Status Update: 7 Things I’ve Learned from “New Lean for Life”

You might want to read this post about my involvement with the New Lean for Life Mommy Movement. When I first learned about this book and movement to help Moms form teams to support each other in their individual life changes, I knew I wanted to be on board. Women helping women? And more specifically, Moms helping Moms? Despite our outcry that we all love supporting each other, we also know that doesn’t always ring true. Since I co-founded my blog network, SoCal Lady Bloggers, my main goal has been to support one another and help my blogging sisters to succeed.

I read the book, as I always do before I decide to publicly endorse something, and I found it to be really different than many of the other diet and fitness books I’ve read. This one was easy. Almost too easy. The book is broken down on a daily basis. It give you information in bite-sized pieces that can be followed without getting overwhelmed by all the statistics and science. There is that too, but this plan did something that I couldn’t do myself… it reset my metabolism. Wow… that was huge for me.

I’ve always struggled with my weight. I was my heaviest in college (and probably my unhappiest). When I moved to California, I dropped a lot of the weight, but there were pounds that refused to leave my body. I was at my lowest (and healthiest) weight ever when I got married. You know, you gotta look good on your wedding day. Of course, after 3 kids, a lot of the baby weight decided to hang around. It wore out it’s welcome. I didn’t plan originally to try out the New Lean for Life plan, but it seemed doable… and I like things that seem relatively simple. Baby steps, right?

So after a few months on the plan (and honestly, I have not stuck to it religiously… it’s not realistic to stick to a diet plan 100%), I DID lose 10 pounds (Woo Hoo) and more importantly, I feel like a new person. Was it just dropping some pounds that turned my life around? Of course not, but when you drop those extra pounds that have been literally dragging you down, you tend to feel lighter (literally and figuratively) and you find yourself more empowered. If you can master the weight loss… you can master anything.

I’ve had a LOT of changes in the past 2 months: family issues, new business, cutting back on some responsibilities that were weighing me down (see what I did there???). I learned a lot about myself, what I want out of my life, and what works for ME. So I wanted to share what experiencing the New Lean for Life has taught me.

1. Protein is your friend. I’ve always been the kind of person who would feel hunger pains and then grab whatever sweet or salty thing I had in front of me. I made bad choices. Really bad choices. When I started reaching for a little protein when I felt hungry, my cravings for the bad foods started going away. My favorite thing now is cheese sticks… either string cheese or just sticks of cheddar or jack cheese. I do better with a pre-packaged stick because then I don’t overeat an entire wedge of cheese (oh yes I can). I only have one stick and it completely gets rid of the hunger. That and a drink of water gets me through until mealtime.

2. My body doesn’t like carbs… but my mind sure does. I realized that when I stopped eating the carbs (mostly at night) I didn’t wake up in the morning with a horrible stomach ache. It was getting old. I knew I didn’t have a gluten allergy because I can usually eat break earlier in the day and feel just fine. It was the evening breads and pastas that would kill me during the night and in the morning. I am a huge bread fan… I could be happy eating fresh loaves of french bread every day of my life… but my body rebels. And you need to listen to your body. I still eat bread once in a while, but I cut back drastically. Instead of sandwiches, I order salads. Instead of pasta, I get eggplant parmigan or chicken. It has made a world of different to my aches and pains… and to my weight overall.

3. Dairy (in moderation) actually helps me maintain my weight. I am NOT a dairy person. I adore cheese and ice cream, but I don’t drink milk and I’m not a yogurt fan. I don’t want to go into the theory for or against having dairy (and I know a LOT of people who can’t have it at all), but for me… that cheese each day… and a little ice cream every now and then actually helps to keep my metabolism regular. I find that if I have some ice cream once a week (sometimes twice a week), I keep my weight right on track. Go figure.

4. Activity works better for me than exercise. I hate exercise. Hate it! I don’t run, jog, swim, play sports… I don’t even like walking very much. I like riding my bike, but I don’t do it often enough. For me, I’ve been adhering to the theory that if you park at the end of the lot, you’ll get a few more steps in each day. I used to avoid going up and down the stairs in my house too much, but I have started finding more reasons to go upa and down those stairs. Little extra bits of activity has kept me on an even keel. That’s pretty cool.

5. I hate water but I love what it does for me. I’m also not a water fan and that has been one of the hardest things for me to get used to. I know the benefits of drinking water, but I also knew I had to figure out a routine that worked for me where I could get enough water into my system. I hate water bottles so I usually fill a large cup with ice water and just drink it through a straw. I found that I can tolerate sips of water rather than big gulps of water much better… and I tend to drink more when I’ve got a fancy cup and a straw. Probably just perception… but I swear it even tastes better that way.

6. It’s not about the numbers. Really… it isn’t. While we all like to see that scale go down, it just doesn’t matter what the number says. What matters is how you feel, if you have more energy, if your clothes are fitting better. There is nothing worse than getting dressed in the morning and having to suck in your gut just to zip up your pants. NEVER AGAIN! Seriously… buy a bigger pair of pants. But don’t obsess over it.. If you are working on changing your eating behavior and you can say you are down a size… or your clothes are a little loose… THAT is what is important… not the fact that the number on the scale might not have changed. I lost 10 pounds, but it’s the way my clothes feel… and the fact that I just purchased two dresses that were EXTRA SMALL that meant more to me than that pesky number under my feet. If you feel healthy, you will want to eat healthy, and that is what makes all the difference.

7. Feeling healthy is highly underrated. Nobody really talks about HOW you feel. It’s your weight number, your BMI, the size of the jeans you are wearing. Who cares? Really? Do you wake up without stomach pains? Can you manage a flight of stairs without feeling winded? Can you push your kid in a swing on the playground without your arms getting weak? THAT is what matters. One thing I’ve learned recently after seeing some loved ones age and start having health issues is that if you feel good… you are doing something right. And feeling good is all we can really hope for in the end. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Keep doing it!