Project Weight Loss: Week 1

September 28th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss

One week ago today was my “It’s Time to Get Serious About Weight Loss” start date.

My Body Weight Time Line from 2011 and 2012

In the early summer of 2011, I weighed 133 on my home scale and was very content with that.

October of 2011 I found out I was pregnant. I had not stepped on the scale in since August of 2011 so I don’t know exactly what my pre-pregnancy weight was. I’m sure I weighed more than 133 by the end of the summer when I was training for the Steamtown Marathon simply because I felt hungrier than usual due to all the miles I was running and was therefore eating more than usual. I know I gained some weight during this time.

When I did finally weigh myself early in the first trimester, the scale said 142. Whenever I think about my “pre-pregnancy weight”, I think “142”, although I should probably be thinking “133”.

At the end of June of 2012 at 41 weeks pregnant, I tipped the scales at 177. (Compared to 198 at full term with the girls!) A lot of weight comes off pretty easily at first of course, I landed at 151 with little to no effort within a couple weeks after Kaz was born.

On my start date of September 21, I weighed 149.

To put it bluntly, that’s more than I want to weigh. I’d like to get back to 133, give or take a pound in either direction. That means I’ve got about 15 pounds I want to lose. At 5 foot 3 inches with a medium frame, the low 130’s is a reasonable and healthy weight for me. I like the way I look and feel in the low 130’s. If things are going well and I want to keep going, I might go for the high 120’s. I’ll wait and see how I feel when I get there.

If you’re wondering about your ideal weight range, I like this calculator that takes your frame size into account. (you remember my disclaimer, right?)

After one week of calorie counting and keeping my net calories at about 1500 a day, at the end of Week 1:

Today, Friday, September 28, I weighed in at 146.

That looks like three pounds lost in one week, but I’m sure there’s some water weight in those pounds lost as well. I’ve been hanging out around 147, 148, 149 for a while here, so I feel like I’ve only had 1 pound of real weight loss. Either way, it’s progress and I’ll take it.

I use the The Daily Plate to calculate my daily calorie allowance based on my current weight and daily activity level. It makes calorie tracking/food journaling very easy and I’ve recommended it here many times before. There are probably some snazzy smart phone apps out there today, but I only have a stupid phone so I can’t help you there. (If you have a calorie counting app you like, please share it in the comments!)

I’m on my feet a large percentage of the day, tending to the house and kids, so my day to day life is pretty active. I’m also giving myself 400 extra calories a day because I’m exclusively breastfeeding and don’t want to jeopardize my milk supply during my weight loss. (It’s widely accepted that breastfeeding burns an additional 300 to 500 calories a day.)

I’ve been eating about 2000 calories a day on the days that I exercise, or 1800 calories on the days that I don’t. With 400 calories for breastfeeding and 200 to 400 calories for exercise most days of the week, my net calories usually end up around 1200 to 1400, which is where I need to be to lose 1 to 1.5 pounds a week. (Confused? The Daily Plate does all this calorie math for you!)

Some Food From the Week

Every day starts with half caff coffee with half and half, no sugar. I drink 2 to 2 1/2 small cups over the course of the morning. With half and half, the calorie totals probably end up being in the 80 to 120 range. I take my coffee light brown, thanks.

Coffee with Cream

I’m still digging into this mixed berry oat concoction every day. Because it’s the same every day, I use the “Meals” option on The Daily Plate to make inputting these calories fast and easy. They give you the option to put together ingredients and save yourself a few steps of data entry in the future when it’s something you eat regularly.

Berry Oatmeal Breakfast

When made with 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/3 LF vanilla yogurt and a 1/3 c of 1% milk, the “base” is 235 calories. With about a cup of Wegmans mixed berries (70 cal), 1.5 tablespoons or so of almond butter (I just scoop with a regular spoon and then round up to 1.5 tbsp, which is 135 cal) and a tablespoon of ground flax seed (30 cal), this breakfast is 470 calories. The fat from the almond butter helps keep me feeling fuller, longer.

For lunch one day, two hard boiled eggs with shredded Brussels sprouts.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Hardboiled Eggs

Sometimes I top these with hemp seeds if we have them, for a little extra protein.

Brussels sprouts topped with hemp seeds

Two large eggs, about 75 calories each. Approximately 2 cups of Shredded Brussels sprouts (with carrot, onion and garlic) sauteed in coconut oil, I estimated these at 250 calories. 2 Tablespoons of hemp seeds, 106 calories (and an extra 6 g of protein), this lunch clocks in at 506 calories.

I recently came to discover that the Wegmans California Rolls are only 200 calories per package. Yesterday I found them made with brown rice for only 190 calories! These are what I’m eating these days when the girls and I have lunch at Wegmans, which usually works out to be about once a week.

Wegmans Sushi California Rolls

I’ve also been enjoying Kombucha again now that Kaz is here, Trilogy Synergy is my new favorite. (I stopped drinking these when pregnant because of the listeria risk as Kombucha is a raw prepared food.) If you’ve never had Kombucha before and are curious, start with the Synergy line, they are much less intense than the Kombucha original.

Trilogy Synergy Kombucha

Only 60 calories for the whole bottle (and only 4g of sugar!) this is perfect when I want something besides water to drink.

Reading the label like a good boy.

Reading the Kombucha Label

Most of my meals come in at around 500 – 700 calories. Anything less than that and I usually don’t feel satisfied, or I’m hungry again soon. At 3 meals a day plus 1 snack, this quickly adds up to about 2000 calories. I get the calorie deficit needed for weight loss from breastfeeding and exercise. If you go back at the end of a meal for seconds or mindlessly snack between meals, it’s easy to see how fast you can eat back the calories you may have burned through activity during the day when you’re not paying attention. This is why food journaling works so well for me, it helps me stay accountable. Perhaps this works well for you too.

Here are the daily totals from Week 1:

Friday, September 21, 2012
Weight: 149.0
Net Calories: (Calories Consumed – Calories Burned) = 1125
Exercise: 45 minute bike ride

Saturday, 9/22
Weight: –
Net Calories: 1355
Exercise: 40 minute run

Sunday, 9/23
Weight: –
Net Calories: 1370
Exercise: 30 minute run

Monday, 9/24
Weight: 147.8
Net Calories: 1451
Exercise: rest day

Tuesday, 9/25
Weight: 147.0
Net Calories: 1000 (too low! whoops!)
Exercise: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, Week 1 (i.e., a 30 minute aerobic workout at home)

Wednesday, 9/26
Weight: 146.8
Net Calories: 1186 (still on the low side)
Exercise: 40 minute bike ride

Thursday, 9/27
Weight: 145.8
Net Calories: 1323
Exercise: All my spare time was spent on house work today, but at least that’s sort of NEAT!

Friday, 9/28
Weight: 146.0

So that’s what Week 1 looks like, mostly from a dietary perspective. I plan to touch more on fitness and exercise next week.


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8 Responses

  • Jennifer says:

    Congratulations!!!! That’s an awesome weight loss.

    I can’t believe how much Kaz has changed. Wow! He’s going to be running around annoying his big sisters in no time. :)

    This is great because you’re very motivating. :) I started at the same weight (148) back on August 12th and now I am 140.5. It’s certainly a struggle and believe me, it only gets tougher as you get older. I mean, things that seemed to work two years ago no longer do. I sometimes wonder if I even have a metabolism. (haha)

    I’m not dieting or counting calories YET but I’m simply making better food choices and watching my portion sizes. That seems to really make a huge difference. Plus, exercising. I’m not specifically doing that, though, for weight loss but more for toning and just keeping my body active.

    Your weight will melt off. Don’t you worry. :)

  • Leslie says:

    I have been using an IPhone app called Lose It to log my food and exercise. I like the app. It sounds a lot like the one your using. Looks like your off to a great start. I did not realize hemp seeds were so protein rich.

  • Devann says:

    I really enjoy your blog! I like your descriptions of meals! Good luck!

    I use sparkpeople for my calorie/fitness tracking. I like the calorie deficit feature. If I keep my deficits at 800 calorie average I lose weight.

  • Devann says:

    Oh, and I LOVE my coffee that way but have learned to drink it black for caloric reasons… im jealous 😉

    • HA I had to learn to love unsweetened coffee! I don’t mind it all now though. But black? I salute you!

      I’ve heard other people who like Sparkpeople too, especially for the forums and the support that comes along with an online community.

  • Jennifer says:

    Another app that you may like is called gympact. It’s not out yet for Android but will be soon. :) I’m waiting patiently for it. Check out the website and you can read what it’s about. They have a running tool, too. It’s basically to hold you accountable for your workouts, etc., and they reward you with cash and different things.

    I can’t wait to try it out!