Battling Big Bird Syndrome

What is Big Bird Syndrome? Well, I made it up to describe my battle with always carrying weight in my midsection! I have always had normal legs, normal arms, but for some reason I just carry weight in my midsection. I know this is nothing new, and most women would say they have the same issue. The thing I hate most about this disease, is the love handles. I hate them, hate them, hate them! Jeans don't look right, so you have to wear loose tops which just make you look bigger. The dreaded cycle!

I am not going to sit here and tell you I am fat because I am not. I know most of you started reading this and thought to yourself, "Really? Is she going to sit here and say she is fat? Snooze fest!". So no, I am not going to tell you I think I am fat. Do I have days where are I look in the mirror and hate what I see? Yes, but what girl doesn't? The good news is those days are fewer and far between these days. Why? Well, I got off my butt and changed it! How? I am going to tell you, but first I think I should start from the beginning and tell you how the disease started! Side Note: All of you do know I am not talking about a real syndrome right? Okay, great. Just making sure.

I lived ages 14-19 in spandex. Not because I love to walk around with butt hanging out, but because I played volleyball year round for 5 years. My parents spent tons of money on travel volleyball, in hopes that it would provide a volleyball scholarship. It didn't but hey, I stayed in shaped and rocked those spandex shorts! And yes, I still have a bunch of size small spandex shorts. I could not part with them. Moving on to the summer after I played one semester of volleyball at Angelo State. Those workouts were tough, really tough. They started at 5:30 a.m. with weights and running, then we had volleyball practice in the afternoon. Tough, but I loved it. Unfortunately, they offered me $300.00 to stay for the next season. No, I did not miss a zero. That's it. $300.00. I wanted to say, "Gee, thanks for paying for one accounting book!", but I didn't. I graciously declined, and went home for the summer. Probably one of  the saddest things ever. Giving up a sport you ate, breathed, and slept for almost 7 years is hard. There were tears, but I had to get a bigger scholarship or a job. Now here is where the weight gain comes in.

My sophomore year, I started waiting tables....at a bar. I worked 4 shifts a week at Buffalo Wild Wings. They were long and very late shifts, followed by being starving and taking home wings, chicken tenders, or queso. See where the weight gain came from? I didn't drink, I just ate myself to 15 pounds heavier. After that year, I weighed 155 pounds. I stayed that way until my senior year of college. In those two years, I tried alot of things to lose weight, not eating(never worked because well I am a fat girl inside and I love a good pizza), working out(by that I mean a run here and there and two years worth of gym memberships at Gold's Gym). I am the one on the left, and that tiny girl was my roommate my freshman year, Jessie. Big face, arm fat, and too embarrassed to get a belly shot.

Senior year started and I took walking at my athletic credit. Don't judge, this class jump started my weight loss. I would go to walking class, and then head straight to Gold's Gym to finally get some use out of that stinking place. Did I change the way I ate? Nope. Not at all. I thought I did, but lets just say I still ate Ranch on just about everything. By December, I had lost 5 pounds. 4 months, 5 pounds. Not exactly a big accomplishment but hey, it was progress. After Christmas break, my friend Amy and I booked a trip to Florida with our boyfriends. Time to get serious, it is bikini time!

Now, here is where I tell you the BIG BIG SECRET! Are you ready? Here it comes...eat less, workout more! Exciting stuff right? Sorry, I know you wanted a remedy for the syndrome that was easy, but there is not one. Just hard, hard work. I started drinking a smoothie every single day for breakfast for the first few weeks. I know my roommates got so sick of seeing half a purple smoothie in our sink every morning. That first week, I had two smoothies a day. One for breakfast, one for lunch. Just to jump start the weight loss. Was I hungry all the time, yes! The good news is, that didn't last long. Once you train your body to eat less, it gets a whole lot easier. I ate 4-5 times a day and just made healthy adjustments to my meals. Picture of Hayden and I in Florida. Having a tan obviously helps, but I weigh 140 pounds right here.

For those of you who don't know, Hayden and I started dating our senior year of high school. I am pretty sure it was the spandex that hooked him, but he was with me through all of this yo-yo dieting. We ate dinner together every day, which involved a bunch of hamburger helper, spaghetti, and sandwiches.  I just substituted turkey for ground beef, Balsalmic Vinegar dressing for Ranch (super hard), and started eating half of what Hayden ate instead of the same amount! That is it, no special pill, supplement, or powder that I sprinkled on my food. I just cut back, and the weight came off. I averaged about 1-2 pounds a week.

I worked out 5 days a week, sometimes six. I would do 45 minutes to an hour of cardio, followed by weights. Thankfully, Gold's Gym had a women's section of the gym, so I was able to mostly workout completely alone. I worked for the weight loss every single day, and I still do. By spring break, I was down 10 pounds! 140 pounds and rocking a bikini for the first time where I was not embarrassed. It was a great feeling. I felt great but I wasn't done.

Graduation, new apartment, and a new job. Recipe for weight gain and loss of your exercise routine. Thankfully, my apartment had a gym! I kept it up! Then I got engaged and married in 4 months! Wedding dress time! I kicked it up a notch, and started Jillien Michael's book, "Making the Cut."

It is a book with 30 days of workouts, and meals. It kicked my butt! If you think you are in shape, go pick up this book. It is $12.00 at Barnes and Noble. Every workout is 5 circuits, with 5 to 6 exercises per circuit. Usually, at the end of each circuit there are sprints, jump rope, or butt kicks. These workouts are what I love best! My heart rate is up the whole time! That is why I love her! You are lifting weights, and doing your cardio at the same time. Lots of compound moves, like doing squats and a military press at the same time!You start off by doing all 5 circuits once, then when your endurance improves you go through it twice. She tells you to get up to an hour of elevated heart rate a day. So if the circuit took me 42 minutes, I got my butt on the elliptical, treadmill, or bike for 18 minutes. No exceptions! By my wedding in March, I was down 10 more pounds, and super toned if I do say so myself. So that is it folks! I lost 25 pounds and it took a little over a year. Honeymoon shot. 130 pounds.

 I kept it off too...until I went and got myself pregnant in November 2010!

Gained 30 pounds!

I breastfed, and that is it. No working out, no dieting, and by December I was sitting at 145 pounds. I lost 20 pounds pretty quick but let me just say 145 pounds after pregnancy is not the same as 145 pounds after you worked to get it off in the gym. Not toned. I jiggle, and still do, in places I never have before. But hey, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but just might not eat as much Panda Express. Okay, you caught me. I probably still will! I started working out again February 6, 2012. I was sick of not liking the way I looked, and felt and lets be honest...I wanted to fit in my clothes!! Stay tuned for how I cured Big Bird Syndrome this time around with the help of this blog and some really great friends!