busy busy busy!

I’ve been super busy and have really slacked off posting here. The good news is I’m down 11 pounds. Woohoo! This was a crazy weekend though, so I might see a slight gain on Tuesday.

My goal for the next week is to get back to journaling. I’ve really gotten lazy about it and I know that’s a key to success. When I do it in my head I know I’m forgetting things and eating too much. Back to basics!

weigh-in #5

Bad bad bad. The 4th of July did me in. Ice cream, cake, BBQs, the works. I gained 2.6 at weigh-in. For some reason I just decided to throw everything out the window that week. I allowed myself to do so because of the holiday, but when I got on the scale I was so disappointed in myself. Besides the 4th of July, I let my last weigh-in where I lost .6 get to me. So I was upset about only losing .6 so I sort of threw in the towel. Well now as I look back I realize what ridiculous logic that is. It took a big step back. Not smart.

The good news is that I feel like I’m back on track and I’m hoping that at this next weigh-in those pounds I gained will be gone for good.

weigh-in #4

Man, this is slow going. Last Tuesday was kind of disappointing. I made the mistake of weighing myself at home in the morning before work and compared it to what it said last Tuesday morning when I weighed myself. It read 3 pounds lighter. Well, I knew I hadn’t lost 3 pounds and that I’d weigh different on the weight watchers scale, especially since weigh-in isn’t until 12:30 in the afternoon. However, seeing that particular number on the scale got into my head. I ended up actually losing .6 of a pound. Now, I know I should be glad but I wasn’t. I was actually very frustrated. The reality is I didn’t have a good week and I should have known it wouldn’t be a big loss, but because I weighed myself I set myself up for disappointment.

From now on I will not weigh myself in the morning before my meetings. Actually, I should probably just hide my scale under the bed. If I have to dig it out I’m much less likely to weigh myself at home and make myself crazy.

weigh-in #3

Yesterday was another weigh-in. I was a little careless the first half of the week, but I tried to make up for it in the last few days before facing the scale. I journaled everything I ate and made sure to drink a lot of water. It’s pretty amazing what water can do, really. It helps keep me feeling full, it’s great for the skin, and it flushes out salt to keep the bloating in check.

Anyhow, week 3 and I’m down 1.2 for a total of 7 pounds lost. This isn’t easy, but it can be done!

Friday Weigh-In

It was a rough week. Last weekend I gained a couple of pounds due to not controlling myself at family gatherings. What I gained back in one day took me a whole week to lose again. I worked out hard this week to lose it. I think I over did it. I strained myself a little bit, and therefore couldn’t make it to my running group this morning. I may take today off, and then try the run I was supposed to do with the group, on my own tomorrow. Anywho, when it was all said and done I lost the weight I gained last weekend plus one pound I believe, and am now at a total weight loss of 27 pounds.

weigh-in #2

-.2.  I lost two tenths of a pound.  Honestly, I was fine with that.  I went into my weight watchers meeting thinking I was going to have a gain.  It was a rough week.  I ate out a lot and had family events all weekend.  During my past experiences with weight watchers I’ve learned that the important thing is to face the scale no matter what you are expecting.  As someone who also had a rough week (she was on vacation) said in my meeting, “I weigh what I weigh whether or not I get up on that scale.  I might as well face it and know what I stand.  It’s like starting at zero.”

My thinking is that if I didn’t go to the meeting I’d not only be unsure of where I was, but when I was to step on the scale next week I would have no idea how this current week actually went.  It’s important to know what is working and what isn’t.  For example, If I would have gained a pound this weigh-in and next week it says I stayed the same (as two weeks ago) I wouldn’t have known for sure that I actually lost a pound.  I’m sure this sounds confusing, but in my mind it makes perfect sense.  Ha!  And let not forget the support and inspiration the meetings provide.  Success is more likely when you don’t go it alone.  That’s why I’m glad I got miss hollyhop too.  She inspires me on a regular basis.

Weigh-In Uno and How I did It

Fridays are my weigh-in day, and I have lost 5 pounds this first week for a total of 26 pounds. Now for those of you just starting, this is not typical. You should lose 1-2 pounds a week. I am on summer vacation and decided to take the opportunity to do “Biggest Loser” type workouts, exercising at the gym for over an hour a day, and on some days I did a morning workout and an evening workout. I plan on exercising every day over summer vacation unless I am out of town. I have the opportunity to make my summer about nothing but working out and I know not everybody has that opportunity. I will explain some of my workouts in a later post.

As far as eating, it has been easy. I have been counting and weighing NOTHING. I have been eating three meals a day and usually one snack, and I have just been making sure those three meals are somewhat healthy. I am all about small changes. For example, when I used to make tea I put 2/3rds cup of sugar in the pitcher, and now I only put 1/3. Last night I had a garden burger for dinner and after finding out that the mustard in my fridge and 45 calories less than my ketch-up I used it instead. Instead of going to The Dairy Queen for those ice-cream cravings, I go to the other ice-cream place in town that has fat free, sugar free frozen yogurt on their menu. Those small changes add up big time. Anyway, good luck to everybody and I will post more about my workouts soon.

weigh-in week 1 and some ramblings

So today was the big day. My first weight watchers weigh-in. I’ve done weight watchers before so I knew I could expect a decent loss since I did follow the program. Well, I got it. I’m down 5.6 pounds! I know next week is likely to be a smaller loss, but this feels like a great start.

Funny enough (or evil, one might say) a coworker came up to me at 9 am and gave me a red velvet cupcake from one of the most notoriously delicious bakeries in Chicago. I stared at that damn cupcake for 3 and a half hours before my weigh-in. It was a showdown between me and the cake. I had too much respect for such a magnificent creation to throw it away, yet I had to test my will power to avoid it. I decided that I would wait until after the weigh-in and then I would find someone to split it with.

Now some people might think if I really had willpower I would have just said no to begin with. However, I look at it this way: If I constantly say no to things I love like cupcakes, ice cream, red wine, and chocolate (red wine pairs excellently with dark chocolate, by the way) I’m just setting myself up for failure. There is absolutely no way I can live the rest of my life without consuming the things I love. If I deny myself completely I will one day go crazy and eat 12 cupcakes in one weekend. I’ll be found passed out on my couch in a sugar coma with frosting smeared all over my face. Also, totally making foods 100% off limits contributes to that dangerous “all or nothing” mentality. It’s not “all or nothing” or “off and on.” If one eats something that could be labeled “bad” she/he shouldn’t throw the rest of the day away. Throwing one’s hands up and saying “I blew my diet” gives that person carte blanche to pig out the rest of the day. So instead of eating an extra 300 calories she/he end up eating an extra 1300 calories. That’s dangerous thinking. And dumb, really.

This is something I have to do for the rest of my life. I’ve accepted the fact that I am unfortunate enough to be one of those people with a slow metabolism who has to work really hard to lose weight. Now I can either bitch and moan about it and feel sorry for myself or I can take steps to get the weight off and keep it off. If it takes awhile, so be it. As many people struggling with their weight have heard before – I didn’t gain the weight overnight, so I can’t expect to lose it overnight. The important thing is to be honest and reasonable. I must adopt a lifestyle that I can maintain for the rest of my life, not something that is going to make me suffer.