Oops...I Did It Again

 I was a VERY bad pregnant woman (AGAIN!).  I ate absolutely anything and everything I wanted and packed on the pounds accordingly.  I stopped looking at the scale at about 3 months in, so I honestly have no idea what I weighed at the end of my pregnancy.  But as we sit here today, 3 weeks removed, I still have about 50 pounds (!!!) to go to reach what I would consider my dream weight.
 I have spent my entire adult life dieting, or maintaining, or gaining weight post-diet (and was at roughly the same place after my first pregnancy, so I definitely have experience at this game).  In doing so, I have come up with little milestones that I strive to reach (instead of focusing on the final, ideal, dream goal).  So, while I have about 50 pounds to go, I'm not even going to focus on that for now...I'm giving myself a year to get there (although I would LOVE to be there by the time we head to the Bahamas in August...we'll see how it goes!).  Right now, my mini-goal and focus is on getting back into my pre-maternity clothes (mainly the pants...I can pretty much already do shirts now), regular people clothes if you will, which I have missed immensely!  Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly how much weight I have to lose to do this, but I'm guessing it's around 25 pounds (or at least that's the number we'll go with for now).
Needless to say, this is going to be a journey to say the least...I've dug myself a hole and have a looonnnggg way to to go.  Luckily, this isn't my first rodeo with dieting and weight loss, and I am confident I can get there.
I figured I spent the weeks of my pregnancy documenting my ever-expanding waistline, so it only made sense to document my ever-slimming (hopefully!) one as well!   Honestly, it's not so much for you all, but more for me...a way to keep me accountable, a way to keep me motivated, and maybe even a way for me to gain some insight (feel free to comment with your own experiences/tips, etc).   Let me preface all of this by first saying that I am in no way a medical professional...these are things I am doing, but I can't speak for their effectiveness or even if they are best practices!
First up, a photo.  I am not brave enough to show you my bare belly (it's still pretty flabby to say the least), but here's a shot of my clothed self:

Goal: Get in to real pants (approximately 25 pounds to go)
Recent Progress: I had Levi on a Wednesday and gave myself until the following Monday to officially begin dieting.  I lost 12 pounds in the first week (I'm guessing some of that had to do with just coming off pregnancy, not my stellar commitment).  The next week I lost 1.5 , and now here we sit.
Diet: I am doing Weight Watchers (which I have done successfully several times before!).  Because of breastfeeding, I have been given an insane amount of points, like I wouldn't even feel like I was dieting if I were to eat all that.  Each day I have had a about 10 points left over.
Water: I carry a Nalgene 32-oz. bottle around with me all day.  My self-imposed rule is that I have to drink two of them before I drink anything else for the day (lemonade, Diet Coke, etc).  When I was working, this was such a breeze for me...I would often go through it before lunch.  But now, for some reason, I really struggle to get through the second one.  I'm going to try to improve that over the next few weeks.
Exercise: I'm still not technically supposed to be exercising, but I have been walking so that when I am cleared, I'm not starting at zero.  Unfortunately, the cold temperatures make it a little tough to get out every day like I would like (after all, I do have a newborn to worry about as well).  Again, I gave myself a few days totally off (especially because I was in the hospital for 3 of them), walked once the next week, and three times the next.  My goal for this week is to get up to five days.
Struggles: Well, getting enough water and fitting in exercise as mentioned above.  But, my main challenge seems to be afternoon snacking.  I have worked out a pretty good eating schedule for the morning and night, but I am usually really hungry (and impatient) as I wait for Josh to get home from work and dinner to begin.  Not wanting to eat too much, I end up grabbing handfuls of random things, which is probably adding up to more points than I care to admit.
Successes: Losing 12 pounds in one week was pretty exciting, but I would say my real success would be being able to wear most of my pre-pregnancy shirts (in fact, I already did one major closet purge of most of my maternity shirts).  I can't fit in all of them and you can definitely see a pooch in the more form-fitting ones, but it's certainly nice to have a few more options when getting dressed and not feel like a total blimp.