70 Pounds Down - Weight Loss Update

Alrighty I'm officially 11 months into this weight loss gig - 1 MONTH AWAY from a full year of being committed and after hitting (and maintaining finally) 70 pounds down I'm pretty pleased with my progress! The only thing that has gotten bigger between these two pics is my hair bun. Hah!


I'm noticing more and more changes in my body as each month passes.  I have collar bones now! My arms are no longer trunks from my hand to my shoulder, I have WRISTS and even the little bit of beginnings of biceps :)

The change in my face is still one of the most noticeable I think, as can be witnessed between these two before and after sweaty selfies :) How did I not notice earlier that I was getting the beginnings of a double chin???

The biggest hurdle for me in this past month was getting through Thanksgiving.  I'm still sticking to the plan of eating very healthy and tracking my calories throughout the work week and allowing myself to cheat some and not count calories on the weekend.  During Thanksgiving week my order just got all out of wack: we always have a pre-Thanksgiving meal with friends the day before Thanksgiving (where we dress up as pilgrims and Indians!!) so I had that on Wednesday, Thanksgiving with my family Thursday, drinks/appetizers with friends on Friday, something that Saturday as well and then Thanksgiving with my in-laws on Sunday.  Five full days full of cheat meals!!! I had gotten down to 70 pounds lost right before Thanksgiving but that all went out the window after 5 days of treats!  At least I looked way better in my Indian costume this year than I did last year!!!

The most important thing for me though is that even though I slipped up for a bit, I still kept pushing.  I'm on a diet but it does not 100% rule my life.  I wanted to eat, drink and be merry when I had extra time away from work and got to enjoy the company of friends and family celebrating the holiday. My eating was off track for a bit but I still exercised every day but Thanksgiving and come Monday I was back on track like always. Obviously it worked because I'm still down 5 pounds from where I was last month!

I have to comment again that I'm actually truly enjoying my workouts lately.  Deep down would I rather be sitting on the couch watching TV rather than busting my butt on the treadmill? Yeah, I suppose, but I don't really think like that any more. I like seeing my results every month and I know that exercising consistently is a big part of that.  The picture above was from a rainy Saturday this month when it was just kind of dreary outside and I didn't really have much planned for the day so I hit the gym and ended up staying for over two hours.  Whoops?

I burned over 1100 calories!!! That's not something I do every weekend but I was really enjoying myself so I stayed and sweated it out and acquired some pretty epic boob sweat by the end.  Sigh. Boob sweat strikes again.

Now that it's winter time my workout schedule looks something like this: Mondays I go to an hour Zumba class at the gym and lately have been getting there a little early to do an easy 20 minutes on the elliptical while reading beforehand.  Tuesdays I run on the treadmill at home. Wednesdays I do T25 doubles at home. Thursdays I go the the gym and do a mix of the elliptical, treadmill and weights. Friday mornings I do T25 before work, one or two depending on how quickly I roll out of bed at 5:15 AM ;) Either Saturday or Sunday I go for a long run outside and go to the gym on the other day.  

I've stuck with 6 mile runs for my "long run" this month, the two times I did 7 last month were really challenging!!! Also it keeps getting colder and colder around here which is making it harder and harder to go outside each weekend.  We'll see how far into winter I can keep it up!!

I'm still trying new healthy recipes each week.  I really need to do a round-up post of some favorites but until then I have most of my recipes pinned to my healthy eating board on pinterest!

I learned this month that I've been living a lonely and unfulfilled life without sweet potatoes in it.  SERIOUSLY.  Why haven't I eaten sweet potatoes in any form besides fries up into this point? WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME WHAT I WAS MISSING???? I made this sweet potato, brussel sprout, chicken sausage and Gorgonzola cheese dinner this week and just about died and went to heaven.  If you have any healthy dinner recipes that include sweet potatoes, please share with me, I'm a little obsessed at the moment. I may have fallen asleep after drinking two lemon drop martinis on Saturday night (apparently I'm getting to be a little bit of a light weight after losing 70 pounds) while searching pinterest for more sweet potato recipes only to be suddenly awoken from my drunken slumber muttering "sweeeeet potatoesssss". I am not even making this up.

 I also made this Gorganzola herb baked chicken this month with a side of roasted green beans and regular white potatoes which was really yummy!!!

So, I have one more month to go to reach my one year "fitness anniversary." I've set some firm new ultimate goals for myself, but I think I'll save that to talk about next month.  For the short term, I would really just like to see another 5 pound loss by next month to put me at a  solid 75 pounds down in my first year.  I did it this month so hopefully I can do it again! Just keep all those Christmas cookies away from me, mmh kay???

21 comments

  1. Great job! What a huge accomplishment. you are an inspiration, thanks for sharing your journey:)

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  2. Congratualtions :) You did wonderfully. Looking great :)

    Alex - Funky Jungle

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  3. I only recently found your blog so this is the first fitness related post I've seen of yours but you look AMAZING! Very inspirational, excited to read more about what you do and your future plans!

    Miche from Buttons and Birdcages

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  4. Keep up the great work! I am so proud of you! I can't believe I have a sister in my newly-aquired love of sweet potatoes (seriously, I'm with you... why I haven't I been eating these for years?)! I've been having one for lunch with a salad on the side. Totally fills my sweets craving and it's so quick and easy to make! So proud of you! Have a great Christmas!

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  5. You look great! So impressive sticking to your goal! Way to go!

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  6. you look amazing! Ive been following you since the beginning, and its impressive how youve stuck with it and lost so much weight. Great Job!!

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  7. Wow! You've done so well! You were pretty to begin with but you look really healthy now, really fantastic! Good for you :) I totally admire your dedication to regular exercise and healthy eating. (P.S. sweet potatoes are amazing!)

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  8. You are awesome!! Hoping to have a shred of your success this coming year. ;) Keep it up!

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  9. Congratulations - that is something to be very proud of and so is your mindset. You've done a great job this year and sounds like 2015 will continue to be too! My husband is 26 lbs into his 56lb goal weight loss and he's felt the same way about sticking with eating right & exercising, but not letting it rule life. I think you've both found the key to success with that:)

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  10. Wow Rebecca! You look amazing! What a great transformation you went through this year! Good job....we're all very proud of you!

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  11. You look truly amazing, Rebecca! Great job. You are inspiring me to get my butt off the couch a little more;)

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  12. You look fantastic! I need to start eating better and exercising too

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  13. Ummm excuse me, but I have been telling you about the glories of sweet potatoes for YEARS!!! I even invited you to my sweet potato party and you didn't come!!

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  14. Cheers too you!!! Your resolve and results makes my day:) Merry Christmas little lady<3

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  15. OMG I thought such results were impossible to achieve. You make me want to exercise more :)

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  16. How brilliant...just started my own journey in Dec with dvd...Fat sick and almost dead...have a look...it changes lives...it by Joe Cross

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  17. Awesome job! You've inspired me to get back to my workout routine after a two month break. It's easy to keep going but if you completely quit like I did, it's harder to get motivated again. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. You have MAJORLY inspired me. I just went back to the beginning of your weight loss journey and read through everything and I can relate in just about every way! I signed up for MyFitnessPal and am trying to figure out how to go from zero exercise to some exercise. Thank you again and I looking forward to your next post!

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