Dieting and Fitness over 30

I decided to blog again about dieting and fitness.  I posted a few blogs since October when I decided to join a boxing gym to get into better shape.  I have tried all different gyms, workouts, crossfit, diets, and trends.  I never battled with weight in my teens and twenties.  Even after I had my first daughter at 22 I dropped the weight quickly without dieting and little exercise.  I was always a size 0-3 until after the birth of my second daughter, I had her at 30.  I started exercising and dieting when she was 3 months old and it took me almost two years to get down to a size 0-1 again.  I cheated though after months of busting my butt I found these chinese diet pills.  I lost 23 lbs the first month, then started selling them and eventually lost over 50 lbs in a little under 3 months.  No exercise at all.  They were amazing but eventually after losing a ton of weight and making a lot of extra side money selling them, the FDA banned them in the US.  They became hard to find and also there were a lot of fakes out there that who knows what was in them lol.  I kept the weight off for over two years but last year I went thru a lot of life changes and battled with depression for a little while.  The medication along with quitting smoking caused me to put back on a lot of the weight.

I started to see all the changes people had told me about as we get older, and after we have kids.  Losing weight was not as easy, I realized there is no quick fix and if there is it is temporary, also possibly not vert healthy.  I also started to realize that I had a weird way of seeing myself, even when I was the smallest I ever was I would at that time think I was still over weight.  I could be a size 0 and think wow I need to work out I want to be tone, I still have a muffin top lol.  I laugh now cause I look at photos of myself from a year and a half ago and also look at my 13 year old who is wearing my jeans or clothes from then and think wow I was way too thin.  I am 5'7 and weighed around 116 that is not healthy at all.  I was a twig.  I wanted to gain a little weight back then cause I was starting to see that I was getting to small but when I got to the size I wanted to be things didn't stop.  

I started researching my height and what weight is considered healthy then realized that most of my life I have been under weight, more then I have been over weight.  That in fact I have never really been over weight, maybe a little but not seriously.  I also started to see that now that I have had two kids, and have hit 35 that things are changing big time.  My metabolism isn't what it use to be and my energy isn't either.  I love working out cause I sleep better, wake up easier and have way more energy.  Also I have realized that eating better makes my skin, hair, nails and everything look better.  I have been working out a lot.  I walk 2-3 miles a day, five times a week, take 3-4 boxing/kick boxing classes a week and also cut out or cut back on soda, carbs and don't eat any junk, except a splurge here and there on a weekend night.

I have recently decided to really start counting my calories.  I did the HCG diet last year in April when I wanted to lose a 15 pounds and that was total torture.  Needles, hormones and the lowest calorie intake I have ever had in my life.  I had zero energy, hormones were all over and it made me feel more depressed.  I quit that after a month and decided to start walking, later I did crossfit but decided I needed to lose weight first cause with that I was building muscle but not losing much weight.  I joined the boxing gym and that has changed how I feel about working out and dieting.  I did a 1300 calorie a day Monday-Saturday diet and allowed myself one cheat day for the passed two months, I have lost over 20 pounds, but want to lose 15 more.  The last 10-15 is the hardest.  I have increased my working out and walking, plus starting Monday I am going to go to 1100-1200 calories a day every day for 2 weeks to kick start and shock the body, while adding more walking, classes at the gym and I am looking into getting a personal trainer 3 days a week for 2 weeks to help me get down a good work out plan for the gym after my classes or on days I don't take a class.

I plan to share my diet plan with everyone.  I have a friend who is going to school to be a nutritionist and my other girlfriend I joined the gym with just started working out with one of the amazing trainers, she is also going to do the 1200 calorie meal plan that he has specialized for her.  I have cut down soda and am going to try to cut it out completely the next few weeks sticking to water, juice or lemonade.  I will be posting the meal plan Sunday night that you can also follow along with.  I already have been dieting and eating healthier, I shopped the passed four weeks buying a lot of chicken, salad stuff, vegetables, fruit, fish, whole wheat pitas, oatmeal and other healthy foods.  Along with adding a protein bar or shake before the gym to give me that added energy boost.  I downloaded a calorie counter for my Iphone and a pedometer for my walks or runs.  I will share the applications with anyone who has an IPhone they are great, the calorie counter has cool features that will add up calories, you can scan bar codes off items you purchase then enter servings and adds it for you, super cool apps.  Got to love the technology lol.

I would love to hear from anyone who is also dieting, working out or has any input on this topic.  I promise the diet plan I post will be easy to follow, I will be posting daily my meal diary and fitness diary, plus I will weigh in on Mondays along with taking measurements, cause sometimes the scale is not the best weigh to see how much it is working.  Inches tend to show more then pounds.  I will also take photos.  I have photos from my previous weight loss with my diet pills and those were the best motivation.  I hope to hear from others and help motivate others.  I want to be fit, healthy and feel great since I am getting older.  Trust me ladies you are not alone out there, we all battle with weight, dieting, body image and more.  No one is perfect, they just work really hard for it trust me.  Especially once we hit 30 and have had kids.

Till Sunday I will be sticking to my routine and eating 1300 calories a day till the weekend.  I will post the week meal plan Sunday night and then Monday morning weigh in then measure so I can post all those details.  Excited to share this last 15 pounds to my healthy weight and feeling great again=).

Melissa