Sincerely Me, Sarah Marie: Chocolate makes your clothes shrink

I am so excited to say I have lost 60+ pounds! But before I get into how I lost it, it is better to start out with how I gained it. I was always thin in high school (almost 10 years ago). But because I was bigger than my size 2 best friend, I had issues with my body. After I graduated in 2003, I gained the freshman 15. It was my new found freedom with the drive through, being able to eat Taco Bell whenever I wanted was a great feeling! I worked hard in 2004 to lose it before my wedding in 2005. I think I was pretty successful with kickboxing, Pilates, and weight training classes. I did two workouts a day three times a week. A couple months after I got married, my dad lost his battle with cancer. I was devastated, as any daddy's girl would be. I easily used food as a crutch and gained over 50 pounds in a course of 3 years. Then I got pregnant in 2009 and gained another 27 pounds. That is when I was at my heaviest. Adding it all up I gained a total of 92 pounds! When I went to the doctor shortly after finding out I was pregnant, he checked my thyroid to see if that's why I was gaining all the weight. Sadly, that wasn't the problem. I was just fat with no excuses. After my daughter Ella was born, I was determined to lose the weight for good. I started eating better and working out. I was slowly losing the weight because I wasn't strict with myself. After she was a year old the excuse "I just had a baby" didn't work anymore. (The moms out there know what I'm talking about.) Every time I would take Ella somewhere during the day there were always two types of moms: the fashionable high confidence, and the over weight low confidence moms. I knew exactly which category I wanted to be in. In February of this year, I started doing Zumba and was on a strict calorie diet. I easily lost 30 pounds the first 5 months. My goal is to lose another 10-15 pounds and then have another baby. I would love to be pregnant and people not have to guess if I am with child or fat. Now I have stopped with the pounds and I am losing inches instead. Bringing the total to over 60 pounds lost and down 3 sizes!

Here are a few tips I have.

Work out in a class or a group. If you have a set day and time to exercise you are less likely to bailout. Plus you feed off the energy of the people around you.
Cut out all soft drinks. As my mother-in-law says "Never drink sugar."
Watch your fat intake not just your calories. For instance: a single fried egg is 90 calories & 7 grams of fat. However, a single egg white is 16 calories and 0 grams of fat. That's HUGE! I would eat a total of 32 grams of fat a day. Limiting myself to 10 grams of fat a meal.
Measure the portions according to the package. It was nothing to pour me a full glass of juice. But the single serving of Mott's Apple Juice is 120 calories for every 8oz. If your not careful you can drink your whole days worth of calories in one sitting.
Livestrong.com is an excellent free calorie counter. It gives the option of upgrading for more help. Plus, there is a free app for your phone. This site was amazing! I couldn't have done it on my own!
Don't starve yourself. It's okay to splurge a little bit. Just don't binge eat when you do.
Try to decrease amount of processed food. It has more sodium which means the more water you retain, so you become more puffy.
Make every meal count. If you splurge for lunch don't at dinner. Eat a good variety of fruit, veggies, and protein.