Case of the Wednesdays: Allyson

Early December, 2012

Hi, Readers! Let’s just cut to the chase:

~ My name is Allyson.

~ I am in my mid-20s.

~ I live in northeast Ohio.

~ I am finishing up my Master's in Special Education.

~ I have been married for 4½ years to the most amazing
guy, Colin.

~ I have a rambunctious Old English Sheepdog, Brinkley.

~ I also have a very ornery kitty, Sparrow.

~ I am child-FREE!

~ I. Love. Food.

I guess I have always been a little chubby. *But, it never really bothered me. I don't think I was chubby enough that kids were mean to me, and I really didn't feel any different from my friends. It's really just now that I'm older and reflect on photographs that I realize what I really looked like. Ignorance is bliss.

I am definitely an emotional eater. I eat when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm depressed, when I'm bored, when I celebrate, etc. So I was always little overweight, but then I gained some in college and gained some more the first couple years of marriage. (I'm an awesome wife and great cook and spoiled Colin rotten that first year we were married-- home cooked dinner on the table almost nightly when he got home from work! Good stuff too...meatloaf, mashed potatoes, roasts, calzones, pastas...hmm, problem explained.) *I still wasn't too bothered with how I looked. Yes, my pants were getting snug...but there must have been something wrong with my washer/dryer! It's easy to think you're hot when your husband tells you that you are =)

In 2011 I joined a "Fit Club" competition with some girl friends. *Again, I wasn't terribly unhappy with the way I looked. In fact, I thought, and even spoke out loud, "I would be happy to just lose a little bit of weight so that if I get pregnant I would just end up here." Let me tell you, nothing gets me going like competition and the possibility of winning, so I joined the group pretty much based on the desire to win. Earlier that year my mom started watching carbs (I thought she was insane) and the pounds just flew off her! Based on her success I decided to go the low-carb route as well. I kicked it into gear and lost 20 pounds over the course of the summer, winning my competition! We took a break for the fall/holidays then picked back up in January of 2012 and over the next few months I lost another 20 pounds! Okay, you must be thinking, "How did she even have 40 pounds to lose if her weight didn't bother her?!" Short answer: I was oblivious. I just had no idea what I really looked like. Now when I look at pictures from a couple years ago it's hard to believe I looked like that! How I look now is how I always thought I looked. It was hard to see that I was losing weight as it happened because in my eyes, I still looked the same. It was only by clothes falling off and looking at pictures did I realize I was actually changing.

Alright, so I lost the weight through watching carbs and exercising. (By the way, I hate to exercise. It's a chore for me. However, I have found that you must do something you LOVE or else you just won't do anything. I have found Zumba. I love it!) However, by the end of Round 2 of Fit Club, I went a little extreme with my diet and exercise in order to place in the competition, limiting myself to under 30 carbs a day (gasp!) and working out everyday for at least an hour. Once the competition was over (which I placed third in Round 2, fyi) I went a little nuts. We went to Mexico and I had my fill of tortillas, beans, rice, and 'ritas. Then I indulged in summer favorites: 'dogs, s'mores, ice cream, beer, fruit, etc. My exercise level went to about zero...I think my only "exercise" was flipping from stomach to back while floating in the pool. Not to make excuses (but I'm totally going to), over the summer I switched birth controls and my weird dermatologist put me on some unusual medications-- all of which my family doctor said caused weight gain. Needless to say, I have kept most of the pounds off, but some weight has crept back on, about 10 pounds, depending on the day and time of month.

My goal is to lose those 10 pesky pounds that have crept back up, along with a few more that didn't flee the first time, and to keep it off by creating for myself, and my husband, a maintainable healthy lifestyle including low-carb meals and regular exercise. That being said, I hope to contribute to this blog by bringing you low-carbers some great tips, tricks, and recipes to get you through life sans bread, pasta, and potatoes. I know the low-carb lifestyle isn't for everyone, but there are some great aspects to it and I'll post some research to back up my thoughts.

Just as Maureen has “progress pants” I also have a couple indicators that I’m reaching my goal (or am in need of a boost): a vein and a couple bones. To be more specific, I’m talking about a vein in my left elbow-pit (not going to lie, it's probably every nurse’s dream to draw blood from), and my hip bones. I tell Colin I can gauge my diet and exercise by the visibility of my hips bones! Today neither of those are very visible… but I’m blaming that on some timely/monthly matters ;)

Below are a couple avant/après pictures. I just love the bottom one from May, 2012. We were in Mexico, and that was at my lowest (well, clearly not the lowest EVER in my life, but lowest since I've been paying attention). Since that pic, I have put back on about 10 pounds =(