Sewing and Weightloss.

Sewing.

Today is my homework day. On the days I'm home with Aftasie, I hardly get any done. I usually have a few HW projects planned for naptime, and the rest of the time I try to do projects or play with her. Sewing, for instance, takes a lot less concentration than homework. So this week I did two projects. A cape/hat and a gnome hat. They both turned out OK. The cape is double-thickness, and I wish I had time to put together a tutorial because it was so easy and it works perfectly with a medium-sized sweater. The gnome hat was a little more freestyle and I didn't really know how to edge it, how to make the brim. It ended up turning out good, but I kind of wish I had made it double-thickness too. I also made a pair of woolen pants for her that need some altering -- they're too big. But this post is because I really want to sew today and I'm not supposed to! I mean, imagine all of the things I could make! Bah.

Pink cape. It can go under her jacket so there are no open spots.

With the brim back. It was hard to get good lighting! 

You can see how the brim is tacked up for a few inches on the sides to keep it out of her face when down.

Weightloss.

As some of you know, I gained almost 70 pounds with Aftasie. I lost weight at the beginning, from nausea and vomiting, and then ate, and ate, and ate. So I was hovering near 192 when she was born, probably a little more due to last minute water retention. And I'm only 5'4"! After all was said and done, I settled at 172. I thought it would come right off. Haha. Not. At the end of the year, I decided I really needed to do something about it and I was going to try eating(snacking) clean again (IE, lean protein and complex carbs 6x/day). I found a website by one of my favorite exercise/eating gurus, Skwigg, that is called Happy Eaters and posted about my wanting to get back to clean eating. In reply, most of what I got was "clean eating is a scam!" I discovered that there is another way to think about eating! Now I hate to sound all revolutionary and all, because that hardly ever lasts, but I think I could do this. In fact, I think this is how I ate before I gained all of my weight, when I was still a teenager.

So, basically I don't eat anything unless I really want it, and I don't pig out at meals. I snack if I *really* want to, and I eat chocolate, drink beer, eat vegetables, fried foods, restaurant food, coffee with cream, etc. And I've lost 8 pounds in about 3 weeks. Yes, I am hungry between meals! Yes, I sometimes skip breakfast! But I don't think there is any other way for me to do it. Do I really want to cut out the cream in my coffee so I can have more for breakfast, or so I can have a snack? No. Do I want to swear off chocolate? No. Do I want to cut out carbs, and eat no-fat? No. Do I only want to eat egg whites and protein shakes? No!!!! I'd rebound from that with a huge pig-out fest.

I'd rather have three (or two) squares with butter and bread than choke down fatless, proteinacious food 6x/day. And I will totally skip ice cream for a drink, or not have dessert if I ate a lot of supper.

I could totally eat this way for the rest of my life. I know that I can have delicious food for supper, or have a bagel for breakfast, or a big pasta dinner. I know I can have cake (or ice cream!) and eat chocolate and peanut butter every day. I can eat whatever Porter cooks for dinner without worrying about how fatty it is, or how much I'm eating (though I try not to overeat and eat past full). I just eat less for lunch, or eat less the next day and it all adjusts out to eating at a deficit.

I mean, think about it. If you want to lose weight and still be happy, do you cut out the chocolate, or do you cut it in half? If you cut everything you're eating in half, you'd lose a ton of weight. I would never be able to last on drastic "I can never eat that again!" And also, maybe instead of cutting down half, cut down a quarter. Just a little bit off of all the food you eat *will* result in weight loss.

Oh, and I haven't been working out. I know I should, but I "don't have time." I choose to do other things at the moment. This summer maybe I'll do more exercise. But only if I really want to. I want to be in shape so I can move properly. I get heart palpitations now if I move too much! Eep.

If you're in the same position I am and want to lose weight, try two things (I'm going to keep these in mind too!):

1. Do not eat anything you do not really enjoy. No stale chips or junk that you don't really like. For instance, I ate some Cheezits this week, but I would not eat the stale pretzels, nor would I generally eat pretzels because I don't really love them. Save it for a piece of dark chocolate. And then break off as much as you want to eat before you start, and then just eat that much. No more. Enjoy it! You're eating chocolate! Don't worry about being deprived, because you can eat chocolate again tomorrow, and the next day, and as many days as you want to eat it on. But just eat a little. 
2. Ask yourself repeatedly during your s-l-o-w-l-y eaten meals whether you're still hungry, and when you are pleasantly full (not stuffed!), stop. Just stop. If you are worried about being hungry later, take one or two more bites and then stop. Then don't eat again till the next meal. Unless you have some kind of metabolic issue or are already seriously starving, you won't die from hunger. I promise!