Ok, I fell off the wagon.  But I’m back and I’m serious this time.  I’ve been going through some stuff in my personal life in the last few months and I let it take over my life (sanity).  A few weeks ago I decided I need to start taking care of myself again.  It’s been a gradual process since with some tough days in between, but I’m starting to feel good again.

What I’m trying to acknowledge, and everyone needs to, is that there is a strong and obvious connection between being having a healthy mind and body.  You really can’t have the latter without the former.  For most people overeating is an emotional problem, it’s not simply that we love food.  It’s more about our relationship with food and why it’s unhealthy.  For me it fills a void.  When I’m lonely or depressed I fill that emptiness with food.

Well, what I’m working on now is paying attention to why I am eating.  It’s about being conscious while I’m eating and not just being a mindless garbage disposal.

For the record, I last reported I was down 11 pounds.  Well I gained back some of that and then over the last couple of weeks I’ve shaved a few pounds off again.  The last time I stepped on the scale I was down 9 pounds.  Not too much damage.  I’ll be back to that 11 soon.

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!

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.

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.

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!

It sounds like a great idea. 100 calories for delicious Reese’s or Oreo treats?! It seems too good to be true! Well, it really isn’t. For the most part it’s just portion control. The fact is that it is still junk food. They have no nutritional value and contain sugar. Personally, when I eat sugar it just makes me want more sugar. That means when I eat a delicious Resse’s 100 point snackster I just want another…and another.

Last week I made the mistake of going to CVS Pharmacy to get a snack when I was hungry. I wasn’t prepared with a healthy snack at work like I should have been. So I’m in the store, hungry, and with limited (non-existent) healthy food options. So my friend who was with me told me how great these snacksters are and she said, “They are only two points!” Well, I bought them and yes, they were good. That’s why the next day I ate three of them in one day! I finally decided to give the rest away. Having a box of these in my desk was just asking for trouble. It’s like having a carton of ice cream in my freezer. Dangerous!

One day I hope I can be surrounded by things that are bad for me and easily resist them, but I’m not ready for that yet. One step at a time.

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.

-.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.

As promised, here are the workouts I have been doing over my hardcore summer of training. I am not putting days or how often I do this. I do at least one of these each day (sometimes if I’m really into it I will do more than one of these in a day). It all depends on the weather and my mood, which I find is key. You will notice I have a lot of options, which I recommend. It keeps it interesting. If I get bored with one thing there are plenty of others to do. Setting a schedule DOES NOT work for me. If anything it discourages me because if I don’t feel like doing what I had scheduled, I feel like a failure. In short, keep it fresh and fun.

My Workouts:

Short Gym Trip= 15-20 minutes of weight training, 30 minutes on the Elliptical, 5 minutes bike cool down

Long Gym Trip= 30 minutes of weight training, 60 minutes on elliptical, 5-10 minutes on bike for cool down (the bikes at my gym are right under a ceiling fan which feels great after such a long time on the other machines).

Exercise DVDs= I have a ton, but my favorites are Taebo and Yoga for Abs

Running Group= I run with a group of runners on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays. The distance varies. This week it was one mile (walking 1 min./run 30 sec.)

Trail Run/Walks= I do these by myself on the trails by my house (I usually do 3 miles and walk more than run)

Park Walk= I go to the park and walk by the lake. I do not keep track of time or distance when I do this. This is just relaxing for my own enjoyment.

Pool= I do whatever I want in the pool, but the rule is I can’t have fun until I do 20 laps first

The Little Extra= When I go places I purposefully park farther away, and when possible I walk to the store (if I go to the one right buy my house and I am only buying a couple of things).

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.