Progress

You might have noticed that my little ticker has begun to slowly move in the "right" direction! :) I have been working out regularly for 6 weeks now and I can really feel the difference. The first 4 weeks I actually gained some weight, but I was assured that muscle weighs more than fat, so that was all good. After 5 weeks I had dropped 4.1% in body fat and added around 3% in muscle mass (even with gaining weight!). I could tell last week that I was at a turning point though and that my body was ready to lose...and now I am down 4 pounds! My ticker is in kilograms so I don't have to look at *really* big numbers on the other end (and my scale is in kilos, too, so that makes it easier).

Something I also started doing differently this past week was really making sure that I didn't eat carbohydrates in the evening. Please don't misunderstand, I think no-carb diets are BOGUS and NOT HEALTHY! I made sure I ate carbohydrates for breakfast and usually had some kind of pasta for lunch. What I am trying to also be careful about is to get *enough* calories since I am still nursing. My target is between 2000 and 2300 a day for this reason. One night I was lying in bed and I realized I had calculated something wrong and my calorie intake for the day was too low (like 1450!), so I got up and ate.

Another thing that has helped me have an overview of what I am eating and taking in calorie and fat-wise is this website: http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/ I am a sucker for things like this - it's fun! - and it has really helped. It is free and offers you an online journal of what you are eating daily. You just enter in your food and the amount and it calculates the dietary information. You can also add your own custom enteries with information directly from the food packaging as well as activities.

Thanks for all the support everyone, the first signs of success are sweet!