How I Lost My Muffin Top

My mother used to call it a midriff bulge.

Now it's called a muffin top.

In August, after a summer of bagels, granola, and ice cream,

(among other things)

I had a sizeable muffin top.

In fact, I had reached my highest weight EVER.

135 lbs

Being only 5'2" tall, I was definitely overweight.

I could have hidden beneath loose tops, but I wasn't willing to accept

this as "me".  I've always been pretty slim, and at 56 years of age

I knew if I didn't make a big change now, it would only get 

more difficult to lose as time went on.

On August 15, after wearing a tight pair of Spanx under my dress

 to a wedding, I knew this was enough.

I put my husband's Jawbone UP24 on my wrist to

begin measuring my steps.  

I set my goal to 10,000 steps/day.

I also began using the Jawbone app on my iphone to keep track 

my food intake.  Not just calories.  For my height, it suggested

a 1200 calories per day including a max of 100 carbs 

and at least 20g of fiber each day.  It also tracks unsaturated fat,

protein, sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol.

Calculating these totals was easy with the barcode scanner option

in the app.  I just had to measure/weigh the portions.

I believe tracking my food intake was the single most valuable

tool that helped me lose weight.  It was very eye-opening.

I was consuming so many excess calories, and way too many carbs.

It forced me to be creative in my food options.

I never went hungry. But I needed to make different choices.

Becoming more active was also very important.

I have walked 4 - 5 miles every day with my dogs,

rain or shine.  I biked 3-4 times per week until it got too cold.

In the past month,  I've begun to run 2-3 miles almost daily.

On a recent vacation,  I hiked at least 2 hours each day.

And my friend Karen introduced me to the sport of "pickle ball".

Taking weekly pictures of my body helped me to "see"

my progress and be encouraged.

The progression of my weight loss is shown here:

I'm not done yet.  My goal is 115 lbs. 

I have some toning to work on too.  

But I no longer track my food because I now

have a good idea of what/how much I can eat.

I am MUCH more active now than I've been in the last 15 years,

and this helps me eat normally without gaining weight.

I FEEL GREAT!

Here are the changes in my measurements:

      Weight:  -16 lbs

               Waist:  -4.4 inches

                 Hips:  -3.2 inches

           Thighs:  -2 inches

                 Arms:  -1.5 inches

              Neck:  - 3/4 inch

I don't think I've been at this weight for 20 years

and it feels wonderful.  I am enjoying being able

to tuck shirts in and still have room to breathe!

I feel younger.  I feel strong. 

I have so much energy.

As a final note,  my intention of this post is not to boast.

It is to show what can be done when you really work

 and put your mind and heart in it.  

So many women, including me,

have complained how impossible it is to lose weight 

after menopause.  That, and my "slow metabolism" 

because of hypothyroidism, were my scapegoats.

These past few months are proof that I simply ate too much 

and was too sedentary.

Period.