Mod Glo

Announcement: Um, I kinda did it

This post seems a bit anticlimactic, and I honestly don’t know how it happened so quickly, but I did it.

I did it.

After weeks of becoming good friends with the gym and paying close attention to what I ate, I’ve officially reached my health and fitness goals. I woke up a few days ago to discover that not only have I lost every ounce of baby weight (and then some), but after 4 years and 2 kids, I’m actually thin again. I’m strong, fit and healthy. And my skinny jeans? They fit me like a glove.

Operation: Skinny Jeans has officially been deemed a wild success.

It all happened much faster and a lot less painfully than I had imagined it would. I guess I never had that far to go in the first place, but truly, I never dreamed it would be this easy.

If you want more details on how I reached my health goals, please feel free to email me. I promise I’ll tell you everything I know.

So where do we go from here? Now that my journey is complete, what do I blog about? What’s to become of Mod Glo?

Well, I have some ideas. 

I’d like to redirect the focus of this blog from my health - to cultivating my personal STYLE. This makes sense to me because the logical next step after feeling good is looking good. So going forward, Mod Glo will be where I blather about all the things that make this busy mama look and feel like I glow - in body, mind, and really cute shoes. And anyway, it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want!

I hope you guys will stick around. Cultivating my personal style and finding some elegance in everyday motherhood is a lofty NEW goal, but I’m up for the challenge. Because even mamas - especially mamas - deserve to glow!

Cheater cheater ice cream eater

I have discovered a little trick that seems to be serving me well. 

I cheat. Just a little.

Once a week (on Saturday night), I allow myself to eat anything I want. I do this for two reasons. First, because I love food, especially sweets (who doesn’t?), and second, because it helps to speed my weight loss. I’m telling you guys, it sounds crazy but it really works. 

Operating in a caloric deficit can be difficult and knowing that I can relax and let loose - even for just one meal a week - is hugely beneficial to the psyche. It can be hard work sticking to a diet or eating plan. Everyone deserves a little break from time to time. But the benefits of a cheat meal (or even a cheat day) aren’t just psychological. 

You can read all about why a cheat meal/day speeds up weight loss and helps to overcome dieting plateaus here and here. But because I’m such a nice blogger, I’ll break it down for you in a quick Cliffs Notes-esqe summary:

• Leptin is a hormone that is responsible for, among other things, regulating the rate of your metabolism. Higher leptin levels = faster metabolism / lower leptin levels = slower metabolism.
• Fat loss and a lower calorie intake will cause leptin levels to plummet.
• After as quickly as one week of dieting and operating in a caloric deficit, leptin levels will drop, metabolism slows and weight loss can become more difficult.
• Strategically “overfeeding” with high calorie, especially high carbohydrate foods cause leptin levels to rise, thus speeding up metabolism.
• Have one cheat meal/day per week if you have less than 15 pounds to lose; have one cheat meal/day every two weeks if you have more than 15 pounds to lose.
• By strategically cheating in this manner, your body will be primed for faster, easier and more sustainable fat loss!

I kinda stumbled upon this technique and I truly believe it works. I’ve dropped 2 dress sizes in less than a month and I’ve been diligently enjoying whatever I fancy every Saturday night. Notably, after a Saturday night cheat meal, I try to eat extremely lightly on Sunday, clocking under 1000 calories within the entire day if possible, and I give myself a rest day from the gym on Sunday as well. Also, it’s not unusual to gain back as much as a pound after a cheat day. But rest assured, this weight gain is quite temporary and not authentic.

As I type this now, I’m enjoying a chocolate mint ice cream sandwich. Viva la cheat meal!

Swimmingly

Sorry for the radio silence lately, I’ve been focused on some stuff at home. But that doesn’t mean I’ve wavered on my health goals! No sir! Things are coming along just swimmingly.

I’ve lost about 2 dress sizes now and it was so satisfying to pack up all those old clothes for donation. I feel better in general; I’ve got a lot more energy and body confidence, and my digestion is spot on, thanks in no small part to my daily (or sometimes nightly) trips to the gym and my awesome new pal.

And Operation: Skinny Jeans? Definitely well underway. With some hard work and a little luck, my butt should be seeing the inside of those jeans in just a few more weeks, by my calculations.

I was just thinking yesterday that losing weight and getting healthy is just a simple choice. I don’t know why so many people - including myself - have struggled with it. It’s not that complicated, really. For the most part, losing weight just boils down to deciding that you’re going to do it, and then following through. As far as I can tell, it seems to be totally within one’s own control. Which I am incredibly grateful for, since so little in this world is!

I read a quote recently, and I just love it. I have no idea who came up with it, and I’m probably not doing it justice, but it goes something like this:

“You are too smart to take orders from a cookie.”

How true is that? Every time I think about this, I feel so empowered. In other words, the power to change your body, your environment, your life, belongs to YOU. Do what YOU want. Every choice is YOURS to make.

Happy Friday, loves.

How I spent my Tuesday night

I dragged my butt to the gym tonight at 9:00pm. I did a respectable 30 minutes on the elliptical while I listened to a new audiobook I picked up today.

I’m grateful that tonight, fitness trumped laziness. Go ME!

I shall sleep well tonight.

Progress and updates

Can I just say one more time how much I love, love, LOVE MyFitnessPal? I seriously cannot believe this app is free. Operation: Skinny Jeans is well underway and it’s so much easier than going it alone. I don’t know how I got by without it, to be honest.

I’m making good progress. I’m down about one dress size and feeling stronger and more energetic than I have in a long time, no doubt thanks to getting my butt to the gym almost every day. I feel great!

I decided to delete all my “Friday numbers” posts and discontinue them going forward. After a lot of consideration, I just didn’t think they really reflected the true values of ModGlo, despite my lengthy disclaimer. I feel good about this. Or rather, I never really felt at peace with those posts to begin with. Good riddance.

Also, sorry for the lack of pics lately. My old pocket camera is truly on its last legs. The good news is that a lovely new camera is on its way! I’m ridiculously excited about this. In the meantime, I’m making due with my iPhone camera. Not my favorite way to take pics, but I guess it will have to work for now.

This week has been a busy one and I’ve been immersed in a million distractions. I’m really looking forward to this weekend. I hope to get a bunch of projects finished around the house on Saturday, and Saturday night is Date Night! Then on Sunday, I’m going on a wild adventure with this gorgeous gal. Hopefully I’ll have my new camera by then so I can take a bunch of pics for ya!

My new pal

So last week was a bit weird for me. 

I was really discombobulated and out of sorts. My house was disorganized, I came down with a cold, and my daily schedule went right out the window. And, inevitably, my diet followed suit among all the chaos. 

In my opinion, mindful and intuitive eating is always best. But what happens when one’s intuition feels “off”? I craved bagels, sweets and coffee. And truth be told, I indulged more than I probably should have. Which didn’t help my cold, or give me the energy to clean the house or go to the gym. (Note: If anyone out there thinks I have it all together, all the time, you’d be quite mistaken.)

So I sat there, feeling sick and scattered, and almost overwhelmed with lack of direction. Have you ever felt like you’ve got so much on your mind that it’s almost paralyzing?

But then yesterday, I found a new pal. I serendipitously stumbled on to this free app/website called MyFitnessPal. Right out of the clear blue sky, it landed in my lap and it was just exactly what I needed. MFP is basically a nutrition and exercise log and it’s helping me to set some basic dietary parameters and lay out a steady path to help me reach my health goals (AKA Operation: Skinny Jeans). 

I love it. Like, really, really love it. It’s very user-friendly and easy to implement into daily life. My favorite thing is probably the bar code scanner. With a simple click, I can aim my iPhone camera at any food’s bar code and all the nutritional information pops right up. No entering data, weighing or measuring. Amazing! 

I feel so much more organized having this little tool in my arsenal. It was like a light went off and suddenly, I knew exactly how to proceed. As soon as I got started with MFP, a huge wave of relief washed over me. I finally had some direction and I didn’t feel overwhelmed anymore. I made a meal plan, did a big grocery shopping, stocked my kitchen with healthy eats, and even went to the gym yesterday - for the first time all week. It felt good great fantastic.

My plan is this: I’m going to use MFP for the next 3 months or so. At that point, I’m going to put the tools I’m learning (about portion sizes, nutrition and exercise) into effect and wean myself off. Because as I said above, mindful and intuitive eating is the ultimate goal and programs like this can easily become a crutch that may potentially prevent me from listening to my body. But in the meantime, I guess I just need to hit the reset button. This approach is making sense to me at the moment and it feels right, right now.