Carmen and Dorothy: measuring success in pounds and inches after five weeks

After five weeks, Carmen and Dorothy have lost a combined 34 pounds.


After five weeks, Carmen has lost 14 pounds, making her current weight 186 pounds.

At one point during the five weeks, I was starting to plateau in weight loss, so I started skipping a meal bar here or there on the plan to hopefully speed things up. I found out that probably wasn’t the way to go when I talked to A New Way to a New You dietician Julianne Downes.

She said because the workouts are intensifying, I really need to be eating all of the calories as prescribed by the plan. By me not eating anything, she thinks my body went into a sort of starvation mode and was actually trying to hold onto weight. The lesson learned for me was that I thought I’d lose more by eating less than what the plan called for, but the opposite was actually true, so I now I’m following the plan exactly and the weight seems to be coming off again.

One of the things that I keep thinking about – and this is a big lesson for me – is that food is fuel. That means it’s not a reward, it’s not consolation, even when you’re feeling down, that’s not the purpose of food.

I’ve also learned that I can really get a full workout in less time than I ever thought I could. Before I thought you had to spend at least an hour at the gym to see any type of results, but the 4-3-2-1 workout that we do has really showed me that if you have 10 minutes, you can get an effective workout in. I’ve actually seen faster results with a shorter workout because I’m working out at a harder intensity and I’m actually doing it. Before when I didn’t have a whole hour, I would just set the whole workout aside. Now I can do it all in my living room with an exercise band and ball.

Inspiring images: Carmen working out in her living room and a healthy meal she whipped up from the meal plan - look at all those veggies!

After five weeks, Dorothy has lost 20 pounds, making her current weight 210 pounds.

I’ve lost 28 inches off various parts of me! It’s a whole meltdown. It’s like it’s all melting off the entire body and that to me is very exciting. It's so exciting because you know if you can lose one pound or one inch, it doesn't matter what your goal is, you're going to get there. I just need to keep doing a little bit every day and just try to not lose faith. Here’s the breakdown of inches lost:

1 ½ inches off my upper chest
2 ½ inches off the bust
3 inches off my ribcage
3 inches from my waist
2 inches from my stomach
3 inches in my hips
1 ½ inches from the tops of both thighs
1 inch above each knee
1 inch from each calf
½ inch from each ankle
½ inch off each wrist
½ inch from each forearm
1 ½ inches from each upper arm

The old me used to live to eat and now I eat to live. It’s nice to know that if I really do need to fill up, if I’m feeling a little bit of anxiety or hunger, there are some free foods such as cucumbers that I can munch and crunch on. Yesterday, I needed to munch and crunch so I made a little bit bigger salad with more veggies thrown in. The longer I chew my food, the more satisfied my brain feels.

I’m finding if I feel really rushed at meals, I don’t really feel as satisfied. There’s something about that enjoyment and knowing that I’m nourishing my body. Before, when I would feel under stress for a deadline or I had a whole bunch of things going on, I would turn to food. Now I’m not turning to food at all, so that’s been really evolving for me.