This post could have many titles.
- How to lose weight while on vacation.
- How to lose 5 pounds in a month.
- How to lose a size in a month.
- How to kick start your metabolism.
- How to not gain weight while you can’t workout.
While I think any of these would work, I want to go ahead and share a spoiler with you. This post will not share a magical secret with you that will leave you five pounds lighter by the time you finish reading.
After years of yo-yo dieting and wishing I was the size of those around me, I finally pulled up my big girl pants and joined Weight Watchers the summer of 2005, while I was interning up in Philadelphia. As some of you may recall from previous posts, over the course of the next 11 months I went from 192 pounds, which was my highest weight in June 2005, to 150 pounds, my Weight Watchers goal weight. My tactics for losing weight while enjoying my senior year of college were pretty simple and were in line with many of the Weight Watcher principles back then.
- I started a walk to run program which allowed me to go from running 30 seconds on the treadmill to running my first 5k.
- Back in Athens, Georgia during my senior year I worked out six days a week, religiously, and walked to as many of my classes as possible.
- I tracked points Sunday night through Friday lunch, allowing myself to enjoy Friday night through Sunday brunch enjoying tailgate food, drinks downtown, and brunch with friends.
Fast forward through my first five five years out of college and my weight has been a bit more of a roller coaster. While I don’t have time to go through everything right now, I know I owe you all a few more in depth posts regarding this roller coaster at some point. To make a long story short I’ll give you the bulleted version for now. Enjoy the photos as well which are in chronological order.
- May 2006: Graduate from University of Georgia (weigh ~ 150)
- June 2006-June 2007: A year of long distance relationship, few to little friends in my new town of Philadelphia, and loneliness lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, fat, and working out. (weight dropped to an all time low of ~ 125)
- June 2007-Sept 2007: Bo moves to Philadelphia and with his help and my parents intervention, I start developing a healthier relationship with working out, appreciating food for its nourishment and flavor, and start training for distance running. Run my first half marathon at the amazing time of 2:02. (Slowly gain weight, reaching 132)
- Sept 2007-March 2009: Go the doctor due to losing my period. She explains that I urgently need to gain weight as my estrogen and hormone levels are dangerously low. We do this through a mix of estrogen pills, protein supplements, and allowed “unhealthy eating”. (Plateau at 138)
- March 2009: Doctor recommends we try a few more things including eating foods that I would never imagine as our current routine isn’t working and i’ve reached a plateu at 138 which still isn’t a high enough weight for my build, metabolism, hormone levels, etc.
- April 2009-September 2009: Enjoy crazy amounts of alcohol, donuts, bagels, New York cuisine, bbq, and more while trying to gain weight and finally moving in with Bo in our first NYC apartment. Workouts and running continue but maintaining my previous pace becomes far harder as I am carrying more weight. (Weight finally reaches 155, my doctors goal weight for my body)
- September 2, 2009: My period finally comes back. Much celebration, happy tears.
- November 2009: Bo and I get engaged!
- November 2009-November 2010: New job, new city and wedding planning stress along with unhealthy eating habits I developed while trying to gain weight mean that I gain weight instead of lose weight for my wedding. (Weight reaches 168 on wedding day.)
- November 2010-April 2012: New York life, married life, marathon training, work travel and more mean that my weight fluctuates between 173 to 164 for over a year and a half. I develop a healthy relationship with food and embrace weight training through the help of my personal trainer, Lauren. I run 7 half marathons, 2 marathons and multiple other races while sharing my adventures with my blog readers.
- April 2, 2012: Finally decide I really want to reach 160 again so my shorts, dresses, skirts, and suits from the past three years all fit. Realize this will take more than just working out to happen as my body seems to plateau every time I reach 162.
Finally, now we’re at the point where I explain exactly what I did over the past month to go from 165 pounds to 159 pounds and lose a full dress and pant size. Don’t worry, I have more bullets for you!
How I Overcame My Weight Plateau
- Portion control! I returned to weighing, measuring and thinking about everything that went into my mouth, even on vacation. I made sure my plate always included more vegetables and protein than starches. On each trip I carried or purchased healthy snacks so I would be less apt to reach for chocolate, candy, or empty carbs. During work dinners I’ve gone back to ordering half portions or making special requests because it’s so easy and can lead to healthier and more delicious meals which I can enjoy versus dreading.
- I cut back on the alcohol. I went back to only having alcohol 1-2 nights during the week, other than my vacation week. But, while we were on vacation I only had 1 glass of beer, wine or cocktail 4 of the nights.
- I fell in love with fruits and vegetables again. Thanks in part to the Green Giant Vegetable Challenge and our trip to Hawaii, I realized that most of the time I prefer fruit over another dessert option and both fruit and vegetables are the best office snack, second go my beloved Greek yogurt. In line with this, I also went back to having the large size salads during lunch from Pax or Toasties instead of a bag of baked chips or a roll. The less processed food that goes in my system during the week, the better!
- I cleaned up my lunches. Sure, salad is healthy, but common sense tells you that even a rabbit’s favorite food can haul in more calories than a sandwich lunch if you load it with too many nuts, cheeses, dressing, and toppings. Therefore, during April I stuck with lots of vegetables and fruit on my salads, went back to having dressing on the side, and topped it with only lean protein (egg whites, eggs, grilled chicken, shrimp, or tuna) and allowed myself cheese or nuts in place of the lean protein, not in addition. While I was traveling, Subway became my best friend again as it’s always a healthy and reliable option who shares the calorie counts with patrons everywhere!
- Hello Mr Penguin Bo and I took our Penguin Soda Stream out of the pantry so we could use it more often. This alone has cut my soda, wine, beer, and Crystal Light consumption down and renewed my love of water. I’m now drinking at least a gallon of water a day, including what I drink during workouts.
- Sleep Every article I read about weight loss or running seems to mention the benefits of sleep. During vacation I enjoyed eight hours of sleep every night and since then I’ve slept at least 7 hours every single night.
Move I think it’s funny that I lost this weight and inches while NOT running since I always thought running was the key to losing weight. While on vacation my mom and I walked every day up a 1.5 mile hill at least two times. When I returned to NYC, even while battling bronchitis, I did planks and pushups every day. I think it’s important to realize that you don’t need to run a marathon each day, but you need to stick to a routine which you can do anywhere and everywhere. This morning, while I’m still in my hooded sweatshirt and boxer shorts, I’ve already done 2 minutes of planks, 20 pushups, and 5 minutes of sun salutations. I also got better about sharing the news that I was working out with co-workers while I traveled to Houston this week. In turn, I had a workout partner each morning!
None of this is ground breaking stuff and I’m sure you’ve all done at least one of the above at one point. But, even for a Lifetime Weight Watcher member, I forgot the importance of portion and counting. My salads became a means to enjoy cheese, my evening time with Bo or work travel and happy hours were a means to enjoy wine and beer, and work dinners had become an excuse to eat just like the people around me. If I could suggest just one of the above, it would be either cleaning up lunch salads or portion control as I think these are the 2 biggest changes I made.
There you have it. Happy Friday.
I enjoyed reading this! I’ve lost around 40 pounds or so over the last 5 years, but I would like the last 10 gone. Lately I’ve stopped complaining about it and I’ve actually taken moves to DO something about it, like using an online calorie counter to track portions. I don’t like logging every single thing, but I’m doing it for a month or so just to wrap my brain around what a reasonable amount of food looks like. It’s so easy to say “oh I ran a lot this week” and eat everything in sight.
AWESOME! I love this post – it’s real and not drastic. Gives me hope that I can stick to healthy habits with all my travel coming up too. You look fantastic lady!
Clare you are always so sweet! Thanks! I know this post was long winded but I hoped it’d resonate!
Thank you so much for this post! I also struggle to maintain a weight of around 150 and when I read other blogs or talk with my friends I still feel as though that’s too big. It’s encouraging to read that is your healthy weight as well (I think you’re a bit taller than me.) You look great and I think you have excellent healthy eating habits.
Ashley,
Started to read your blog in the last month and I LOVE IT! Started Weight Watchers in high school but gradually gained the weight back in college. Recently lost the weight again but it’s such a struggle to find a great balance and not get too obsessive! Thank you for your honesty and your wonderful tips – you look great and I look forward to future reading!
Great post, Ashley! I’m totally in the same boat weight wise…I hit my highest weight of 191 last spring and said awwww HELL NO! I dropped 10 lbs gradually, and another 18 this year but I am stuck stuck stuck at 163. I need to bust through this plateau, and I think it’s time to bust out my food scale. Thanks for being so candid about all of this!
I agree — it is being accountable for everything that you eat (and drink), measuring instead of eyeballing, avoiding the sneaking calories (e.g. salad toppings, but also mystery flavor enhancers when eating out (aka BUTTER)) rather than drastic measure that make a difference.
Congrats on some great successes! Balance is so key!
This is such an inspiring post! 🙂 It is comforting to know that I can do this without having to run. I have been struggling with stress fractures since October and just wishing they would go away!
Story of my life right here! You look amazing, and I love that you work full time, travel, and go to social functions- it really proves that there is no excuse not to lose weight while having a life. I am in the same 163 plateau- so hopefully these tips will help me as well!
I think this is my favorite blog post of yours ever. It’s so refreshingly honest, and I love that you make it clear that weight loss / getting healthy is an up AND down process. We all try different things, but it’s so helpful to sometimes pause to evaluate and see what actually works. I am so guilty of jumping from one thing to another without stopping to see the effects, and I love how you laid it all out. I’ll definitely be taking some of your tips under advisement!
Love this post. Just what I needed as I battle those pesky lbs that come and go but I haven’t been able to see go in the past few months. When I lost weight I use to fit into size 4 and now I’m battling between size 6 and 8. I don’t mind being here but I would love for certain parts to not jiggle and others to not rub together. TMI…sorry. 🙂 I will try to follow as much as I can from this point on…I will move on from the fact that I already ate shortbread and an oatmeal cookie for breakfast…eeek!
Great post, Ashley. Weight is a tough thing to talk about so I commend you. I like the redesign too, btw.
Thanks for the awesome post. I have been battling with my remaining weight and have been on the fence about seeing a nutritionist. And overall just feeling blah about myself. Your post helped me. Thank you!
Thank you thank you! I am on the high side of a rollercoaster and wanting to get back into a healthy range. Your post was so positive and helpful, thank you!
Congrats lady! What an accomplishment. So great to see such healthy, achievable results.
Vegetables can totally make a diet so much easier. After I cleaned up my lunches by bringing my own and actually looking at labels, I always felt so HUNGRY after lunch. So around 2 or 3 I found myself eating candy out of dishes and making popcorn… So after catching myself CHEATING I really stepped up my vegetable allotment. The little changes made such a difference and really helped my wallet.
Great post!
Great post Ashley! I think maintaining is so much harder than losing. I lost 50+ pounds four years ago and I still have trouble with my weight fluctuating… I tend to let my healthy habits slip here and there once I hit my goal weight and before I know it I’ve gained again. Awesome tips!
Thanks for this reminder about the “right” way to live healthy, Ashley. You are a healthy, beautiful woman that is trying to balance many of the same things I feel I am, and that’s what I always take away from your posts!
FYI, I totally noticed that you looked great at the workout Friday night but I hate asking “have you lost weight”? It seems like an obnoxious question. Anywho, you looked great, I noticed it right away, and just wanted to let you know 🙂
I noticed the same, too–about both of you! Actually, I thought everyone looked great and more toned.
Great job on all of your healthy steps Ashley! Do you mind telling us how tall you are?
I’m working on doing the same and like you, notice that I actually PREFER healthy options…changing habits is hard but it’s so worth it and we all need a reminder that the little things add up after a while, both positively and negatively.
what a great post! thank you, back to basics needs reminder every once and a while for sure. I found you through hello cotton- like the bloggie!