are very similar, I just felt South Beach was easier to follow because you had a list to go by and you didn't have to count carbs, as I had done when I was on the Curves meal plan. So, I asked my husband to join me on the diet journey, as he had done before in 2005, and he agreed to be my South Beach buddy. :) So, my start weight this time was 173 and over the past three months, I have lost 28 pounds! Yeah for me! I'm now at the same weight as I was when we moved here to Cali in 1996. I only know this because I need to renew my license at the DMV for the first time since 1996! :) My license says I weighed 145 when I was a three month newlywed! And I have passed my weight loss goal of 148 and am now 145 again. Whoot, whoot! Success number two! So, my next challenge is to bump up my cardio and start walking-jogging-running. I haven't done any of these since I got prego with Isabelle. If anyone in the Corona area is interested in doing it with me, I'm totally behind you 100%. I have been doing group exercise classes at my friend, Sabrina Anderson's gym, "4 everyBODY fitness". She was working for Sue Robinson at Fire-House Fitness until Sue closed down shop. Sue still teaches classes through the City of Corona Parks and Comm Service if anyone is interested. Sabrina is the queen of Zumba. If you love to dance, come try a class for free. She teaches many other classes as well. Just thought I'd put the plug in for my favorite workout queens! :) They both let me babysit at their gym in exchange for exercise classes. I workout for my physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health. It makes me happy in all aspects of my life. You might think that's crazy, but it's true, none the less! Now that I'm at my goal weight, my new goal is to maintain that weight and, at the same time, increase my cardiovascular health, flexibility, and strength. I'm putting all this in writing, so that ya all can be my support group. With that said, as my entry is entitled ". . . don't judge me; just be proud of my accomplishments." I consider this a journal entry, and if you read the whole thing, you are probably an avid reader with lots of time on your hands. Or, maybe, you just wanted to get to know me A LOT better that you probably did before. Exiting "An Unquiet Mind"--another good read, if you want to know the reason behind my lengthy exposé. I'm sending ya all lots of love your way!

Thanks,
Alison Jachmann :)