I know I'm a few days late writing this, but at least this time it's just late and not at all....
Anywho, as everyone who struggles with maintaining/losing weight (read: pretty much everyone...period.) knows, the holidays are rough! Any holiday is rough on a diet because so much of it revolves around food. Valentine's Day gives you fancy dinners and chocolate, St. Patrick's Day gives you green any kind of food and beer, Easter is ham and candy and hard boiled eggs, birthdays is cake and ice cream, Memorial Day/4th of July/Labor Day come with picnics, Halloween is candy, candy, and more candy...you get my point. However, from the last week of November until after the first of January is arguably the worst time ever. It doesn't even matter what religion you are...Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus, New Years. All right in a row (and if you're in my family there are six birthdays thrown in that time frame, too!). What's a person to do??
We're about at the mid-way point right now - and my goal this year has been to conquer the holidays and not let them get the better of me! We all know I've been struggling for the last few months, but I'm really trying to give myself a push to get through the next few weeks with hopefully losses, but at least not gains! Thanksgiving was actually pretty good! I lost a little, which was more than I could say for most of the people at my meeting after the holiday. Thanksgiving was relatively easy to handle because it was one/two days and I could easily get a taste of all the foods and be good to go. Not to mention the simple fact that I can't fit as much food in my stomach as I used to, so it was physically difficult to overeat! But, Christmas is the worst for me. Everyone having holiday get-togethers/dinners/parties with lots of delicious (fattening) foods and all the desserts, candies, and cookies you can eat! I love cookies...almost any kind. They are just so deceiving! They're so little and innocent looking, but just one cookie packs a powerful punch! The average cookie runs about 2 points a piece...for reference, I can eat 31 points in a day. Fresh fruits and (most) vegetables have 0 points...a grilled chicken breast is about 3. I can have a nice salad which some grilled chicken and 2 Tbsp of a vinaigrette dressing for about 5 points...and a cookie...one single, solitary little cookie costs me about half that. Yikes!! But they're soooooo tasty!!
So, what's my plan to combat the evil little beasts? Well, I've done a few things. First of all, Mom and Dad have lots of friends and family over for a Christmas party on Christmas Eve. I'm usually home several days in advance so I can help get stuff ready, but this year our calendar is running quite late and provided I can get out of here when I'd like to, I still won't get home until late on the 22nd. That doesn't really give much time for me to help...so, I'm helping from here! I volunteered to make most of the Christmas cookies. Yes, that sounds contradictory, I know. If cookies are a weakness, then why would I put myself in that position? Well, for three reasons. 1. I can be in control over what's in them! In several of them I replaced the sugar with Splenda and the brown sugar with Splenda brown sugar...it doesn't cut down on the points a WHOLE lot, but a little is better than nothing! 2. I love baking and they're only a temptation if they're out where I can see them...so as soon as they've cooled after baking I pack them up in a box, tape up that box pretty tightly, and stick them in the freezer. I haven't been tempted by them pretty much at all! I allowed myself to have one or two as I was packing them up, but then that tape and the freezer kept them out of sight and out of mind. And 3. having them around and allowing myself to have one or two while making them will help me be less tempted by them when they're all out on the table. I already know what they taste like so I don't need to "just try them" at all. Well..that one's the hope, at least.
I've also gotten my butt back to the gym several times this past week! It took a couple times to get back into the swing of it, and my body could definitely feel the difference from not going for about a month, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got my groove back. Actually, I went this past Thursday morning and kept pushing myself to go further. I usually run the first mile then take a quick walking break and then alternate running half a mile-walking about .10/mile. This time, I made myself keep going after I hit the mile and I actually ran the whole first 20 minutes without stopping! (The only reason I stopped at 20 was because the treadmills have a 20 minute limit on them so I had to take a quick break and reset since there will still about 18 other treadmills open if anyone else came to run.) I did a walking .15/mile but then I ran until I hit my overall 30 minute goal! I was pretty darn proud of myself!
Now, I can't do my usual Saturday run because we're closing tomorrow, so I'm hoping to be able to get something in at home on Sunday. Hopefully this snow doesn't get it the way!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 49: -1.0
Total weight loss: -56.2
Current weight: 201.0
It's so close!! Wouldn't it be the ultimate Christmas present to myself to weigh in the day after and hit that elusive 200?? Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
So I have been forced to admit something difficult to myself...there is a major difference between "reasons" and "excuses" - and I have been trying to pass a lot of excuses off as reasons.
The fact that my hip was out was the REASON I couldn't run...but it was my EXCUSE for not doing much activity at all.
Being busy at work is the REASON I am tired...but it was my EXCUSE for not working out more often.
And PMS was the REASON that I occasionally gained some water-weight...but it was my EXCUSE for sometimes eating things I shouldn't.
It's tough being brutally honest with yourself - I actually even had a whole argument with myself in bed this morning! For the last few months I've been struggling with my weight loss...lose a pound, gain a pound, rinse and repeat. I've never been really good about tracking my food - I have no problem being honest about that...and while I'm sure I could be more successful if I was better about that, I think my real success has come from simply being more active.
I got a real taste of that this summer when I pretty much didn't track at all, but was going to so many classes that I was earning beaucoup (that's French for "a lot") activity points. Now, when I first got back to work in August, I really was putting in a lot of hours at work. Was it extremely difficult to get exercise in? Yes. Could I have still done it? Yes. I may not have been able to get in four Zumba classes every week like I did over the summer, but I could have done more than I did. And I have had even less excuses since about mid-September. Yes, there are after-work activities that make things difficult...but that's just it...they make it difficult NOT impossible.
But, I also have a problem of getting comfortable in my routines and not straying far from them unless jolted. So, when my routine was becoming less and less active, I got comfortable with that. I'll be perfectly honest...I HATE getting up at 6am to go to the gym...I always have. So when I got an excuse to not do it? I jumped on it! My hip was out, it hurt my knee to run. I just got my hip in then it went out again. I got it put back in again and the doc said not to do much vigorous exercise for a few days while it adjusted to being back in. Well, a few days turned into a few weeks cause I got lazy.
I got hit with a hard reality this week. I was on duty and had to go to a call on the third floor of a building. I was a good little girl and took the stairs instead of the elevator...but I was winded by the time I got to the third floor. That hadn't happened in quite some time! During move-in in August, I was running up and down four flights of stairs several times a day and barely got winded, but I got a bit winded walking up three flights of stairs once. It was an eye-opener for me. I realized how easy it is to get out of shape...and I'd let myself fall into the trap. So, this morning, I got tough on myself and had a literal argument with myself in bed when the alarm went off at 6am until the good self won and I got out of bed to go to the gym. Getting back on the treadmill wasn't QUITE as difficult as I had thought that it would be, but there was a clear difference in how well I was running this morning vs. the last time I ran before the hip issue. I need to continue to move my tush if I'm really going to do this marathon in a year...but I got 2.5 miles done in half an hour, so I'm still happy with that!
So as I eluded to in my last post, I got a new toy to help motivate me to get my butt back in gear. Weight Watchers teamed up with Phillips and made the ActiveLink...a super super super smart pedometer-like tool. It's a little rectangular device, about the size of a thumb-drive. You wear it on yourself all day long - on your belt strap, in your pocket, on a necklace, on your bra strap, wherever you'd like. You just tell the device where you're wearing it and it measures your activity all day long. Unlike a pedometer, which only measures your steps, this little baby registers any movement...forwards, backwards, frontways, and backways, and sideways, and slantways, etc. You spend the first week wearing it to monitor your general everyday movement so that it knows what you already regularly do. Then, it gives you goals to reach over the next few weeks. You wear it all the time, then you plug into into your computer through the USB port and it tells you exactly how many points you earned that day. Even better, you can check out how active you were every day down to the MINUTE!! It's pretty awesome!! Other than my trip to the gym today, I didn't do much that I don't do every day - yesterday, I earned about two points for my general daily activity...today, with the addition of my run, I earned 10!! Now, THAT is a good incentive to keep going!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 47: +0.4
Week 48: -0.8
Total weight loss: -55.2
Current weight: 202.0
The fact that my hip was out was the REASON I couldn't run...but it was my EXCUSE for not doing much activity at all.
Being busy at work is the REASON I am tired...but it was my EXCUSE for not working out more often.
And PMS was the REASON that I occasionally gained some water-weight...but it was my EXCUSE for sometimes eating things I shouldn't.
It's tough being brutally honest with yourself - I actually even had a whole argument with myself in bed this morning! For the last few months I've been struggling with my weight loss...lose a pound, gain a pound, rinse and repeat. I've never been really good about tracking my food - I have no problem being honest about that...and while I'm sure I could be more successful if I was better about that, I think my real success has come from simply being more active.
I got a real taste of that this summer when I pretty much didn't track at all, but was going to so many classes that I was earning beaucoup (that's French for "a lot") activity points. Now, when I first got back to work in August, I really was putting in a lot of hours at work. Was it extremely difficult to get exercise in? Yes. Could I have still done it? Yes. I may not have been able to get in four Zumba classes every week like I did over the summer, but I could have done more than I did. And I have had even less excuses since about mid-September. Yes, there are after-work activities that make things difficult...but that's just it...they make it difficult NOT impossible.
But, I also have a problem of getting comfortable in my routines and not straying far from them unless jolted. So, when my routine was becoming less and less active, I got comfortable with that. I'll be perfectly honest...I HATE getting up at 6am to go to the gym...I always have. So when I got an excuse to not do it? I jumped on it! My hip was out, it hurt my knee to run. I just got my hip in then it went out again. I got it put back in again and the doc said not to do much vigorous exercise for a few days while it adjusted to being back in. Well, a few days turned into a few weeks cause I got lazy.
I got hit with a hard reality this week. I was on duty and had to go to a call on the third floor of a building. I was a good little girl and took the stairs instead of the elevator...but I was winded by the time I got to the third floor. That hadn't happened in quite some time! During move-in in August, I was running up and down four flights of stairs several times a day and barely got winded, but I got a bit winded walking up three flights of stairs once. It was an eye-opener for me. I realized how easy it is to get out of shape...and I'd let myself fall into the trap. So, this morning, I got tough on myself and had a literal argument with myself in bed when the alarm went off at 6am until the good self won and I got out of bed to go to the gym. Getting back on the treadmill wasn't QUITE as difficult as I had thought that it would be, but there was a clear difference in how well I was running this morning vs. the last time I ran before the hip issue. I need to continue to move my tush if I'm really going to do this marathon in a year...but I got 2.5 miles done in half an hour, so I'm still happy with that!
So as I eluded to in my last post, I got a new toy to help motivate me to get my butt back in gear. Weight Watchers teamed up with Phillips and made the ActiveLink...a super super super smart pedometer-like tool. It's a little rectangular device, about the size of a thumb-drive. You wear it on yourself all day long - on your belt strap, in your pocket, on a necklace, on your bra strap, wherever you'd like. You just tell the device where you're wearing it and it measures your activity all day long. Unlike a pedometer, which only measures your steps, this little baby registers any movement...forwards, backwards, frontways, and backways, and sideways, and slantways, etc. You spend the first week wearing it to monitor your general everyday movement so that it knows what you already regularly do. Then, it gives you goals to reach over the next few weeks. You wear it all the time, then you plug into into your computer through the USB port and it tells you exactly how many points you earned that day. Even better, you can check out how active you were every day down to the MINUTE!! It's pretty awesome!! Other than my trip to the gym today, I didn't do much that I don't do every day - yesterday, I earned about two points for my general daily activity...today, with the addition of my run, I earned 10!! Now, THAT is a good incentive to keep going!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 47: +0.4
Week 48: -0.8
Total weight loss: -55.2
Current weight: 202.0
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Happy Turkey Day!!
I know I have been failing at this blog...again!! And, truthfully, I don't really have a good reason this time....well, for last week, at least.
I didn't get to go to the meeting the week before last because I'd been dealing with a serious student issue. But, I wasn't exactly heartbroken because I knew it would be bad if I went anyway. Remember how I said before that PMS can typically add up to 5 pounds of water weight?? Yeah...that happened. I didn't actually go weigh in that week because 1. I was busy dealing with my student, and 2. even though I knew that it was water weight, I couldn't take seeing the scale tell me that I'd added on 5-6 pounds in one week.
Last week, I was home again for the lovely Thanksgiving break! One of my favorite things about working at this school is that we get the whole week of Thanksgiving off! The difficult part of Thanksgiving for me (and I'm sure many many other people in this country) is that we have TWO Thanksgivings...not even two in the same day...one on Thursday and one on Friday. We spend Thursday at my uncles house - which brings its own challenges since that means that I have zero control over how things are prepared. But, since that also means that we don't have any leftovers, we have a second Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Friday for just our immediate family. Which then means LOTS of leftovers!
All in all, I think I handled Thanksgiving (both) really well! I didn't deny myself of anything, but I didn't gorge myself on anything. I allowed myself to eat the turkey (white meat), mashed potatoes (only about 1/2 cup), dressing (again, 1/4 cup max), sweet potatoes (only one or two slices...no marshmallows, just some brown sugar...which prob isn't much better lol), and lots of veggies. And, of course, some pie!! But, instead of taking big pieces like I normally would have, I took just small slices. For the first time, maybe ever, there was actually still a significant amount of empty space on my plate! I was pretty proud of myself!! And then, when others were snacking on chips/dip or getting more dessert...I was eating all of the raw veggies! I think I may have eaten every single cucumber slice that was out on the veggie tray!
It probably also helped that I was able to get to one regular Zumba and one Aqua Zumba class while I was home. I almost forgot how much fun they were! However, my stupid hip was out again and was really killing my knee! But, I got myself to the chiropractor again on yesterday (Monday). He doesn't want me doing any running or major dancing for a few days until we're sure that it's going to stay this time, so that's a little frustrating, but I'd rather spend a few days not working out and getting it settled than have it go out again and spend even more time out of commission. I did do a little minor dancing around the apartment last night while I was getting ready for bed, but nothing that would have pushed me out again. I think I can give it another day and ease my way back into the running/dancing starting on Thursday. Next week, I'll tell you about my new activity motivation!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 44: no official weigh-in but it was a major water gain
Week 45: +2.0 (officially a gain, but actually lost 3-4 pounds from the unofficial gain the week before)
Week 46: -0.8 (hey...any loss over Thanksgiving is a MAJOR win!!)
Total weight loss: -54.8
Current weight: 202.4
I didn't get to go to the meeting the week before last because I'd been dealing with a serious student issue. But, I wasn't exactly heartbroken because I knew it would be bad if I went anyway. Remember how I said before that PMS can typically add up to 5 pounds of water weight?? Yeah...that happened. I didn't actually go weigh in that week because 1. I was busy dealing with my student, and 2. even though I knew that it was water weight, I couldn't take seeing the scale tell me that I'd added on 5-6 pounds in one week.
Last week, I was home again for the lovely Thanksgiving break! One of my favorite things about working at this school is that we get the whole week of Thanksgiving off! The difficult part of Thanksgiving for me (and I'm sure many many other people in this country) is that we have TWO Thanksgivings...not even two in the same day...one on Thursday and one on Friday. We spend Thursday at my uncles house - which brings its own challenges since that means that I have zero control over how things are prepared. But, since that also means that we don't have any leftovers, we have a second Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Friday for just our immediate family. Which then means LOTS of leftovers!
All in all, I think I handled Thanksgiving (both) really well! I didn't deny myself of anything, but I didn't gorge myself on anything. I allowed myself to eat the turkey (white meat), mashed potatoes (only about 1/2 cup), dressing (again, 1/4 cup max), sweet potatoes (only one or two slices...no marshmallows, just some brown sugar...which prob isn't much better lol), and lots of veggies. And, of course, some pie!! But, instead of taking big pieces like I normally would have, I took just small slices. For the first time, maybe ever, there was actually still a significant amount of empty space on my plate! I was pretty proud of myself!! And then, when others were snacking on chips/dip or getting more dessert...I was eating all of the raw veggies! I think I may have eaten every single cucumber slice that was out on the veggie tray!
It probably also helped that I was able to get to one regular Zumba and one Aqua Zumba class while I was home. I almost forgot how much fun they were! However, my stupid hip was out again and was really killing my knee! But, I got myself to the chiropractor again on yesterday (Monday). He doesn't want me doing any running or major dancing for a few days until we're sure that it's going to stay this time, so that's a little frustrating, but I'd rather spend a few days not working out and getting it settled than have it go out again and spend even more time out of commission. I did do a little minor dancing around the apartment last night while I was getting ready for bed, but nothing that would have pushed me out again. I think I can give it another day and ease my way back into the running/dancing starting on Thursday. Next week, I'll tell you about my new activity motivation!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 44: no official weigh-in but it was a major water gain
Week 45: +2.0 (officially a gain, but actually lost 3-4 pounds from the unofficial gain the week before)
Week 46: -0.8 (hey...any loss over Thanksgiving is a MAJOR win!!)
Total weight loss: -54.8
Current weight: 202.4
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Boo! Ahhh!!
I know I missed another week, but I didn't get to go to weigh-in because I had to work. I'd initially thought about going on Monday since I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to go on Tuesday, but then that silly little thing called "Hurricane Sandy" happened. I know, I know...I shouldn't let a little rain keep me from weighing in. Seriously, though, between the weather and work, it was not a great week. Even aside from not being able to weigh in, I knew that I was up a little. I didn't really have a bad food week, and I ran 4 miles AND did Just Dance with a friend for about 4 hours, but I was still showing a gain on my home scale.
Thankfully, Halloween wasn't too big of a deal for me. We don't have trick-or-treaters so I didn't have to buy loads of candy to pass out that would tempt me. I have been keeping some candy in my office for the students, but it's on the far side of my desk that is away from the computer so I don't see it regularly and it's not that tempting. I will admit that on occasion I will grab a few Reece's Pieces from it, but I have found that I simply can't eat that many sweets anymore. I eat a couple and I'm good - I eat more than a couple and they just don't taste good anymore.
I really only had two big challenges this week. 1. A campus retreat where I had little control over what I ate and 2. my hips went out of place again.
The school I work for is a big one that has several "branch" campuses throughout the commonwealth. We prefer to refer to them as "Commonwealth Campuses" and not "branches". Anyway, once a year all of my coworkers goes to one of the other campuses for a retreat to learn some new things and spend time with our colleagues from the other campuses. It's a great time, and I love seeing the other campuses, but they feed us and we have limited control. But, I prepared my best. This year we went to the campus in Erie - we left on a bus at 6:30am. We were told ahead of time that the would have muffins and bagels on the bus...so I took a bottle of water, a Fiber One bar, and a banana. They did, actually, bring fruit for us too, but I slept almost the entire way there. For lunch, I made some pretty good choices! I filled half my plate with salad, chose the small pieces of salmon on greens instead of the beef on bread, added some green beans to the plate, and while I allowed myself a roll, I skipped the butter. I even passed on the seriously delicious looking desserts. I was pleased with myself! Dinner was boxed sandwiches - again, I only took one and chose the turkey instead of the mayonnaise-y tuna. I even grabbed a fruit cup and went for pretzels instead of potato chips. Now, I did allow myself a dessert this time, because they were small lemon bars instead of big slices of cake/pie.
The other big problem was actually the much bigger problem. I, unfortunately, have a habit of putting my hips out of place. I'm not really quite sure how I do it - I think it might be from the way I sleep - but a couple times a year I manage to do it and it's not super fun. The hips themselves don't hurt, but my shoulder KILLS! I'm sure you're asking yourself how that works...your shoulder isn't exactly close to your hips. Well, one of my hips (I think the right one) has a tendency to slip too far forward, which then causes a small gap and my lower spine slips into it, causing my spine to go all wonky. Because of it being all wonky, the lower part tends to shift to the left, which cause the top of my spine to shift to the right...and into my shoulder. Now, I don't want to give you the wrong impression...it's not like you can see my spine sticking into my shoulder..it's very subtle, but makes the muscles in my shoulder really sore. The hip being out also makes my right leg feel like it's not attached correctly....well, cause it's not.
It's been a number of months since I last put it out, but when I woke up Thursday morning and went to the gym, I knew something was wrong. I didn't walk to the gym quite as quickly as normal, and once I got up on the treadmill and started running, I felt like my right knee wasn't really attached. My left shin started cramping because I was baby-ing the right knee, and I knew I was in trouble. For my "training" Tuesday and Thursdays I'm supposed to run/walk/jog for 30 minutes. I ran the first mile until I knew I shouldn't run any further, then I walked for the rest of the time. I figured I was good since I was still moving, but I wasn't putting the extra pressure of running on my knee or hip.
I have a FABULOUS chiropractor who fixes me right up, but I don't like to run to him as soon as I realize something is out. There is the occasion that I can get it to go back on its own, and I think we both would prefer it to be able to go back more naturally. So, I didn't jump to make an appointment on Thursday after I left the gym since I knew it was out. However, I paid the price for that this time. I woke up Friday with a major headache from the shoulder tension..and, of course, that was the day we went to the campus. So, I spent the whole day fairly miserable from my headache...and they are only open on the weekends for prearranged appointments, which I didn't have. You know your headache is bad when you're asleep and literally asking people in your dreams to rub your shoulders for you. I woke up on Saturday still with the headache, and the shoulder hurting even worse, so I decided to do the second-best thing to the chiropractor....a massage. I went to the little "Traditional Chinese Massage" place at the mall (it's the only massage place in town that I know) - and got one of the best massages I've ever had. I'm talking the lady was up on the table using her elbows and her knees, as well as her hands, to knead my sore muscles. While it, obviously, didn't fix the real problem, it at least made my shoulder feel quite a bit better and made the headache go away...along with some Excedrin Migraine (which I had to go to THREE stores to find...). Now that the work week has started again, Humpty Dumpty went to the doctor as soon as possible to get put back together again. I didn't want to do a whole lot of working out while it was out because I don't want to damage anything...so let's hope that my eating endless salads evened things out!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 42: no weigh-in but it was some sort of gain
Week 43:-1.4
Total weight loss: -56.0
Current weight: 201.2
Well, the scale showed -1.4, which was even better than I expected, but all the more excellent because I'm sure I was up the week before! That elusive 200 is so close I can taste it!! Keep your fingers crossed for next week! Oh, yeah, and Weight Watcher cookbooks were half price at the meeting this week and I bought one called "Best Darn Food Ever" - and based on the pictures inside, I think it really may be and I'm super excited to try some recipes!
Thankfully, Halloween wasn't too big of a deal for me. We don't have trick-or-treaters so I didn't have to buy loads of candy to pass out that would tempt me. I have been keeping some candy in my office for the students, but it's on the far side of my desk that is away from the computer so I don't see it regularly and it's not that tempting. I will admit that on occasion I will grab a few Reece's Pieces from it, but I have found that I simply can't eat that many sweets anymore. I eat a couple and I'm good - I eat more than a couple and they just don't taste good anymore.
I really only had two big challenges this week. 1. A campus retreat where I had little control over what I ate and 2. my hips went out of place again.
The school I work for is a big one that has several "branch" campuses throughout the commonwealth. We prefer to refer to them as "Commonwealth Campuses" and not "branches". Anyway, once a year all of my coworkers goes to one of the other campuses for a retreat to learn some new things and spend time with our colleagues from the other campuses. It's a great time, and I love seeing the other campuses, but they feed us and we have limited control. But, I prepared my best. This year we went to the campus in Erie - we left on a bus at 6:30am. We were told ahead of time that the would have muffins and bagels on the bus...so I took a bottle of water, a Fiber One bar, and a banana. They did, actually, bring fruit for us too, but I slept almost the entire way there. For lunch, I made some pretty good choices! I filled half my plate with salad, chose the small pieces of salmon on greens instead of the beef on bread, added some green beans to the plate, and while I allowed myself a roll, I skipped the butter. I even passed on the seriously delicious looking desserts. I was pleased with myself! Dinner was boxed sandwiches - again, I only took one and chose the turkey instead of the mayonnaise-y tuna. I even grabbed a fruit cup and went for pretzels instead of potato chips. Now, I did allow myself a dessert this time, because they were small lemon bars instead of big slices of cake/pie.
The other big problem was actually the much bigger problem. I, unfortunately, have a habit of putting my hips out of place. I'm not really quite sure how I do it - I think it might be from the way I sleep - but a couple times a year I manage to do it and it's not super fun. The hips themselves don't hurt, but my shoulder KILLS! I'm sure you're asking yourself how that works...your shoulder isn't exactly close to your hips. Well, one of my hips (I think the right one) has a tendency to slip too far forward, which then causes a small gap and my lower spine slips into it, causing my spine to go all wonky. Because of it being all wonky, the lower part tends to shift to the left, which cause the top of my spine to shift to the right...and into my shoulder. Now, I don't want to give you the wrong impression...it's not like you can see my spine sticking into my shoulder..it's very subtle, but makes the muscles in my shoulder really sore. The hip being out also makes my right leg feel like it's not attached correctly....well, cause it's not.
It's been a number of months since I last put it out, but when I woke up Thursday morning and went to the gym, I knew something was wrong. I didn't walk to the gym quite as quickly as normal, and once I got up on the treadmill and started running, I felt like my right knee wasn't really attached. My left shin started cramping because I was baby-ing the right knee, and I knew I was in trouble. For my "training" Tuesday and Thursdays I'm supposed to run/walk/jog for 30 minutes. I ran the first mile until I knew I shouldn't run any further, then I walked for the rest of the time. I figured I was good since I was still moving, but I wasn't putting the extra pressure of running on my knee or hip.
I have a FABULOUS chiropractor who fixes me right up, but I don't like to run to him as soon as I realize something is out. There is the occasion that I can get it to go back on its own, and I think we both would prefer it to be able to go back more naturally. So, I didn't jump to make an appointment on Thursday after I left the gym since I knew it was out. However, I paid the price for that this time. I woke up Friday with a major headache from the shoulder tension..and, of course, that was the day we went to the campus. So, I spent the whole day fairly miserable from my headache...and they are only open on the weekends for prearranged appointments, which I didn't have. You know your headache is bad when you're asleep and literally asking people in your dreams to rub your shoulders for you. I woke up on Saturday still with the headache, and the shoulder hurting even worse, so I decided to do the second-best thing to the chiropractor....a massage. I went to the little "Traditional Chinese Massage" place at the mall (it's the only massage place in town that I know) - and got one of the best massages I've ever had. I'm talking the lady was up on the table using her elbows and her knees, as well as her hands, to knead my sore muscles. While it, obviously, didn't fix the real problem, it at least made my shoulder feel quite a bit better and made the headache go away...along with some Excedrin Migraine (which I had to go to THREE stores to find...). Now that the work week has started again, Humpty Dumpty went to the doctor as soon as possible to get put back together again. I didn't want to do a whole lot of working out while it was out because I don't want to damage anything...so let's hope that my eating endless salads evened things out!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 42: no weigh-in but it was some sort of gain
Week 43:-1.4
Total weight loss: -56.0
Current weight: 201.2
Well, the scale showed -1.4, which was even better than I expected, but all the more excellent because I'm sure I was up the week before! That elusive 200 is so close I can taste it!! Keep your fingers crossed for next week! Oh, yeah, and Weight Watcher cookbooks were half price at the meeting this week and I bought one called "Best Darn Food Ever" - and based on the pictures inside, I think it really may be and I'm super excited to try some recipes!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
My new friend...Gym
I have been nearly an ANGEL this week!! I think that I am, thankfully, getting my mojo back! I decided that this week I needed to be a priority - and that I really needed to get serious about not only working out again, but getting into the habit of running if I'm going to be crazy enough to do a marathon in a year!
I have tracked nearly everything that I ate (with the exception of Sunday, but I didn't eat much that day period). And I have gotten my butt back to moving and shaking! Not only did I go to the gym several times this week, but I actually got up at 6:00am on Wednesday, and again this morning, to get to the gym before work! And...I went on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a college football game...now, if that isn't dedication, I don't know what is?!
Seriously, though, it's taking me a little bit to get used to running on a treadmill instead of outside, but it's getting easier. I found that it was difficult when I first started because I always listen to music when I run and I realized that I have a tendency to run to the beat of the music. That's cool, but not really doable on a treadmill that keeps going at the same pace and doesn't care what music you're playing. So, I've had to get myself used to running to the treadmill and just using the music beat as motivation to keep up the tempo instead of actually pacing myself to it. I ran twice this week and both times I ran about 2 1/2 miles in roughly half an hour. Part of the difficulty of using the gym, too, is that there is technically a 20 minute limit to the cardio machines. Now...at 6:30am when there were 3 people (including myself) using the approximately 20 available treadmills, I didn't really have any qualms about just restarting the machine (it has a 20 minute timer on it). However, after work they are a bit more in demand...so if I want to keep up using the treadmills there, that means lots of early morning trips to the gym so that I can keep up my "longer than technically allowed" routine.
I also started using the rowing machine while I'm there. It doesn't earn me a whole lot of activity points, but it's kind of a whole body workout. The legs are going moving the seat back-and-forth, the arms/shoulders are pulling the chain, and the back and core get used the whole time keeping you upright. I also love the hip abductor/adductor machine! I have some serious leg muscle, but my thighs/hips are still a little chunkier than I would like. I used that machine on Saturday afternoon and I am still sore! Woo!
Lastly, as you all know, I love my Just Dance game...but after 9 months of doing it over and over again, it's gotten a little old! Lucky for me, the new one came out last week!! I had it preordered so I got it as soon as it was released and I already ADORE it! It's been so great to switch things up and get some new songs and new moves! It even changed up the "Just Sweat" application so that you aren't just doing the same songs over and over again, but you have to challenge yourself to keep up a certain pace to earn extra points. And...some of the songs have an "extreme" version that you can earn...and boy are they tough!! I am going to use the new game in between gym days so that I'm not getting burned out on either one. Plus, I also picked up Just Dance Disney after my meeting tonight!
I'd also like to mention that I did all of these things while having a head/chest cold! I wasn't sleeping super well because I was all stuffy, but thanks to my allergy meds I think it didn't last as long as it has with other people. It still didn't make things very easy, but I pushed through it and did what I could when I could.
And it totally paid off!!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 41:-2.4
Total weight loss: -54.6
Current weight: 202.6
I can't end this post without a quick note of thanks to everyone for their support and especially a big thanks to God for the kick-in-the-butt I needed to start this journey. This past summer, a childhood friend of mine died from a heat stroke and I found out on Monday morning that someone I'd known since kindergarten died from a heart attack. They were 31/32 years old. It's been quite a wake-up call that I'm not getting any younger and that the older I get the harder it is to break these bad habits. So, thank you all for helping me to do it now while I can.
I have tracked nearly everything that I ate (with the exception of Sunday, but I didn't eat much that day period). And I have gotten my butt back to moving and shaking! Not only did I go to the gym several times this week, but I actually got up at 6:00am on Wednesday, and again this morning, to get to the gym before work! And...I went on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a college football game...now, if that isn't dedication, I don't know what is?!
Seriously, though, it's taking me a little bit to get used to running on a treadmill instead of outside, but it's getting easier. I found that it was difficult when I first started because I always listen to music when I run and I realized that I have a tendency to run to the beat of the music. That's cool, but not really doable on a treadmill that keeps going at the same pace and doesn't care what music you're playing. So, I've had to get myself used to running to the treadmill and just using the music beat as motivation to keep up the tempo instead of actually pacing myself to it. I ran twice this week and both times I ran about 2 1/2 miles in roughly half an hour. Part of the difficulty of using the gym, too, is that there is technically a 20 minute limit to the cardio machines. Now...at 6:30am when there were 3 people (including myself) using the approximately 20 available treadmills, I didn't really have any qualms about just restarting the machine (it has a 20 minute timer on it). However, after work they are a bit more in demand...so if I want to keep up using the treadmills there, that means lots of early morning trips to the gym so that I can keep up my "longer than technically allowed" routine.
I also started using the rowing machine while I'm there. It doesn't earn me a whole lot of activity points, but it's kind of a whole body workout. The legs are going moving the seat back-and-forth, the arms/shoulders are pulling the chain, and the back and core get used the whole time keeping you upright. I also love the hip abductor/adductor machine! I have some serious leg muscle, but my thighs/hips are still a little chunkier than I would like. I used that machine on Saturday afternoon and I am still sore! Woo!
Lastly, as you all know, I love my Just Dance game...but after 9 months of doing it over and over again, it's gotten a little old! Lucky for me, the new one came out last week!! I had it preordered so I got it as soon as it was released and I already ADORE it! It's been so great to switch things up and get some new songs and new moves! It even changed up the "Just Sweat" application so that you aren't just doing the same songs over and over again, but you have to challenge yourself to keep up a certain pace to earn extra points. And...some of the songs have an "extreme" version that you can earn...and boy are they tough!! I am going to use the new game in between gym days so that I'm not getting burned out on either one. Plus, I also picked up Just Dance Disney after my meeting tonight!
I'd also like to mention that I did all of these things while having a head/chest cold! I wasn't sleeping super well because I was all stuffy, but thanks to my allergy meds I think it didn't last as long as it has with other people. It still didn't make things very easy, but I pushed through it and did what I could when I could.
And it totally paid off!!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 41:-2.4
Total weight loss: -54.6
Current weight: 202.6
I can't end this post without a quick note of thanks to everyone for their support and especially a big thanks to God for the kick-in-the-butt I needed to start this journey. This past summer, a childhood friend of mine died from a heat stroke and I found out on Monday morning that someone I'd known since kindergarten died from a heart attack. They were 31/32 years old. It's been quite a wake-up call that I'm not getting any younger and that the older I get the harder it is to break these bad habits. So, thank you all for helping me to do it now while I can.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Lost and Found
It's no secret that the last two months have been a struggle - I have lost and gained the same three pounds over and over again. Plateau's are normal, though...and, frankly, August is just TOUGH for me. But, I feel like I have lost my mojo. It's been quite difficult to get myself back in the swing of things - I have found myself wondering on numerous occasions how I had time to work out so much in the spring. Even after the work world settled down, I still couldn't get in the exercise like I used to. So what was different?
For one thing, I am. It was a cold realization the day recently that I discovered I wasn't earning as many activity points as I used to..now, it's not changed by much, but I forgot that the less you weigh, the less activity points you get! It doesn't take as much energy to get the body moving, so you have to do more to keep earning the same amount of points. Well, heck, I've been struggling to even keep up with what I'd been doing!
For another thing, I've gotten myself a life! Year to year, there is always turnover with my coworkers - that happens when you have a fixed term contract. The last couple of years I kind of flew under the radar - wasn't super social. That probably was some due to my unrealized unhappiness, and a lot due to my realized laziness. My closest friends from my first few years here had all gone on to bigger things or to other schools, and I really didn't feel like putting in much effort to make new close friends. I don't know if this year I actually put in more of an effort, or if my rekindled sparkling personality just became a magnet for new friends ;-) , but I realized that part of my difficulty finding time to work out has been because I've actually been spending time with other people! It's not like I've gone back to spending my evenings on the couch watching tv/playing games on the computer, I've actually been out socializing! I've made some great new friends - and I love actually being a little bit more of a social butterfly again. But, I really need to get this workout thing back.
I was a little surprised that nobody has called me out on my lack of posting for the last few weeks - until one of my students did this past Wednesday. Truthfully, the first week I just ran out of time...it seems to be flying by this semester! The second week, I didn't get to go to my meeting because I had to work late, so there was no real update. What I should have written about, though, is that I was kind of glad I didn't go that week. I had a really strange week and ended up taking a bit of a vacation from my "diet." I was literally hungry almost all of the time! I would, no joke, eat a whole meal...feel comfortably full...and then half an hour later I would feel like I hadn't eaten in 5 hours. I wanted to eat everything in sight! I had such comfort food cravings - desperately wanting foods I hadn't eaten since I started this journey. So, I decided that for the week I was going to take a "break". Clearly, my body was rebeling and trying to tell me something, so I said that I would listen for the week and just accept the consequences. I think that I didn't do as bad as I would have at this time last year, but it was still not a good week and I really didn't want to see what that scale was going to tell me...so I wasn't exactly sad that I had to have a work meeting and couldn't make it to my WW meeting.
The next week I wasn't exactly an angel, but I was much more focused on eating better choices. And, it turns out, that my break kind of helped! I didn't have the cravings anymore - I can now sit with a jar of candy on my desk and not be tempted to eat it - and after each meal I felt full again until it was actually time to eat another meal. But, I wasn't quite able to shake off all of the damage that I had done the week before. This past Tuesday, I didn't want to go to my meeting...and I tried coming up with all kinds of excuses to not go...and I failed every time. I told myself that I would just go weigh in the next morning...well, the only weigh-in was at 9:30 and I had a meeting with the super super big boss at 9:00. Then I told myself that it was okay if I didn't go because I was really exhausted (I could tell that a cold was coming on) - so I would just go home and take a nap instead because I really needed it...and then my coworker emailed out to remind everyone that there was a fire drill around 5:30...right when I would have been trying to nap. So, I took it as a sign that I had to go...and even though I knew it still wasn't going to be pretty, I went. I had gained a little, but it wasn't as bad as what it probably would've been the week before if I'd been able to go, so I still considered it a victory.
But, this week, I'm working to get my mojo back. I'm still having friend time, but I'm having me time too...I need to get off this plateau and back on the downward slope.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 38: +0.2 (not bad)
Week 39: no weigh-in
Week 40: +1.6
Total weight loss: -52.2
Current weight: 205
For one thing, I am. It was a cold realization the day recently that I discovered I wasn't earning as many activity points as I used to..now, it's not changed by much, but I forgot that the less you weigh, the less activity points you get! It doesn't take as much energy to get the body moving, so you have to do more to keep earning the same amount of points. Well, heck, I've been struggling to even keep up with what I'd been doing!
For another thing, I've gotten myself a life! Year to year, there is always turnover with my coworkers - that happens when you have a fixed term contract. The last couple of years I kind of flew under the radar - wasn't super social. That probably was some due to my unrealized unhappiness, and a lot due to my realized laziness. My closest friends from my first few years here had all gone on to bigger things or to other schools, and I really didn't feel like putting in much effort to make new close friends. I don't know if this year I actually put in more of an effort, or if my rekindled sparkling personality just became a magnet for new friends ;-) , but I realized that part of my difficulty finding time to work out has been because I've actually been spending time with other people! It's not like I've gone back to spending my evenings on the couch watching tv/playing games on the computer, I've actually been out socializing! I've made some great new friends - and I love actually being a little bit more of a social butterfly again. But, I really need to get this workout thing back.
I was a little surprised that nobody has called me out on my lack of posting for the last few weeks - until one of my students did this past Wednesday. Truthfully, the first week I just ran out of time...it seems to be flying by this semester! The second week, I didn't get to go to my meeting because I had to work late, so there was no real update. What I should have written about, though, is that I was kind of glad I didn't go that week. I had a really strange week and ended up taking a bit of a vacation from my "diet." I was literally hungry almost all of the time! I would, no joke, eat a whole meal...feel comfortably full...and then half an hour later I would feel like I hadn't eaten in 5 hours. I wanted to eat everything in sight! I had such comfort food cravings - desperately wanting foods I hadn't eaten since I started this journey. So, I decided that for the week I was going to take a "break". Clearly, my body was rebeling and trying to tell me something, so I said that I would listen for the week and just accept the consequences. I think that I didn't do as bad as I would have at this time last year, but it was still not a good week and I really didn't want to see what that scale was going to tell me...so I wasn't exactly sad that I had to have a work meeting and couldn't make it to my WW meeting.
The next week I wasn't exactly an angel, but I was much more focused on eating better choices. And, it turns out, that my break kind of helped! I didn't have the cravings anymore - I can now sit with a jar of candy on my desk and not be tempted to eat it - and after each meal I felt full again until it was actually time to eat another meal. But, I wasn't quite able to shake off all of the damage that I had done the week before. This past Tuesday, I didn't want to go to my meeting...and I tried coming up with all kinds of excuses to not go...and I failed every time. I told myself that I would just go weigh in the next morning...well, the only weigh-in was at 9:30 and I had a meeting with the super super big boss at 9:00. Then I told myself that it was okay if I didn't go because I was really exhausted (I could tell that a cold was coming on) - so I would just go home and take a nap instead because I really needed it...and then my coworker emailed out to remind everyone that there was a fire drill around 5:30...right when I would have been trying to nap. So, I took it as a sign that I had to go...and even though I knew it still wasn't going to be pretty, I went. I had gained a little, but it wasn't as bad as what it probably would've been the week before if I'd been able to go, so I still considered it a victory.
But, this week, I'm working to get my mojo back. I'm still having friend time, but I'm having me time too...I need to get off this plateau and back on the downward slope.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 38: +0.2 (not bad)
Week 39: no weigh-in
Week 40: +1.6
Total weight loss: -52.2
Current weight: 205
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Getting the Train Back on Track
I've been saying for a while now that I needed to get myself back on track - and I've been blaming a lot of things. The truth is, yes, those things make weight loss more challenging, but in the end I have had nothing to blame but myself.
I am not trying to be unnecessarily hard on myself - I count the last two challening months as successes, actually. For the challenges that I faced, and the choices that I made sometimes, I count my blessings that I was able to at least maintain my weight loss.
With that said, I knew that I needed to get my train back on its track. The water weight scare of the last two weeks was kind of the ticket I needed to ride! (See what I did there?? Train/ticket/ride...) I am not shy about admitting that I suck at tracking my food - so that was my first trick. I didn't track every day...or even half the days...but I did get a solid TWO days of major tracking! And you know what?? Two days is better than none! It made me a bit more aware of what foods I was putting in my mouth.
The weekend was a bit harder to track - a bit more eating out, tailgating, a visit from brother #3, his birthday...all made my tracking a little more difficult. But, I'm still proud of my choices! We went to a brewery with some of my friends for dinner on Friday - I probably should have gotten the salad, but I really wanted the pulled pork sandwich. So, I got the pulled pork sandwich...and only ate half of it. I left full and satisfied and able to feel good about myself. Saturday at the tailgate was a little harder, but I stayed away from the burgers - I ate chili, some tortilla chips, and the baked chips that I took myself! Now, I wasn't completely innocent at the tailgate, but it could have been soooooooo much worse.
Then Monday we had dinner club at a coworkers place and his whole menu was based around sugar...and I think I owned that menu! It wasn't super easy, but I ate more of the veggie dishes and a small amount of the meat/pasta/dessert dishes. And even though it was the day before weigh-in, I actually allowed myself to have dessert...a very small slice of pumpkin pie. It was enough to give me a good taste and not enough to do a whole lot of damage.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 37: -1.4
Total weight loss: -54.0
Current weight: 203.2
That elusive 200 is so close, yet so far away...
I am not trying to be unnecessarily hard on myself - I count the last two challening months as successes, actually. For the challenges that I faced, and the choices that I made sometimes, I count my blessings that I was able to at least maintain my weight loss.
With that said, I knew that I needed to get my train back on its track. The water weight scare of the last two weeks was kind of the ticket I needed to ride! (See what I did there?? Train/ticket/ride...) I am not shy about admitting that I suck at tracking my food - so that was my first trick. I didn't track every day...or even half the days...but I did get a solid TWO days of major tracking! And you know what?? Two days is better than none! It made me a bit more aware of what foods I was putting in my mouth.
The weekend was a bit harder to track - a bit more eating out, tailgating, a visit from brother #3, his birthday...all made my tracking a little more difficult. But, I'm still proud of my choices! We went to a brewery with some of my friends for dinner on Friday - I probably should have gotten the salad, but I really wanted the pulled pork sandwich. So, I got the pulled pork sandwich...and only ate half of it. I left full and satisfied and able to feel good about myself. Saturday at the tailgate was a little harder, but I stayed away from the burgers - I ate chili, some tortilla chips, and the baked chips that I took myself! Now, I wasn't completely innocent at the tailgate, but it could have been soooooooo much worse.
Then Monday we had dinner club at a coworkers place and his whole menu was based around sugar...and I think I owned that menu! It wasn't super easy, but I ate more of the veggie dishes and a small amount of the meat/pasta/dessert dishes. And even though it was the day before weigh-in, I actually allowed myself to have dessert...a very small slice of pumpkin pie. It was enough to give me a good taste and not enough to do a whole lot of damage.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 37: -1.4
Total weight loss: -54.0
Current weight: 203.2
That elusive 200 is so close, yet so far away...
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
How Lovely To Be A Woman
Blog Disclaimer: I will be discussing girl issues in this post - I will try to not go into too much detail
I've been toying with the idea of writing this post for months now. Obviously, it mostly comes to me around the time that I am PMSing, but then I question myself...do I really want people to know THAT much about my life?? So then I think I'll write it on a week that I'm not affected so it will throw people off and they won't necessarily know when I am/am not PMSing...but, it's not something I really think about if it's not currently happening. But, over the last two weeks it has had a significant impact on me - more so than usual. So, I thought that it was well past time for me to broach this sensitive topic.
It's widely known and understood that men lose weight faster than women. Sometimes it can be a struggle for me - comparing my weight loss to those of my male co-workers sometimes makes me feel like I'm not doing as well as I should be. I know that it isn't a fair comparison, that it shouldn't get me down, and that I am doing quite well for myself. I know all of these things, but that doesn't stop me from getting frustrated sometimes. Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post last week - I promise that that was more out of lack of time than it was because my week didn't go well (though it didn't).
For any of my male readers who don't know, every woman's PMS is different...in fact, every month is different! For me, it's usually that I'm excessively tired, I want to be by myself, sometimes there's cramping, I want to eat just about everything in sight, and the worst of all (in my book) is that my boobs hurt...way bad. Like I said, each month is different so I don't experience all of those things every month. I would say that the two most common for me are the tiredness and the sore boobs. And I'm sure that you can understand why those two things can be quite detrimental to my weight loss. Being tired, it's obviously more difficult to motivate myself to exercise...and even if I do, it makes it more difficult to accomplish! The tender boobs is much worse than it sounds. Not only does it just make you uncomfortable most of the time, can you imagine running or dancing when it hurts to even touch them?? I mean, I think just about any woman would agree that one of the best feelings in the world is taking off your bra at the end of the day - but even THAT hurts! And, most of symptoms of PMS can be helped by taking something along the lines of Midol or Pamprin - but tiredness and sore boobs are not covered.
One of the other symptoms, that I USUALLY don't have a major problem with, is water weight. Note, I said major. You can probably track most of my minor weight gains to being in the vicinity of my week of PMS. But, I've been fortunate that since I started in January, I've not really had much of a gain more than a pound at a time...so it clearly hasn't been a major problem...until now. This is probably TMI, but I don't care, I think it's important that people understand - last week I started my period on Monday...I weigh in on Tuesday...and the first two days are usually the worst. I knew that it wasn't going to be a great week so when I stepped on the scale and she told me I gained, I wasn't surprised - and I told her "yeah...I'm having a girl week". I was, however, not prepared for watching her write +3.2 in my tracker. When I expressed my shock at the number, she told me that the average weight gain for a woman during PMS is 2-4 pounds. That's an average of a 2-4 pound gain EVERY MONTH for some women!
Even though I knew that the primary reason was because of the PMS, it was still pretty disheartening. I knew that I needed to do better to get back on track - and I did do better, but still probably not as well as I should have.
On the positive side, I realized that it's been a couple of weeks since my foot hurt AND my awesome friend asked me to do the 2014 Disney marathon with her and two other women! It's in January 2014 so I have a little over a year to get myself in top running shape! After I realized that my foot hadn't hurt in quite a while, and that I hadn't been working out nearly as much as I should, I decided to go for another run. This time, I was a little smarter. I did another four miles, but instead of run/walk/run/walk I did walk/run/walk/run. After I walked the first mile, I stopped and stretched (paying good attention to my feet), then I ran mile number two. Mile three was another walk, but it was split in half by my trip inside CVS (ironically, I went to CVS to renew my allergy meds lol). Mile four was probably the hardest of all...it was almost entirely uphill. There was one point that I needed to stop and walk - but I allowed myself and didn't feel bad for it. I walked about .15 mile, but once I got on level ground again, I started running again and made sure that I actually ran a whole mile despite my stop. Then I was sure to stretch again...also making sure to take care of my feet. And good news - they didn't hurt today!! Now, my legs were a bit sore - but that's to be expected when you consider that yesterday was exactly one month from my last run (which I didn't know until after I'd done it, but was pretty serendipitous).
The good news is that when I weighed in today, I'd lost my water weight from last week...quite the weight off of my shoulders! (no pun intended) But, it was quite the scare that I needed to get myself back on track. I know that I need to start recording my food again, I need to make sure that I'm getting in my exercise, and I need to start making myself a priority again. Especially at the beginning of the year, it's so easy to get wrapped up in work and lost track of what's important to ME. As selfish as it may feel, I have to make me a priority again.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 35: +3.2
Week 36: -3.4
Total weight loss: -52.6
Current weight: 204.6
I've been toying with the idea of writing this post for months now. Obviously, it mostly comes to me around the time that I am PMSing, but then I question myself...do I really want people to know THAT much about my life?? So then I think I'll write it on a week that I'm not affected so it will throw people off and they won't necessarily know when I am/am not PMSing...but, it's not something I really think about if it's not currently happening. But, over the last two weeks it has had a significant impact on me - more so than usual. So, I thought that it was well past time for me to broach this sensitive topic.
It's widely known and understood that men lose weight faster than women. Sometimes it can be a struggle for me - comparing my weight loss to those of my male co-workers sometimes makes me feel like I'm not doing as well as I should be. I know that it isn't a fair comparison, that it shouldn't get me down, and that I am doing quite well for myself. I know all of these things, but that doesn't stop me from getting frustrated sometimes. Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post last week - I promise that that was more out of lack of time than it was because my week didn't go well (though it didn't).
For any of my male readers who don't know, every woman's PMS is different...in fact, every month is different! For me, it's usually that I'm excessively tired, I want to be by myself, sometimes there's cramping, I want to eat just about everything in sight, and the worst of all (in my book) is that my boobs hurt...way bad. Like I said, each month is different so I don't experience all of those things every month. I would say that the two most common for me are the tiredness and the sore boobs. And I'm sure that you can understand why those two things can be quite detrimental to my weight loss. Being tired, it's obviously more difficult to motivate myself to exercise...and even if I do, it makes it more difficult to accomplish! The tender boobs is much worse than it sounds. Not only does it just make you uncomfortable most of the time, can you imagine running or dancing when it hurts to even touch them?? I mean, I think just about any woman would agree that one of the best feelings in the world is taking off your bra at the end of the day - but even THAT hurts! And, most of symptoms of PMS can be helped by taking something along the lines of Midol or Pamprin - but tiredness and sore boobs are not covered.
One of the other symptoms, that I USUALLY don't have a major problem with, is water weight. Note, I said major. You can probably track most of my minor weight gains to being in the vicinity of my week of PMS. But, I've been fortunate that since I started in January, I've not really had much of a gain more than a pound at a time...so it clearly hasn't been a major problem...until now. This is probably TMI, but I don't care, I think it's important that people understand - last week I started my period on Monday...I weigh in on Tuesday...and the first two days are usually the worst. I knew that it wasn't going to be a great week so when I stepped on the scale and she told me I gained, I wasn't surprised - and I told her "yeah...I'm having a girl week". I was, however, not prepared for watching her write +3.2 in my tracker. When I expressed my shock at the number, she told me that the average weight gain for a woman during PMS is 2-4 pounds. That's an average of a 2-4 pound gain EVERY MONTH for some women!
Even though I knew that the primary reason was because of the PMS, it was still pretty disheartening. I knew that I needed to do better to get back on track - and I did do better, but still probably not as well as I should have.
On the positive side, I realized that it's been a couple of weeks since my foot hurt AND my awesome friend asked me to do the 2014 Disney marathon with her and two other women! It's in January 2014 so I have a little over a year to get myself in top running shape! After I realized that my foot hadn't hurt in quite a while, and that I hadn't been working out nearly as much as I should, I decided to go for another run. This time, I was a little smarter. I did another four miles, but instead of run/walk/run/walk I did walk/run/walk/run. After I walked the first mile, I stopped and stretched (paying good attention to my feet), then I ran mile number two. Mile three was another walk, but it was split in half by my trip inside CVS (ironically, I went to CVS to renew my allergy meds lol). Mile four was probably the hardest of all...it was almost entirely uphill. There was one point that I needed to stop and walk - but I allowed myself and didn't feel bad for it. I walked about .15 mile, but once I got on level ground again, I started running again and made sure that I actually ran a whole mile despite my stop. Then I was sure to stretch again...also making sure to take care of my feet. And good news - they didn't hurt today!! Now, my legs were a bit sore - but that's to be expected when you consider that yesterday was exactly one month from my last run (which I didn't know until after I'd done it, but was pretty serendipitous).
The good news is that when I weighed in today, I'd lost my water weight from last week...quite the weight off of my shoulders! (no pun intended) But, it was quite the scare that I needed to get myself back on track. I know that I need to start recording my food again, I need to make sure that I'm getting in my exercise, and I need to start making myself a priority again. Especially at the beginning of the year, it's so easy to get wrapped up in work and lost track of what's important to ME. As selfish as it may feel, I have to make me a priority again.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 35: +3.2
Week 36: -3.4
Total weight loss: -52.6
Current weight: 204.6
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Trying Times
I have worked every day since August 13 - Every. Day.
I posted last week about my busy August with move-in and Welcome Week programs and the like. Which is all very true and very tiring...but when I talked about getting myself back on track, I forgot that I made a dumb move and also scheduled duty for the first weekend. I was quite lucky, actually, that I didn't have any "big" issues. I was not so lucky that I had a whole lot of "little" issues....a lot. Sometimes I'm not sure which I'd rather have. I mean nobody really likes to have to deal with the big issues, but getting constant calls for little ones is exhausting!
I had the best intentions of getting myself back on a normal schedule, but duty can throw off the most established schedule and then turn around and laugh at it! You never know when you're going to be needed, so you can't really do much. You can't really cook because you might be in the middle of making something when you need to go. You can't go out to eat because you could get called before your food even gets there. You can't get in a workout because it isn't really professional to show up to help a student when you're all sweaty in workout clothes. So, basically, I sat on the couch watching tv when I wasn't answering phone calls or going to meet the police somewhere, and eating mostly sandwiches and snacks.
By Tuesday I figured I didn't have a very successful week. I had gotten in walking where I could - actually opting to walk to some of my calls over in one of the other areas instead of driving over. Made the best food choices I could - although most of the weekend I felt like eating pretty much everything in sight. All in all, I knew it was just an okay week. I didn't go totally overboard on unhealthy stuff, but I also struggled to keep my spirits up.
I am just so tired. I am still very motivated to keep up my new lifestyle - still very motivated to keep losing weight - still feeling great about myself. But I am physically and mentally exhausted. I am so excited to actually have this weekend off to get myself back in a good place. Last Friday I was able to take the afternoon off of work and I walked downtown and had a delicious Indian lunch (prob not great on the points, but I was so full I didn't really eat much of a dinner so it balanced out!), walked through the Farmers Market and bought some awesome local veggies and honey, then walked back home. It was just what I needed at the time to get my head right for the weekend. So, I'm hoping that having Saturday and Sunday off to get away from campus a little, and not having to worry about getting woken up at any hour of the night, will be just the ticket to get back to myself...and back on the road to success.
I was surprised that my weigh-in wasn't that bad - though pleasantly surprised, and it probably helped keep me from going too far to the dark side this week. And, trust me, it could have been bad...
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 34: -1.2
Total weight loss: -52.4
Current weight: 204.8
I posted last week about my busy August with move-in and Welcome Week programs and the like. Which is all very true and very tiring...but when I talked about getting myself back on track, I forgot that I made a dumb move and also scheduled duty for the first weekend. I was quite lucky, actually, that I didn't have any "big" issues. I was not so lucky that I had a whole lot of "little" issues....a lot. Sometimes I'm not sure which I'd rather have. I mean nobody really likes to have to deal with the big issues, but getting constant calls for little ones is exhausting!
I had the best intentions of getting myself back on a normal schedule, but duty can throw off the most established schedule and then turn around and laugh at it! You never know when you're going to be needed, so you can't really do much. You can't really cook because you might be in the middle of making something when you need to go. You can't go out to eat because you could get called before your food even gets there. You can't get in a workout because it isn't really professional to show up to help a student when you're all sweaty in workout clothes. So, basically, I sat on the couch watching tv when I wasn't answering phone calls or going to meet the police somewhere, and eating mostly sandwiches and snacks.
By Tuesday I figured I didn't have a very successful week. I had gotten in walking where I could - actually opting to walk to some of my calls over in one of the other areas instead of driving over. Made the best food choices I could - although most of the weekend I felt like eating pretty much everything in sight. All in all, I knew it was just an okay week. I didn't go totally overboard on unhealthy stuff, but I also struggled to keep my spirits up.
I am just so tired. I am still very motivated to keep up my new lifestyle - still very motivated to keep losing weight - still feeling great about myself. But I am physically and mentally exhausted. I am so excited to actually have this weekend off to get myself back in a good place. Last Friday I was able to take the afternoon off of work and I walked downtown and had a delicious Indian lunch (prob not great on the points, but I was so full I didn't really eat much of a dinner so it balanced out!), walked through the Farmers Market and bought some awesome local veggies and honey, then walked back home. It was just what I needed at the time to get my head right for the weekend. So, I'm hoping that having Saturday and Sunday off to get away from campus a little, and not having to worry about getting woken up at any hour of the night, will be just the ticket to get back to myself...and back on the road to success.
I was surprised that my weigh-in wasn't that bad - though pleasantly surprised, and it probably helped keep me from going too far to the dark side this week. And, trust me, it could have been bad...
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 34: -1.2
Total weight loss: -52.4
Current weight: 204.8
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Life Gets in the Way
I suppose that it should come as no surprise, but my belief that "months that start with the letter A are the hardest" has been even more solidified. I'm sure some of you noticed that I didn't post last week...make no mistake, I weighed in, I just didn't have time to write a post!
On one hand, I used to think that the beginning of the school year was a great time for me to lose weight. There's so much to do I didn't really have time to think much about food in between meals...and some days you get so busy that you even miss lunch and/or dinner! Plus there's all the running around to various meetings, being out in the buildings getting things ready for arrival, running around the buildings during move-in...you'd think that would have a great influence! Not so much the case, after all.
I decided that my naivete came from only seeing the exercise I was getting. This year, concentrating more on what I'm actually eating has really opened my eyes. I finally saw all the bad food habits that were counteracting the exercise I was getting. I saw how many times we had dessert foods at meetings or social events, I saw how missing lunch and/or dinner just made me even more hungry at the next meal or even worse made me snack in between, I saw how easy it was to get wrapped up in what needed to be done and forget about what was important, and I saw the junk that we buy for our students.
The last two weeks have been especially challenging for me! After reflecting on my last few posts, I had pretty much decided on starting to run and eventually training to do a marathon. I think it is one of the coolest things a person can do, especially if you're raising money for a good cause in the meantime. I did a little online research, I talked to a couple of people I know who have run them, and realized that I needed new shoes. The tennis shoes I'd been wearing weren't old - I probably bought them around February for support while I was dancing and they rarely even left the house! (I wore them often...just not outside much) However, I found that when I was walking in them, my toes would get a little tingly and, frankly, they were Nikes I bought on sale at a small shoe store. Several people said that when running you needed to really start with good shoes or else you could end up hurting yourself even before you get too far into your life running. I went to a local shoe/sports place that had gotten good recommendations...wow do they know their shoes! For maybe the first time ever, I truly got fitted for shoes! They used the little foot measurement thing that all the kids play with in shoe stores, but they also just make you stand there while they look at how you hold your feet. Where do you put pressure? How does your arch look? Then they pull out several different brands and types of shoes and make you try them all on and walk around the store while they actually WATCH how you walk in them. It was amazing to me how this man could watch my feet while I was walking and he could pretty much already guess the feedback I was about to give him on the shoes! Needless to say, I was impressed...and I left the store with new shoes.
I went for my first real run the next day (a Friday)...and I haven't really run since I was in middle school. I knew that I needed to start fairly slowly, so I decided I would try running a mile then walking a mile. Frankly, I didn't really even think that I could run a whole mile...but I did!!! I did have one minor break in the run while waiting for a traffic light at a busy intersection, but I could've kept going if it weren't for those pesky cars. I was THRILLED that I finished a mile...and it was about a 13-minute mile - not too shabby at all for my first time out! I forced myself to slow down and walk the next mile, but when I hit that second mile mark, I decided I would run number three, then I walked number four. I finished the last half mile on a jog...I tried running and it was just not really happening. I really felt GREAT - I stretched, I ate some dinner, I took a hot shower and I went to bed. The next day, my left foot HURT!! Now, I sprained my right ankle in high school so I was a little prepared for some soreness there, but I was not expecting issues with the left one. I thought maybe I just overused it the day before and some rest and ice would help it. The problem was, though, that Sunday early afternoon we were taking our student staff on a retreat...in the woods. I also noticed that in the mornings I would wake up and it would feel pretty good, but by the afternoon it was screaming at me. When we got back from the retreat, I went to the doctor to get it checked out - thankfully, I didn't break anything, but he thought I strained a ligament in the side of my foot...and he said not to run on it until it's been about 3-4 days with NO pain. Well, that's been over a week ago and it's still a little sore at times. But, I at least have been able to walk on it better and did some dancing last night without it hurting! YAY PROGRESS! I do, however, still feel bad seeing my brand-new-only-worn-once shoes sitting on the floor and wishing I could go out running in them. But, I shall be following the doctors orders.
Anyway, foot pain aside, the retreat really put a hurting on my food week. During the week before, we had a staff picnic...where I did pretty well aside from the brownie that I ate. Then we had campfire night...where I had two s'mores. Then at the retreat we had another campfire...and I ate another s'more. And the camp served us nachos for dinner, eggs and bacon for breakfast, and spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. We had taken some of our own "snack foods" for the students, but aside from some bananas and oranges, it was mostly chips and candy. So, when I weighed in the next day, I was not at all surprised that I had gained a pound - and, truth be told, I was pretty okay with it! If I only gained one pound after everything that I had eaten that week...I counted myself pretty lucky!
I had told myself that this week would be different - I was going to be better and get myself on track again. Easier said than done. I made some pretty healthy choices during most meals, but due to my foot and just simply working from 8am until at least 8pm...there was no chance of me getting in much exercise other than walking to our programming sessions. I was totally excited, though, when one afternoon our "energizer" was two Zumba songs that I already knew! It was great to be dancing again! (Though it is super difficult to do Zumba in sandals...just in case you were wondering) I had a minor victory one day - I was walking back to my office and had decided to stop by the cafe to get a drink. I went in there determined to get an iced coffee and a muffin...I got to the counter and felt guilty...I walked out with a Diet Pepsi and a container of apple slices. During move-in I wasn't as good. The boss-lady brought in breakfast for us the students...she got bagels, yogurt, apples, oranges, juice, and doughnuts. I had fully intended on making good choices, but do you know how hard it is to pick the yogurt and the fruit when there are doughnuts staring you in the face?? I did allow myself to have a couple doughnut holes, but at least I didn't eat as many as I normally would have...though I did succumb to the allure of the bagel. In my defense, though, I really did do a whole lot of walking/stair climbing this weekend to make up for it.
Four buildings x Three flights of stairs per building x Three move-in days x Multiple rounds each day = a whole heck of a lot of stair climbing! Not to mention the extra walking I got in travelling each of the floors and in between all of the buildings!
Now, my darlings are all moved in and life can, hopefully, get back to a nice normal pace. I haven't actually gotten to stay for a meeting in about a month and that makes me sad. But, the one thing that I can be super proud of, is that in all my craziness I actually managed to put myself first occasionally. In the past, I would have said "I can't go weigh in this week because I have too much to do" - this time I said "I can't stay for the meeting because I have too much to do, but I am going to make time to go at least weigh in." It was a bit of a revelation for me. Plus, it really helps to have my returning students commenting on how great I look - a real ego booster!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 32: +1.2
Week 33: -1.4
Total weight loss: -51.2
Current weight: 206.0
On one hand, I used to think that the beginning of the school year was a great time for me to lose weight. There's so much to do I didn't really have time to think much about food in between meals...and some days you get so busy that you even miss lunch and/or dinner! Plus there's all the running around to various meetings, being out in the buildings getting things ready for arrival, running around the buildings during move-in...you'd think that would have a great influence! Not so much the case, after all.
I decided that my naivete came from only seeing the exercise I was getting. This year, concentrating more on what I'm actually eating has really opened my eyes. I finally saw all the bad food habits that were counteracting the exercise I was getting. I saw how many times we had dessert foods at meetings or social events, I saw how missing lunch and/or dinner just made me even more hungry at the next meal or even worse made me snack in between, I saw how easy it was to get wrapped up in what needed to be done and forget about what was important, and I saw the junk that we buy for our students.
The last two weeks have been especially challenging for me! After reflecting on my last few posts, I had pretty much decided on starting to run and eventually training to do a marathon. I think it is one of the coolest things a person can do, especially if you're raising money for a good cause in the meantime. I did a little online research, I talked to a couple of people I know who have run them, and realized that I needed new shoes. The tennis shoes I'd been wearing weren't old - I probably bought them around February for support while I was dancing and they rarely even left the house! (I wore them often...just not outside much) However, I found that when I was walking in them, my toes would get a little tingly and, frankly, they were Nikes I bought on sale at a small shoe store. Several people said that when running you needed to really start with good shoes or else you could end up hurting yourself even before you get too far into your life running. I went to a local shoe/sports place that had gotten good recommendations...wow do they know their shoes! For maybe the first time ever, I truly got fitted for shoes! They used the little foot measurement thing that all the kids play with in shoe stores, but they also just make you stand there while they look at how you hold your feet. Where do you put pressure? How does your arch look? Then they pull out several different brands and types of shoes and make you try them all on and walk around the store while they actually WATCH how you walk in them. It was amazing to me how this man could watch my feet while I was walking and he could pretty much already guess the feedback I was about to give him on the shoes! Needless to say, I was impressed...and I left the store with new shoes.
I went for my first real run the next day (a Friday)...and I haven't really run since I was in middle school. I knew that I needed to start fairly slowly, so I decided I would try running a mile then walking a mile. Frankly, I didn't really even think that I could run a whole mile...but I did!!! I did have one minor break in the run while waiting for a traffic light at a busy intersection, but I could've kept going if it weren't for those pesky cars. I was THRILLED that I finished a mile...and it was about a 13-minute mile - not too shabby at all for my first time out! I forced myself to slow down and walk the next mile, but when I hit that second mile mark, I decided I would run number three, then I walked number four. I finished the last half mile on a jog...I tried running and it was just not really happening. I really felt GREAT - I stretched, I ate some dinner, I took a hot shower and I went to bed. The next day, my left foot HURT!! Now, I sprained my right ankle in high school so I was a little prepared for some soreness there, but I was not expecting issues with the left one. I thought maybe I just overused it the day before and some rest and ice would help it. The problem was, though, that Sunday early afternoon we were taking our student staff on a retreat...in the woods. I also noticed that in the mornings I would wake up and it would feel pretty good, but by the afternoon it was screaming at me. When we got back from the retreat, I went to the doctor to get it checked out - thankfully, I didn't break anything, but he thought I strained a ligament in the side of my foot...and he said not to run on it until it's been about 3-4 days with NO pain. Well, that's been over a week ago and it's still a little sore at times. But, I at least have been able to walk on it better and did some dancing last night without it hurting! YAY PROGRESS! I do, however, still feel bad seeing my brand-new-only-worn-once shoes sitting on the floor and wishing I could go out running in them. But, I shall be following the doctors orders.
Anyway, foot pain aside, the retreat really put a hurting on my food week. During the week before, we had a staff picnic...where I did pretty well aside from the brownie that I ate. Then we had campfire night...where I had two s'mores. Then at the retreat we had another campfire...and I ate another s'more. And the camp served us nachos for dinner, eggs and bacon for breakfast, and spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. We had taken some of our own "snack foods" for the students, but aside from some bananas and oranges, it was mostly chips and candy. So, when I weighed in the next day, I was not at all surprised that I had gained a pound - and, truth be told, I was pretty okay with it! If I only gained one pound after everything that I had eaten that week...I counted myself pretty lucky!
I had told myself that this week would be different - I was going to be better and get myself on track again. Easier said than done. I made some pretty healthy choices during most meals, but due to my foot and just simply working from 8am until at least 8pm...there was no chance of me getting in much exercise other than walking to our programming sessions. I was totally excited, though, when one afternoon our "energizer" was two Zumba songs that I already knew! It was great to be dancing again! (Though it is super difficult to do Zumba in sandals...just in case you were wondering) I had a minor victory one day - I was walking back to my office and had decided to stop by the cafe to get a drink. I went in there determined to get an iced coffee and a muffin...I got to the counter and felt guilty...I walked out with a Diet Pepsi and a container of apple slices. During move-in I wasn't as good. The boss-lady brought in breakfast for us the students...she got bagels, yogurt, apples, oranges, juice, and doughnuts. I had fully intended on making good choices, but do you know how hard it is to pick the yogurt and the fruit when there are doughnuts staring you in the face?? I did allow myself to have a couple doughnut holes, but at least I didn't eat as many as I normally would have...though I did succumb to the allure of the bagel. In my defense, though, I really did do a whole lot of walking/stair climbing this weekend to make up for it.
Four buildings x Three flights of stairs per building x Three move-in days x Multiple rounds each day = a whole heck of a lot of stair climbing! Not to mention the extra walking I got in travelling each of the floors and in between all of the buildings!
Now, my darlings are all moved in and life can, hopefully, get back to a nice normal pace. I haven't actually gotten to stay for a meeting in about a month and that makes me sad. But, the one thing that I can be super proud of, is that in all my craziness I actually managed to put myself first occasionally. In the past, I would have said "I can't go weigh in this week because I have too much to do" - this time I said "I can't stay for the meeting because I have too much to do, but I am going to make time to go at least weigh in." It was a bit of a revelation for me. Plus, it really helps to have my returning students commenting on how great I look - a real ego booster!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 32: +1.2
Week 33: -1.4
Total weight loss: -51.2
Current weight: 206.0
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Saying Thanks
So, this week was a little more challenging than I would've liked it to be. I did a lot of eating out and not very much working out. But, you'll have weeks like this all your life, so it's important to learn to manage them. How did I do it? By making some reasonably smart choices at the restaurants and getting in as much of a workout as you can. When we went out for brunch, I got the omelet made only with egg whites and a whole wheat English Muffin. From the Greek restaurant I got the beef kebab (which was super delicious) - but it was lean meat and veggies. I didn't make such smart decisions at Mad Mex, but we've all got to let loose a little sometimes!
In any case, all we can do is to make the best choices we can at the time. Granted, it helps if you're able to work out, but again....you fit in what you can when you can, and noone can ask any more from you.
On a slightly different topic, I did something this week of which I'm kind of proud. It's been on my mind recently to say thanks to some people who have been a big help on my journey. A few weeks ago I wrote a post thanking those who helped me out during the summer, but I realized that I hadn't thanked some important people who helped me this whole time...the creators of the Wii and Just Dance. Yes, I am quite serious.
I got to thinking that people who make things like video games, televisions, and other appliances that we use every day rarely ever actually hear how much of an impact their product has on our lives. Sure they can see how many people BUY them, and sure they make lots of money off of them, but how often does someone actually say thank you for them?? And since using the Wii was a huge part of my success, I thought that I should say thanks...so I did. I went to the Wii website, found their "contact us" page, located the spot for "general questions/feedback", and sent the following message:
I just wanted to send a note to say thank you. By using dance games on my Wii for the last seven months (and along with maintaining a healthier diet), I have been able to lose over 50 pounds. Being significantly overweight, and working on a college campus, I was extremely self-conscious about going to a gym where my students also were. Having the Wii and my Just Dance games at home not only gave me the privacy I needed to begin getting active at my own pace, but it also took away my excuses to not exercise. The convenience of having a fun way to be active in my own apartment that I could do on my own or with friends, and whenever was easiest for me, made it nearly impossible for me to come up with valid reasons to not do it.
I think that too often we forget to thank those who create what we use daily. And as the Wii itself, as well as the Just Dance games, have helped make such a significant impact on my life, I wanted to make sure I took a moment to say thank you. (I've also been sure to mention how great they've been on my weight loss blog so that everyone who reads it knows how much I appreciate your products!) So, thank you!
-Elizabeth Estell
I felt really good after I sent it! I remembered how great it makes me feel when a student expresses thanks to me or tells me that I've made an impact on them, especially when it's unexpected. So, I truly hoped that my message made someone's day the way my students sometimes make mine. Then, this morning I got a response:
In any case, all we can do is to make the best choices we can at the time. Granted, it helps if you're able to work out, but again....you fit in what you can when you can, and noone can ask any more from you.
On a slightly different topic, I did something this week of which I'm kind of proud. It's been on my mind recently to say thanks to some people who have been a big help on my journey. A few weeks ago I wrote a post thanking those who helped me out during the summer, but I realized that I hadn't thanked some important people who helped me this whole time...the creators of the Wii and Just Dance. Yes, I am quite serious.
I got to thinking that people who make things like video games, televisions, and other appliances that we use every day rarely ever actually hear how much of an impact their product has on our lives. Sure they can see how many people BUY them, and sure they make lots of money off of them, but how often does someone actually say thank you for them?? And since using the Wii was a huge part of my success, I thought that I should say thanks...so I did. I went to the Wii website, found their "contact us" page, located the spot for "general questions/feedback", and sent the following message:
I just wanted to send a note to say thank you. By using dance games on my Wii for the last seven months (and along with maintaining a healthier diet), I have been able to lose over 50 pounds. Being significantly overweight, and working on a college campus, I was extremely self-conscious about going to a gym where my students also were. Having the Wii and my Just Dance games at home not only gave me the privacy I needed to begin getting active at my own pace, but it also took away my excuses to not exercise. The convenience of having a fun way to be active in my own apartment that I could do on my own or with friends, and whenever was easiest for me, made it nearly impossible for me to come up with valid reasons to not do it.
I think that too often we forget to thank those who create what we use daily. And as the Wii itself, as well as the Just Dance games, have helped make such a significant impact on my life, I wanted to make sure I took a moment to say thank you. (I've also been sure to mention how great they've been on my weight loss blog so that everyone who reads it knows how much I appreciate your products!) So, thank you!
-Elizabeth Estell
I felt really good after I sent it! I remembered how great it makes me feel when a student expresses thanks to me or tells me that I've made an impact on them, especially when it's unexpected. So, I truly hoped that my message made someone's day the way my students sometimes make mine. Then, this morning I got a response:
Hello Elizabeth,
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your story with us; it's great to hear that the Wii console was able to motivate you to get healthy! I must admit that I'm very impressed and would love to share your success amongst our different departments. Therefore, I have added your comments to our records so that our other departments can see.
It's worth mentioning that the Just Dance games are developed and published by Ubisoft. As such, I encourage you to share your kind words with them as well; they're sure to be glad to hear that their games had such a positive impact on you. To get contact information for this company, go to the following web address and click on the company name:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/licensees_third.jsp
It's great to know that we can make a difference in people's lives! Once again, thank you for your continued support. I hope that you, your friends, and your readers will continue to enjoy our products, or give them a chance for the first time if they haven't already.
Sincerely,
Karen Johnson
Nintendo of America Inc
Nintendo of America Inc
It was so great to get a response and know that my words made them feel appreciated! I haven't taken her advice to thank Ubisoft for Just Dance yet, but that's mostly because I spent the day actually working! I do hope to send a similar note to the company and maybe I can make a good day for two people! Sometimes it feels even better to be the one to say thanks!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 31: -0.2
Total weight loss: -51.0
Current weight: 206.2
Week 31: -0.2
Total weight loss: -51.0
Current weight: 206.2
Hey, after the week that I had, I will take my 0.2 loss and be happy about it! A loss is a loss!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
50 Shades of Me
No, this is not going to be THAT kind of post....
If you've read the Fifty Shades of Grey books, you'll know that it gets its title because the main male character, Christian Grey, calls himself "fifty shades of [messed] up". He uses a slightly more graphic word, but you get the point. Aside from the naughty bits in the books, they are about an emotional journey he takes with a young woman and ends up working to overcome some deep seeded issues. I don't have the major issues that guy has, but I thought I would use this post to talk about 50 changes I've made/noticed have naturally happened in the last 7 months.
Please keep in mind that this is totally stream of consciousness and in no particular order:
1. I have energy almost all the time. This weekend I realized for the first time I couldn't sit still. Usually I was so exhausted by the week, mentally and physically, that on the weekends I would mostly just veg on the couch. While I did go to a movie, and I did watch some of the Olympics, I felt a little restless. I got up and was baking in the kitchen while watching the games...I went for a long walk when I got bored...I don't know that I've ever had such an active yet still relaxing weekend!
2. I go for long walks...and by long walks I mean I walked 6.5 miles in less than two hours on Saturday. I didn't set out to walk that much, but the miles kept getting added and I felt really good so I just kept walking! I discovered that I can walk to my dentists office in about half an hour when it takes about 10-15 minutes to drive there. I didn't even worry about getting too far away from home - I was trying to keep up a quick pace with my walk, but I knew that if I got too tired there was no reason I couldn't slow down and make a leisurely walk home...or if it got really bad there were about 20 people in town I could've called to come pick me up!
3. I can lift my feet to my knees. I know that sounds kind of weird...you know how sometimes when you're putting on your socks or shoes you pick your foot up and cross your knee. Well, for a long time I could only get my foot up so far then I would either grab my ankle or my pant leg and pull it the rest of the way up. I'm sure I've been able to do it for a while now, but I just actually realized that I don't have to pull it up anymore...it goes the whole way on its own.
*I promise not all 50 will be this long...but these ones were new developments.
4. I am a solid 16 now! There was an older pair of shorts that at the beginning of the summer I couldn't get buttoned and I wore them to work the other day quite comfortably!
5. Sometimes I feel like running - I haven't actually tried it yet, but I think I might soon...and who knows, maybe there will be a marathon in my future someday - or at least a 5K!
6. It feels awesome when your clothes don't fit because they're too big and not because they're too small.
7. I can wear everything in my closet.
8. I can wear clothes I haven't worn since around 2005...and maybe even better than I did then!
9. I got complimented on my legs again.
10. I wear spandex in public! It may only been to work-out in...but I don't feel as self-conscious about it anymore.
11. I have meetings in other areas and I don't even consider driving (except for one meeting where I was leaving for my WW meeting directly afterward so I had to...).
12. I LOVE seeing the looks on my friends faces when they haven't seen me for a while
13. I have started correcting myself so that instead of saying "I can't eat that" to "I choose not to eat that"
14. Aside from one chicken salad I had at a mall over the summer (and not including the Hot Dog Shoppe - which actually uses real potatoes for its fries), I haven't had fast food since January.
15. I don't miss fast food...except for Arby's - not once have I driven past McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, etc. and wished that I could go get a burger there. Thankfully, the Arby's in town closed so it's not a temptation anymore.
16. I invite people to work out with me! Noone has really taken me up on the offer...but I keep putting it out there!
17. I sleep better - it doesn't take me as long to get out of bed in the morning and I don't nap.
18. My "girl stuff" is more in order than it used to be...to put it delicately...
19. I still SUCK at tracking what I eat...but I'm good at working out.
20. I don't get disappointed if I only lose 0.2 in a week...because while it isn't much of a loss, it's still not a gain.
21. When people ask me how I am, or how my day was, and I say "awesome"...I really mean it!
22. My body temperature has changed a little - I keep my apartment around 68-70 degrees so I don't get overheated when I work out...but then I have to use a fleece blanket, a comforter, and an afghan when I go to bed...
23. I have lost 5.5 inches off of my thighs
24. 10 inches off of my waist (holy cow!)
25. 2 inches off of my arms
26. 7 inches off of my hips
27. I finally bought some new underwear a few weeks ago...I forgot what it felt like to wear underwear that actually fit, or more accurately, I didn't realize that the ones I had didn't fit well anymore.
28. I don't feel bad for ordering what I want when I go out to eat because I know that I either earned it or I can work it off later.
29. I walked up the big hill on campus after dinner, while talking with people, and didn't get winded.
30. I spend lots of time each week trying to narrow down which topic I want to cover in my blog...and not just recount my whole week day by day.
31. I can't wait until I can go ice skating again!
32. My coworker who joined WW is also a regular dinner club member and he asked if we could make a rule about being diet friendly - I reminded him that I spent all of last semester participating in dinner club as the only one on a "diet" and had no trouble managing it.
33. I've actually started thinking about what exercises to do to work on certain parts of my body and not just doing exercise to get some in.
34. Pop is nice for an every once in a while treat, but I can go months without drinking it and not feel like I'm missing anything.
35. I am completely humbled by people who say I am an inspiration - I started this blog as a way to ask for YOUR help to hold myself accountable, but ended up helping others along the way, that is one of the best feelings.
36. I bought a new bathing suit once they started going on sale even though I didn't really need a new one...and I didn't hate shopping for it!
37. Shopping out of your attic is a really cool experience...though it also makes you stop and wonder why some fashions were popular in the first place.
38. I can blow dry my hair without my arms getting tired - I used to not be able to get through even a quarter of my hair without them aching.
39. I love dark chocolate - especially because it's so rich that I can just eat one little square and it satisfies my chocolate craving - it took me a week to eat half a candy bar!
40. Working out with others is more fun than working out by yourself - Zumba in my apartment is NOWHERE near as much fun as taking the class...likewise, "wobbling" by myself just can't compare to randomly "wobbling" with Sis and Bro #3 in the middle of the hallway.
41. It's just as satisfying to bake for friends and not eat what I made as it is to bake and eat it myself.
42. Walking is no joke! My hips were sore for two days after I walked Saturday! And I notice while I'm walking that my back and abs are getting a workout, too!
43. I don't care what I look like when I'm walking, and it's way more fun to put on some awesome music and dance while I walk...I'm sure I probably made more than a few people laugh.
44. I walk faster when there are other people around.
45. I haven't worn my contacts or my tennis shoes this often since I was in college!
46. I found Graeter's ice cream in town...which is a BIG DEAL (my Columbus people know what I'm talking about...). I told myself that if I did well this week I could celebrate with some Graeter's...and I honestly forgot to. I left my meeting and it never once crossed my mind to go get that ice cream.
47. I LOVE Greek yogurt! Plain non-fat Chobani Greek yogurt + a little sweetener + some fresh fruit = excellent breakfast!
48. I just feel awesome.
49. I fidget - the last few days I just seem to have more energy than I know what to do with and I sit in my work meetings and my legs fidget...hopefully I'm not annoying people!
50. I am a happy person again - not that I was completely miserable before, but I just feel like I am happy almost all of the time...and it's a great feeling.
Whew! That was more difficult than I thought it would be!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 30: -2.2
Total weight loss: -50.8!!!!!
Current weight: 206.4
I promised a new picture at 50...
Original picture - Jan. 2012 New picture - Aug. 8, 2012
And I got new bling!! Here's my 10% keychain with my 25lb "weight", my 16-weeks clapping hands, and my new 50lb "weight"...they look a little scratched up because I actually keep them on my keys to remind me every day what I've done.
If you've read the Fifty Shades of Grey books, you'll know that it gets its title because the main male character, Christian Grey, calls himself "fifty shades of [messed] up". He uses a slightly more graphic word, but you get the point. Aside from the naughty bits in the books, they are about an emotional journey he takes with a young woman and ends up working to overcome some deep seeded issues. I don't have the major issues that guy has, but I thought I would use this post to talk about 50 changes I've made/noticed have naturally happened in the last 7 months.
Please keep in mind that this is totally stream of consciousness and in no particular order:
1. I have energy almost all the time. This weekend I realized for the first time I couldn't sit still. Usually I was so exhausted by the week, mentally and physically, that on the weekends I would mostly just veg on the couch. While I did go to a movie, and I did watch some of the Olympics, I felt a little restless. I got up and was baking in the kitchen while watching the games...I went for a long walk when I got bored...I don't know that I've ever had such an active yet still relaxing weekend!
2. I go for long walks...and by long walks I mean I walked 6.5 miles in less than two hours on Saturday. I didn't set out to walk that much, but the miles kept getting added and I felt really good so I just kept walking! I discovered that I can walk to my dentists office in about half an hour when it takes about 10-15 minutes to drive there. I didn't even worry about getting too far away from home - I was trying to keep up a quick pace with my walk, but I knew that if I got too tired there was no reason I couldn't slow down and make a leisurely walk home...or if it got really bad there were about 20 people in town I could've called to come pick me up!
3. I can lift my feet to my knees. I know that sounds kind of weird...you know how sometimes when you're putting on your socks or shoes you pick your foot up and cross your knee. Well, for a long time I could only get my foot up so far then I would either grab my ankle or my pant leg and pull it the rest of the way up. I'm sure I've been able to do it for a while now, but I just actually realized that I don't have to pull it up anymore...it goes the whole way on its own.
*I promise not all 50 will be this long...but these ones were new developments.
4. I am a solid 16 now! There was an older pair of shorts that at the beginning of the summer I couldn't get buttoned and I wore them to work the other day quite comfortably!
5. Sometimes I feel like running - I haven't actually tried it yet, but I think I might soon...and who knows, maybe there will be a marathon in my future someday - or at least a 5K!
6. It feels awesome when your clothes don't fit because they're too big and not because they're too small.
7. I can wear everything in my closet.
8. I can wear clothes I haven't worn since around 2005...and maybe even better than I did then!
9. I got complimented on my legs again.
10. I wear spandex in public! It may only been to work-out in...but I don't feel as self-conscious about it anymore.
11. I have meetings in other areas and I don't even consider driving (except for one meeting where I was leaving for my WW meeting directly afterward so I had to...).
12. I LOVE seeing the looks on my friends faces when they haven't seen me for a while
13. I have started correcting myself so that instead of saying "I can't eat that" to "I choose not to eat that"
14. Aside from one chicken salad I had at a mall over the summer (and not including the Hot Dog Shoppe - which actually uses real potatoes for its fries), I haven't had fast food since January.
15. I don't miss fast food...except for Arby's - not once have I driven past McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, etc. and wished that I could go get a burger there. Thankfully, the Arby's in town closed so it's not a temptation anymore.
16. I invite people to work out with me! Noone has really taken me up on the offer...but I keep putting it out there!
17. I sleep better - it doesn't take me as long to get out of bed in the morning and I don't nap.
18. My "girl stuff" is more in order than it used to be...to put it delicately...
19. I still SUCK at tracking what I eat...but I'm good at working out.
20. I don't get disappointed if I only lose 0.2 in a week...because while it isn't much of a loss, it's still not a gain.
21. When people ask me how I am, or how my day was, and I say "awesome"...I really mean it!
22. My body temperature has changed a little - I keep my apartment around 68-70 degrees so I don't get overheated when I work out...but then I have to use a fleece blanket, a comforter, and an afghan when I go to bed...
23. I have lost 5.5 inches off of my thighs
24. 10 inches off of my waist (holy cow!)
25. 2 inches off of my arms
26. 7 inches off of my hips
27. I finally bought some new underwear a few weeks ago...I forgot what it felt like to wear underwear that actually fit, or more accurately, I didn't realize that the ones I had didn't fit well anymore.
28. I don't feel bad for ordering what I want when I go out to eat because I know that I either earned it or I can work it off later.
29. I walked up the big hill on campus after dinner, while talking with people, and didn't get winded.
30. I spend lots of time each week trying to narrow down which topic I want to cover in my blog...and not just recount my whole week day by day.
31. I can't wait until I can go ice skating again!
32. My coworker who joined WW is also a regular dinner club member and he asked if we could make a rule about being diet friendly - I reminded him that I spent all of last semester participating in dinner club as the only one on a "diet" and had no trouble managing it.
33. I've actually started thinking about what exercises to do to work on certain parts of my body and not just doing exercise to get some in.
34. Pop is nice for an every once in a while treat, but I can go months without drinking it and not feel like I'm missing anything.
35. I am completely humbled by people who say I am an inspiration - I started this blog as a way to ask for YOUR help to hold myself accountable, but ended up helping others along the way, that is one of the best feelings.
36. I bought a new bathing suit once they started going on sale even though I didn't really need a new one...and I didn't hate shopping for it!
37. Shopping out of your attic is a really cool experience...though it also makes you stop and wonder why some fashions were popular in the first place.
38. I can blow dry my hair without my arms getting tired - I used to not be able to get through even a quarter of my hair without them aching.
39. I love dark chocolate - especially because it's so rich that I can just eat one little square and it satisfies my chocolate craving - it took me a week to eat half a candy bar!
40. Working out with others is more fun than working out by yourself - Zumba in my apartment is NOWHERE near as much fun as taking the class...likewise, "wobbling" by myself just can't compare to randomly "wobbling" with Sis and Bro #3 in the middle of the hallway.
41. It's just as satisfying to bake for friends and not eat what I made as it is to bake and eat it myself.
42. Walking is no joke! My hips were sore for two days after I walked Saturday! And I notice while I'm walking that my back and abs are getting a workout, too!
43. I don't care what I look like when I'm walking, and it's way more fun to put on some awesome music and dance while I walk...I'm sure I probably made more than a few people laugh.
44. I walk faster when there are other people around.
45. I haven't worn my contacts or my tennis shoes this often since I was in college!
46. I found Graeter's ice cream in town...which is a BIG DEAL (my Columbus people know what I'm talking about...). I told myself that if I did well this week I could celebrate with some Graeter's...and I honestly forgot to. I left my meeting and it never once crossed my mind to go get that ice cream.
47. I LOVE Greek yogurt! Plain non-fat Chobani Greek yogurt + a little sweetener + some fresh fruit = excellent breakfast!
48. I just feel awesome.
49. I fidget - the last few days I just seem to have more energy than I know what to do with and I sit in my work meetings and my legs fidget...hopefully I'm not annoying people!
50. I am a happy person again - not that I was completely miserable before, but I just feel like I am happy almost all of the time...and it's a great feeling.
Whew! That was more difficult than I thought it would be!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 30: -2.2
Total weight loss: -50.8!!!!!
Current weight: 206.4
I promised a new picture at 50...
Original picture - Jan. 2012 New picture - Aug. 8, 2012
And I got new bling!! Here's my 10% keychain with my 25lb "weight", my 16-weeks clapping hands, and my new 50lb "weight"...they look a little scratched up because I actually keep them on my keys to remind me every day what I've done.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Friends make everything better
Irony: having writers block the day after I was told that I was a born writer and should try to get my blog published. I've had a number of ideas for this post throughout the last week, but I can't seem to remember any of them at the moment!
I did have a fairly new and interesting experience this week - in a good way. This past weekend I came back to my apartment. I started back to work today, so for the last few days I was getting myself settled back in to the apartment and into my work routine (aka getting out of bed at the crack of dawn). I had planned to slip back into my old Monday night class, but over the summer one of my coworkers and his lovely wife had also joined Weight Watchers and they go on Tuesdays. He invited me to join them on Tuesday, so I thought that I would give it a try before I got too settled into my old ways.
The class was a little smaller than the other two that I've been to, and the leader was a temp, but it was nice. The interesting experience was, though, that I actually had friends there! At my very last meeting before I left here in May, one of the bosses showed up at my Monday night meeting, and that was nice, but these were people who were truly going through the exact same thing I was. They experience what it's like to be adults trying to live a healthier lifestyle while living and eating on campus. (Granted, they haven't quite gotten the meal plan eating on campus experience yet, but it'll be cool to actually have someone to share that struggle with!) Someone who understands the weird hours that this job comes with, and the effect that that can have on your eating habits.
Just after the meeting started, another woman I know from work slipped in. Apparently she and my coworker have been walking together every morning! (They invited me to join them, but they're both like a foot taller than me and I fear I would need to actually jog to keep up with their brisk walking pace!) After the meeting we got to chat for a few minutes (she was sitting on the opposite side of the room from us so we couldn't talk during the meeting), and I had no idea that she'd been reading my blog for months! One of my other coworkers had given her the link...who knew people were spreading the word?! Well, it was this lovely woman who complimented my writing and suggested I try to get published. Coming from someone who works with some seriously intelligent people (not that I don't, but it's a whole different level), that was a real compliment for me!
After the meeting, there were several of us who hung around outside chatting for a few minutes...those I knew, and some I didn't. I've never had that happen before! Usually everyone just leaves...it was pretty cool! I don't know that it happens on a regular basis, but I liked it. Thanks to the support I get from all of you, I've never felt like I was doing this on my own, but having friends/coworkers actually there with me is a really nice change.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 29: -2.2
Total weight loss: -48.6
Current weight: 208.6
It's so close, yet so far away!! I'm 1.4 pounds away from hitting a total loss of 50 and 8.6 away from that elusive 200 that I haven't seen in a loooong time. I have gotten a few people reminding me that I haven't updated my picture in a while. I meant to at the beginning of the summer, but just kept forgetting! Then I just decided I would wait until I hit the 50 lb mark to make it special - so, hopefully, you'll see one next week! Plus, it was kind of cool coming back to work today without any of my coworkers seeing me since May - I got tons of compliments!!
I did have a fairly new and interesting experience this week - in a good way. This past weekend I came back to my apartment. I started back to work today, so for the last few days I was getting myself settled back in to the apartment and into my work routine (aka getting out of bed at the crack of dawn). I had planned to slip back into my old Monday night class, but over the summer one of my coworkers and his lovely wife had also joined Weight Watchers and they go on Tuesdays. He invited me to join them on Tuesday, so I thought that I would give it a try before I got too settled into my old ways.
The class was a little smaller than the other two that I've been to, and the leader was a temp, but it was nice. The interesting experience was, though, that I actually had friends there! At my very last meeting before I left here in May, one of the bosses showed up at my Monday night meeting, and that was nice, but these were people who were truly going through the exact same thing I was. They experience what it's like to be adults trying to live a healthier lifestyle while living and eating on campus. (Granted, they haven't quite gotten the meal plan eating on campus experience yet, but it'll be cool to actually have someone to share that struggle with!) Someone who understands the weird hours that this job comes with, and the effect that that can have on your eating habits.
Just after the meeting started, another woman I know from work slipped in. Apparently she and my coworker have been walking together every morning! (They invited me to join them, but they're both like a foot taller than me and I fear I would need to actually jog to keep up with their brisk walking pace!) After the meeting we got to chat for a few minutes (she was sitting on the opposite side of the room from us so we couldn't talk during the meeting), and I had no idea that she'd been reading my blog for months! One of my other coworkers had given her the link...who knew people were spreading the word?! Well, it was this lovely woman who complimented my writing and suggested I try to get published. Coming from someone who works with some seriously intelligent people (not that I don't, but it's a whole different level), that was a real compliment for me!
After the meeting, there were several of us who hung around outside chatting for a few minutes...those I knew, and some I didn't. I've never had that happen before! Usually everyone just leaves...it was pretty cool! I don't know that it happens on a regular basis, but I liked it. Thanks to the support I get from all of you, I've never felt like I was doing this on my own, but having friends/coworkers actually there with me is a really nice change.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 29: -2.2
Total weight loss: -48.6
Current weight: 208.6
It's so close, yet so far away!! I'm 1.4 pounds away from hitting a total loss of 50 and 8.6 away from that elusive 200 that I haven't seen in a loooong time. I have gotten a few people reminding me that I haven't updated my picture in a while. I meant to at the beginning of the summer, but just kept forgetting! Then I just decided I would wait until I hit the 50 lb mark to make it special - so, hopefully, you'll see one next week! Plus, it was kind of cool coming back to work today without any of my coworkers seeing me since May - I got tons of compliments!!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Every vacation must come to an end
This is my last week at home... *tear*. I will be leaving this Saturday to head back to my apartment and gear up for getting back to work next week. I always hate the end of summer and having to leave my family, but a girl has to make a living! And I am always grateful for the opportunity to have two months off to come home and spend with them.
This year, I am grateful not only for the time to spend with my family, but for the support and opportunities I have gotten for this journey. I've mentioned before that the most successful weight loss I've had in the past was while I was in college. I was a "January Joiner" and went to a Weight Watchers Center in Columbus while I was in school and one across the river in West Virginia while I was home. At the time, that was the only local WW meeting...and I hated it. The people were unfriendly, I was rarely acknowledged (even by the leader), and I felt very out of place. I went for a few weeks and then convinced myself that I knew enough about the program to do it on my own for the summer and go back to my Center when I returned to school in the fall. Well, that didn't happen. I started slacking on the food plan and never went back to the meetings. Needless to say, I eventually put all 38 pounds I'd lost back on...plus more.
I truly think that my continued success, especially through the summer, is attributed to this blog. Knowing that I had all of you reading and watching my progress really was a motivation to keep going. I wasn't a real big fan of the meeting here again (different location) - the people weren't too bad, there were a couple of friendly people, but I just didn't feel like I fit. But, this time, I stuck it out. I went and weighed in every week - I stayed for the meetings even though they weren't my favorite - and this time, I continued to lose. So, I really want to thank all of you for helping me through the last seven months! When I started this blog, I truly hoped that it was a positive change in the way I went about my weight loss...especially since I was telling the world how much I weighed every week whether it was good or bad. Now, I KNOW that it was a positive change that has made all the difference.
I also am grateful for the area YMCA and their awesome pool and Zumba classes! Big thanks go to the ladies at Zumba with Meghan B. and the ladies and gentlemen at Aqua Zumba with Natalie (and Sis for going to both with me twice a week!)! You all made the classes so much fun that I couldn't wait to come back every class - which helped me actually go during those awfully hot days.
And last, but most certainly not least, I am grateful for the support of my family. Not only for their continual emotional support, but for the physical support of going to classes with me and checking in with me on what I was able to eat.
I still have a long way to go on this journey, but thanks to all of you, it has been an enjoyable ride!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 28: -0.2
Total weight loss: -46.4
Current weight: 210.8
This year, I am grateful not only for the time to spend with my family, but for the support and opportunities I have gotten for this journey. I've mentioned before that the most successful weight loss I've had in the past was while I was in college. I was a "January Joiner" and went to a Weight Watchers Center in Columbus while I was in school and one across the river in West Virginia while I was home. At the time, that was the only local WW meeting...and I hated it. The people were unfriendly, I was rarely acknowledged (even by the leader), and I felt very out of place. I went for a few weeks and then convinced myself that I knew enough about the program to do it on my own for the summer and go back to my Center when I returned to school in the fall. Well, that didn't happen. I started slacking on the food plan and never went back to the meetings. Needless to say, I eventually put all 38 pounds I'd lost back on...plus more.
I truly think that my continued success, especially through the summer, is attributed to this blog. Knowing that I had all of you reading and watching my progress really was a motivation to keep going. I wasn't a real big fan of the meeting here again (different location) - the people weren't too bad, there were a couple of friendly people, but I just didn't feel like I fit. But, this time, I stuck it out. I went and weighed in every week - I stayed for the meetings even though they weren't my favorite - and this time, I continued to lose. So, I really want to thank all of you for helping me through the last seven months! When I started this blog, I truly hoped that it was a positive change in the way I went about my weight loss...especially since I was telling the world how much I weighed every week whether it was good or bad. Now, I KNOW that it was a positive change that has made all the difference.
I also am grateful for the area YMCA and their awesome pool and Zumba classes! Big thanks go to the ladies at Zumba with Meghan B. and the ladies and gentlemen at Aqua Zumba with Natalie (and Sis for going to both with me twice a week!)! You all made the classes so much fun that I couldn't wait to come back every class - which helped me actually go during those awfully hot days.
And last, but most certainly not least, I am grateful for the support of my family. Not only for their continual emotional support, but for the physical support of going to classes with me and checking in with me on what I was able to eat.
I still have a long way to go on this journey, but thanks to all of you, it has been an enjoyable ride!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 28: -0.2
Total weight loss: -46.4
Current weight: 210.8
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Elizabeth and the Purple Paintbrush
Now that the temperature has gone back to a "normal" level, it's been a bit easier to get some moving in! Not only did we get our double Zumbas in, but I was able to get some unexpected exercise in by painting my room! I have had the same room in my parents house since I was born...until this summer. Sister and I have shared that room since she was born, and now that we're both grown we each have our own rooms. My new room was, at one time, Brother #3's room when he was little. So, when I got moved in there at the beginning of the summer, it was painted sky blue with clouds and the bottom of the walls were covered with wallpaper that looked like tall grass with bugs. There was a wallpaper tree going up one wall, and apple tree leaf wallpaper all around the top. Not exactly how a 31 year old woman wants her bedroom to look. Mom was sad to see it go (cause, it really was quite cute for a little boys room), but she agreed to let me redo it.
I got a later start than I would have liked because of my trip and then the majorly hot weather of last week. But, I finally got it going this past week! I de-wallpapered the whole room and painted it purple! It's not a PURPLE, but more like a purple. (I hope you've seen that commercial to know the reference...mom and I had a giggle in the store about it) Seriously, though, it's a lighter blue-violet color and I've painted the shelves white, got white curtains, and am using an old white door as a back-board to my bed. I still have to give about half the room a second coat of paint (which I'll probably do this evening), but it looks so nice!
I knew that it would be some extra movement, but I was surprised by how much! The day after I de-wallpapered the room, my arms and my back were SO SORE!! Thank goodness we didn't have the paint yet cause I needed a break! I also underestimated how much I was going to have to move around the furniture...that may have taken just as much energy as the painting itself. Whew! And aside from Dad helping me with a tricky bed move once, I did it all by myself!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 27: -3.0
Total weight loss: -46.2
Current weight: 211.0
I got a later start than I would have liked because of my trip and then the majorly hot weather of last week. But, I finally got it going this past week! I de-wallpapered the whole room and painted it purple! It's not a PURPLE, but more like a purple. (I hope you've seen that commercial to know the reference...mom and I had a giggle in the store about it) Seriously, though, it's a lighter blue-violet color and I've painted the shelves white, got white curtains, and am using an old white door as a back-board to my bed. I still have to give about half the room a second coat of paint (which I'll probably do this evening), but it looks so nice!
I knew that it would be some extra movement, but I was surprised by how much! The day after I de-wallpapered the room, my arms and my back were SO SORE!! Thank goodness we didn't have the paint yet cause I needed a break! I also underestimated how much I was going to have to move around the furniture...that may have taken just as much energy as the painting itself. Whew! And aside from Dad helping me with a tricky bed move once, I did it all by myself!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 27: -3.0
Total weight loss: -46.2
Current weight: 211.0
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Elizabeth and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
Sometimes I feel like Weight Watchers is reading my mind and they send the exact topic to discuss that I need the most that week.
This past week was a really tough one. I started off my food week with July 4th - not exactly a great sign when you start your week with a holiday, but all in all, it wasn't bad. I found that, yet again, I ate less than I normally would have. I had eaten very little leading up to dinner so that I could allow myself to have a burger and some baked beans and not feel guilty about it. I made a most delicious cake for dessert (strawberry lemonade cake...yum), and allowed myself to have one piece (I didn't even eat any leftovers of ANY of the holiday food!).
But, frankly, that was the least of my worries this week. As I'm sure you're all aware, it was crazy hot this week! And our house is three stories tall and over 100 years old...there's no AC (except from small window units in bedrooms)...so that adds several complications to weight loss: 1. Who wants to cook in that heat?? We did a lot of eating out. 2. Who wants to move in that heat?? While we did still go to Zumba and Water Zumba, I didn't do much else. 3. High heat makes me not that hungry, but then when I don't eat much and am finally hungry, then I make not always great choices because I have the extra points to use. 4. You do what you can to cool down...including eating ice cream sandwiches and frozen yogurt. Once in a while they are totally eatable...but you prob shouldn't have them like every day.
Then, on top of all of that, Mom and Dad had their 40th class reunion. What does that have to do with my eating habits? I volunteered my assistance for preparations...which included making sugar flowers for another cake and making chocolate covered pretzel rods. Neither of which is easy to resist in the first place, but with it being so hot the chocolate was extra messy to work with and there was a lot of finger licking. Add PMS to that, and you've got a recipe for DISASTER.
I knew going into my weigh-in that it wasn't going to be a great one, but I hadn't really sat and thought about how bad my week had really been. So when I saw that I had gained, I was pretty disappointed. It was only one pound, but I was still kinda bummed. The topic of discussion this week, however, was turning setbacks into success. Now, the discussion itself isn't really great at the meeting here, but the weekly pamphlet was pretty helpful. There was a quote from Michael Jordan which said, "I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." There was also another quote on the chart the leader uses which said "I have failed over and over and over and that has led to my success." Both quotes really helped me put things into perspective. Yes, I had a bad week...but I HAD A BAD WEEK. One week does not my whole diet make. And, as I sat and thought about everything that I had to deal with through the week, I was quite glad that it was only one pound. It could have been so much worse.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 26: +1.0
Total weight loss: -43.2
Current weight: 214.0
This past week was a really tough one. I started off my food week with July 4th - not exactly a great sign when you start your week with a holiday, but all in all, it wasn't bad. I found that, yet again, I ate less than I normally would have. I had eaten very little leading up to dinner so that I could allow myself to have a burger and some baked beans and not feel guilty about it. I made a most delicious cake for dessert (strawberry lemonade cake...yum), and allowed myself to have one piece (I didn't even eat any leftovers of ANY of the holiday food!).
But, frankly, that was the least of my worries this week. As I'm sure you're all aware, it was crazy hot this week! And our house is three stories tall and over 100 years old...there's no AC (except from small window units in bedrooms)...so that adds several complications to weight loss: 1. Who wants to cook in that heat?? We did a lot of eating out. 2. Who wants to move in that heat?? While we did still go to Zumba and Water Zumba, I didn't do much else. 3. High heat makes me not that hungry, but then when I don't eat much and am finally hungry, then I make not always great choices because I have the extra points to use. 4. You do what you can to cool down...including eating ice cream sandwiches and frozen yogurt. Once in a while they are totally eatable...but you prob shouldn't have them like every day.
Then, on top of all of that, Mom and Dad had their 40th class reunion. What does that have to do with my eating habits? I volunteered my assistance for preparations...which included making sugar flowers for another cake and making chocolate covered pretzel rods. Neither of which is easy to resist in the first place, but with it being so hot the chocolate was extra messy to work with and there was a lot of finger licking. Add PMS to that, and you've got a recipe for DISASTER.
I knew going into my weigh-in that it wasn't going to be a great one, but I hadn't really sat and thought about how bad my week had really been. So when I saw that I had gained, I was pretty disappointed. It was only one pound, but I was still kinda bummed. The topic of discussion this week, however, was turning setbacks into success. Now, the discussion itself isn't really great at the meeting here, but the weekly pamphlet was pretty helpful. There was a quote from Michael Jordan which said, "I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." There was also another quote on the chart the leader uses which said "I have failed over and over and over and that has led to my success." Both quotes really helped me put things into perspective. Yes, I had a bad week...but I HAD A BAD WEEK. One week does not my whole diet make. And, as I sat and thought about everything that I had to deal with through the week, I was quite glad that it was only one pound. It could have been so much worse.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 26: +1.0
Total weight loss: -43.2
Current weight: 214.0
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming Swimming Swimming...
I have discovered a new favorite workout...swimming! (As if you couldn't tell from the title...) I mentioned a few weeks ago that we started doing Water Zumba (I'm happy to report that Dad HAS started joining us!). We're still going, and still loving it. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Sister and I like to go to regular Zumba with Megan B. at the downtown Y and then run out to another Y for the water Zumba right after. Mom and Dad join us for the water, but can't make it to the regular. In any case, between loving the Water Zumba and just flat out enjoying the pool time since it's been unbearably hot lately, I've been looking for reasons to be in the pool.
We started taking Nephew C out to the pool (he's a total water baby), so I decided to actually swim some laps while we were there. It totally kicked my butt, in the most positive way! I've done laps before and just tolerated it, but for some reason this time I've really enjoyed it. Aside from the usual delicious tiredness after swimming, I hardly felt it immediately afterward. The next day, however, was a different story. I didn't feel sore in my legs, which was a shock because they were what got tired the most while swimming. Instead, I was sore up my sides and in my back...two areas that I've had difficult working on, especially the back.
Today, I went back to swim again and found that even after only one time swimming, I didn't get quite as tired in between laps. Both times swimming, I swam the entire length of the pool and back 10 times! Today, I am EXHAUSTED after the swim, but looking forward to Zumba-ing tomorrow.
So, how did adding in an extra day of swimming affect my progress?? Pretty well...
Initial weight: 257.2
Weeks 25: -2.2
Total weight loss: -44.2
Current weight: 213.0
We started taking Nephew C out to the pool (he's a total water baby), so I decided to actually swim some laps while we were there. It totally kicked my butt, in the most positive way! I've done laps before and just tolerated it, but for some reason this time I've really enjoyed it. Aside from the usual delicious tiredness after swimming, I hardly felt it immediately afterward. The next day, however, was a different story. I didn't feel sore in my legs, which was a shock because they were what got tired the most while swimming. Instead, I was sore up my sides and in my back...two areas that I've had difficult working on, especially the back.
Today, I went back to swim again and found that even after only one time swimming, I didn't get quite as tired in between laps. Both times swimming, I swam the entire length of the pool and back 10 times! Today, I am EXHAUSTED after the swim, but looking forward to Zumba-ing tomorrow.
So, how did adding in an extra day of swimming affect my progress?? Pretty well...
Initial weight: 257.2
Weeks 25: -2.2
Total weight loss: -44.2
Current weight: 213.0
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Vacation!!
As you all know, I was off last week on vacation!! If you haven't seen my Facebook pictures yet, I highly suggest you set aside a few hours to look at them...lol. As I mentioned in my last post, I had decided before leaving that during my trip I was going to allow myself to experience British food culture without worrying about points. I'd considered weighing in at a meeting there, but 1. I didn't want to worry about sightseeing around the meeting time, and 2. they don't weigh in pounds, and that would've just caused too much confusion!
I didn't go crazy on food, but didn't really think about making consciously healthy choices. I had myself some fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, tea cakes, etc. It was glorious! I also did make some healthier choices, I had a chicken salad at Planet Hollywood, and on the plane home I picked the chicken and orzo over the pasta. We also didn't really snack much. We ate our three square meals (some days only two), and on the occasion had a dessert or a snack in the evening, but just generally didn't eat in between meals. Our other saving grace was that we walked A LOT. We obviously took the underground to get around the majority of the city, but we still had to walk a ton to get in between attractions, or through the attractions, and over lots of bridges. Most nights, by the time we got back to the hotel my feet, ankle, and/or hips were so sore!
There's been, so far, a couple tricky things to figure out. First, when taking the vacation off of watching what you eat, at what point do you start doing it again? On the way home? When you get home? After your next meeting? I mean, there's only two days in between when I got home and my next meeting...what would be the point of counting points for those two days? On the other hand, those two days might make a difference. On the airplane would've been a little difficult as you only have an option of two different meals, if any option at all...and when you're on a plane for 8 hours, you don't squawk over what they're feeding you, you're just happy they're feeding you. It's also difficult to even find healthier choices at an airport. The other tricky part is getting back into the swing of things. I'll be honest, I haven't been great the last two days. I haven't eaten a lot, but I have definitely NOT gotten in my fruits and veggies or my dairy.
But, I knew the risks when I decided to take a diet vacation while on my vacation. No matter what the results are, I will take it and deal with it. And it will be a fun adventure getting myself back on track. I've already gone back to Water Zumba, which felt great, but now I need to get the food under control. A trip to the store after fruits and veggies is in order - that will be a great first step. Now, to face the music...
Initial weight: 257.2
Weeks 23-24: +0.6
Total weight loss: -42.0
Current weight: 215.2
Not too shabby for eating whatever I want for a whole week! It's also possible that some of it is fat turned to muscle mass from all the walking - a slim chance, but still a chance. I have noticed that a few pairs of my shorts are feeling a little looser, though that could be wishful thinking! In any case, it's back to being good this week!
I didn't go crazy on food, but didn't really think about making consciously healthy choices. I had myself some fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, tea cakes, etc. It was glorious! I also did make some healthier choices, I had a chicken salad at Planet Hollywood, and on the plane home I picked the chicken and orzo over the pasta. We also didn't really snack much. We ate our three square meals (some days only two), and on the occasion had a dessert or a snack in the evening, but just generally didn't eat in between meals. Our other saving grace was that we walked A LOT. We obviously took the underground to get around the majority of the city, but we still had to walk a ton to get in between attractions, or through the attractions, and over lots of bridges. Most nights, by the time we got back to the hotel my feet, ankle, and/or hips were so sore!
There's been, so far, a couple tricky things to figure out. First, when taking the vacation off of watching what you eat, at what point do you start doing it again? On the way home? When you get home? After your next meeting? I mean, there's only two days in between when I got home and my next meeting...what would be the point of counting points for those two days? On the other hand, those two days might make a difference. On the airplane would've been a little difficult as you only have an option of two different meals, if any option at all...and when you're on a plane for 8 hours, you don't squawk over what they're feeding you, you're just happy they're feeding you. It's also difficult to even find healthier choices at an airport. The other tricky part is getting back into the swing of things. I'll be honest, I haven't been great the last two days. I haven't eaten a lot, but I have definitely NOT gotten in my fruits and veggies or my dairy.
But, I knew the risks when I decided to take a diet vacation while on my vacation. No matter what the results are, I will take it and deal with it. And it will be a fun adventure getting myself back on track. I've already gone back to Water Zumba, which felt great, but now I need to get the food under control. A trip to the store after fruits and veggies is in order - that will be a great first step. Now, to face the music...
Initial weight: 257.2
Weeks 23-24: +0.6
Total weight loss: -42.0
Current weight: 215.2
Not too shabby for eating whatever I want for a whole week! It's also possible that some of it is fat turned to muscle mass from all the walking - a slim chance, but still a chance. I have noticed that a few pairs of my shorts are feeling a little looser, though that could be wishful thinking! In any case, it's back to being good this week!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Women's Clothing Sizes
...are stupid!
One of the toughest things is being in that strange "in between sizes" stage. And, frankly, clothing companies don't help! Mens sizes are fairly simple - waist and inseam by inches. I'm sure that some companies are cut a little closer than others, blah blah blah, but women's sizes are just stupid. They are a simple number which can be interpreted differently by different companies. And then some companies decide to make up their own sizes which is just THAT much more confusing!!
In the interest of full disclosure, when I started this journey I was wearing an 18 in some companies, a 20 in others. One of my motivators to start this journey was because I hated reaching out of the teens. I'd somehow convinced myself that as long as I didn't reach into the 20s then I was okay, but dipping into that size 20 was hard. At first I told myself that it was just the companies making their clothes smaller than others, but when I was finally honest with myself I knew that while they are confusing, the real problem was me.
Now that I've lost a significant amount of weight, I know that the clothing sizes are still stupid! At the moment that I'm writing this, I'm wearing shorts that are a size 16 (exciting!). Yesterday, I tried on a pair of shorts that were a size 18 and they JUST fit. (a note for any guys reading who don't know about women's sizes, they go evens, I didn't skip size 17 in there...) Now, really! I've finally gotten to the point where I'm really noticing how much bigger on me my clothes look, but finding clothes that DO fit is hard. Sis found some old shorts of mine stored in the attic when I came home. All size 16, two fit and two didn't. How is a girl supposed to know what size she wears?!?!?! I guess it means that for the time being I need to just try on everything I think of buying.
On the plus side, though, I've been buying XL t-shirts instead of XXL!!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 22: -3.6
Total weight loss: -42.6 lbs
Current weight: 214.6
I'm so excited that I hit 40 pounds before my birthday and before my trip!! Speaking of...I am leaving this Friday for London!! I am soooo looking forward to this trip and am definitely feeling a lot better about being comfortable in my seat on the airplane...which is important because I will be in it for 7-8 hours. I plan on making some good choices while I'm away, but I'm allowing myself to experience the local cuisine (hello fish and chips!!). Don't expect an update next week - I don't plan on taking my laptop, though I may try to find a few minutes in the internet cafe below the hotel. We'll see! Regardless, I'll be back the week after with an update on how well I behaved... ;-)
One of the toughest things is being in that strange "in between sizes" stage. And, frankly, clothing companies don't help! Mens sizes are fairly simple - waist and inseam by inches. I'm sure that some companies are cut a little closer than others, blah blah blah, but women's sizes are just stupid. They are a simple number which can be interpreted differently by different companies. And then some companies decide to make up their own sizes which is just THAT much more confusing!!
In the interest of full disclosure, when I started this journey I was wearing an 18 in some companies, a 20 in others. One of my motivators to start this journey was because I hated reaching out of the teens. I'd somehow convinced myself that as long as I didn't reach into the 20s then I was okay, but dipping into that size 20 was hard. At first I told myself that it was just the companies making their clothes smaller than others, but when I was finally honest with myself I knew that while they are confusing, the real problem was me.
Now that I've lost a significant amount of weight, I know that the clothing sizes are still stupid! At the moment that I'm writing this, I'm wearing shorts that are a size 16 (exciting!). Yesterday, I tried on a pair of shorts that were a size 18 and they JUST fit. (a note for any guys reading who don't know about women's sizes, they go evens, I didn't skip size 17 in there...) Now, really! I've finally gotten to the point where I'm really noticing how much bigger on me my clothes look, but finding clothes that DO fit is hard. Sis found some old shorts of mine stored in the attic when I came home. All size 16, two fit and two didn't. How is a girl supposed to know what size she wears?!?!?! I guess it means that for the time being I need to just try on everything I think of buying.
On the plus side, though, I've been buying XL t-shirts instead of XXL!!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 22: -3.6
Total weight loss: -42.6 lbs
Current weight: 214.6
I'm so excited that I hit 40 pounds before my birthday and before my trip!! Speaking of...I am leaving this Friday for London!! I am soooo looking forward to this trip and am definitely feeling a lot better about being comfortable in my seat on the airplane...which is important because I will be in it for 7-8 hours. I plan on making some good choices while I'm away, but I'm allowing myself to experience the local cuisine (hello fish and chips!!). Don't expect an update next week - I don't plan on taking my laptop, though I may try to find a few minutes in the internet cafe below the hotel. We'll see! Regardless, I'll be back the week after with an update on how well I behaved... ;-)
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
It's fun to play at the YMCA....
Yes, I know that the actual lyrics say "stay", not "play"...but it still rhymes and suits my needs better!
This week I became the proud owner of a membership at the local YMCA! I've had a membership there before, but it's been probably around 8 years. My mom and my sister have recently started going to Zumba classes there, so I thought I'd join them while I'm home! I've only tried Zumba once before, but it was from a friends cd in the privacy of my own home. This week I tried not only regular Zumba, but AQUA Zumba!!
Both are pretty awesome, but I gotta say the Aqua Zumba makes you feel a whole lot less self conscious! It's all Zumba moves, but done neck deep in a pool. It's a whole lot easier on the body initially, but the resistance of the water makes it one heck of a workout. The first time we tried it, the next day I could really feel it...but it felt good! Yesterday, we went really crazy and did both - one right after the other! We did regular Zumba (or "Land Zumba" as some of them like to call it) at 5:30 at the downtown Y, then quickly ran out to the Calcutta Y (about a 10 minute drive across town for those of you not from around here...) for Aqua Zumba at 7:00. Both last about an hour, and are pretty intense. Sis and I loved it and would totally keep doing both, but Mom didn't like doing both in the same night, so we may do regular on Tue/Thur and aqua on Mon/Wed. I give her mad credit for at least trying it, though! Now we just gotta get the Dadoo going, too!
Aside from the cool Zumba (and other) classes the Y offers, I realized that their workout facilities are yet another great way to make sure that I get in my workouts. It's air conditioned, so on those majorly hot days like we had last week, I could still go there and comfortably work out! Or on days that it's raining...and I don't have to worry about taking over the whole living room! I plan to make good use of my money while I'm paying for this membership - and maybe it'll help spur me to get one when I get back in August. I still like my usual dancing, but you need a little variety in life!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 21: -1.8
Total weight loss: -39.0 lbs
Current weight: 218.2
This week I became the proud owner of a membership at the local YMCA! I've had a membership there before, but it's been probably around 8 years. My mom and my sister have recently started going to Zumba classes there, so I thought I'd join them while I'm home! I've only tried Zumba once before, but it was from a friends cd in the privacy of my own home. This week I tried not only regular Zumba, but AQUA Zumba!!
Both are pretty awesome, but I gotta say the Aqua Zumba makes you feel a whole lot less self conscious! It's all Zumba moves, but done neck deep in a pool. It's a whole lot easier on the body initially, but the resistance of the water makes it one heck of a workout. The first time we tried it, the next day I could really feel it...but it felt good! Yesterday, we went really crazy and did both - one right after the other! We did regular Zumba (or "Land Zumba" as some of them like to call it) at 5:30 at the downtown Y, then quickly ran out to the Calcutta Y (about a 10 minute drive across town for those of you not from around here...) for Aqua Zumba at 7:00. Both last about an hour, and are pretty intense. Sis and I loved it and would totally keep doing both, but Mom didn't like doing both in the same night, so we may do regular on Tue/Thur and aqua on Mon/Wed. I give her mad credit for at least trying it, though! Now we just gotta get the Dadoo going, too!
Aside from the cool Zumba (and other) classes the Y offers, I realized that their workout facilities are yet another great way to make sure that I get in my workouts. It's air conditioned, so on those majorly hot days like we had last week, I could still go there and comfortably work out! Or on days that it's raining...and I don't have to worry about taking over the whole living room! I plan to make good use of my money while I'm paying for this membership - and maybe it'll help spur me to get one when I get back in August. I still like my usual dancing, but you need a little variety in life!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 21: -1.8
Total weight loss: -39.0 lbs
Current weight: 218.2
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Summertime
I know that technically summer doesn't start until the end of June, but for me, it started this week! I am officially done with work and home in Ohio enjoying my time off with the family...and almost exactly two weeks from my trip!!
Things that are great about weight loss in the summertime:
- lots of fresh fruits and veggies!!
- warmer, sunshiney weather means spending more time outside
- the heat makes me not want to eat
- pool/beach time!!
- grilled food
Things that are not great about weight loss in the summertime:
- after going to the meeting here a second time, I'm still not a big fan, but it'll do while I'm here - the people are at least reasonably friendly
- the heat makes it difficult to get in workouts. My apartment is air conditioned, my office is air conditioned, the gyms are air conditioned...I come home to a house that's over 100 years old and three stories tall...and not air conditioned. But, the good news is that while it has been way too hot to get in my typical workouts, there are ways to get in exercise, despite the heat.
1. There's one bathroom in the house - upstairs. I need to start counting how many times a day I walk up and down the stairs.
2. Playing with the niece and nephews! One of my favorites....
3. Pool/beach time!! The resistance the water provides gives a great low-impact, yet still fun exercise! And even just walking in sand is more difficult than walking on asphalt.
4. Evening walks - spending time with the family after it starts cooling down and enjoying a nice leisurely walk around the neighborhood.
Now, aside from the stairs, I haven't done any of these, but then again I've only been home for about 3 days. It's starting to cool off, so hopefully I'll be able to get some more activity in soon - and we're supposed to try water zumba this week. I'm excited to try it!
Reminder: my meetings are now on Tuesdays, so no more Monday night posts until the end of July.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 20: -3.0
Total weight loss: -37.2 lbs
Current weight: 220.0
I officially weigh less than I did the very first time I started Weight Watchers - and I'm about 1 pound away from losing the same amount that I did that time. Exciting!!
Things that are great about weight loss in the summertime:
- lots of fresh fruits and veggies!!
- warmer, sunshiney weather means spending more time outside
- the heat makes me not want to eat
- pool/beach time!!
- grilled food
Things that are not great about weight loss in the summertime:
- after going to the meeting here a second time, I'm still not a big fan, but it'll do while I'm here - the people are at least reasonably friendly
- the heat makes it difficult to get in workouts. My apartment is air conditioned, my office is air conditioned, the gyms are air conditioned...I come home to a house that's over 100 years old and three stories tall...and not air conditioned. But, the good news is that while it has been way too hot to get in my typical workouts, there are ways to get in exercise, despite the heat.
1. There's one bathroom in the house - upstairs. I need to start counting how many times a day I walk up and down the stairs.
2. Playing with the niece and nephews! One of my favorites....
3. Pool/beach time!! The resistance the water provides gives a great low-impact, yet still fun exercise! And even just walking in sand is more difficult than walking on asphalt.
4. Evening walks - spending time with the family after it starts cooling down and enjoying a nice leisurely walk around the neighborhood.
Now, aside from the stairs, I haven't done any of these, but then again I've only been home for about 3 days. It's starting to cool off, so hopefully I'll be able to get some more activity in soon - and we're supposed to try water zumba this week. I'm excited to try it!
Reminder: my meetings are now on Tuesdays, so no more Monday night posts until the end of July.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 20: -3.0
Total weight loss: -37.2 lbs
Current weight: 220.0
I officially weigh less than I did the very first time I started Weight Watchers - and I'm about 1 pound away from losing the same amount that I did that time. Exciting!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
This past week hasn't been much different than the last week - still little food open on campus, still avoiding fast food, which is getting increasingly difficult. I say that because I'm refusing to go to the store - I need to clean out my refridgerator this week and don't really want to add more food to it. This coming weekend I will be travelling back to Ohio to visit the family while I'm on summer vacay, so I don't want to leave a bunch of stuff. But, that also means that I have little to eat. Not a major issue, as there are plenty of places around here to get reasonably healthy food, and I have a few Smart Ones stocked up to tide me over. So, since there wasn't any major drama, I thought I'd take this time to talk about changes.
When I first started this journey, I noted that it was not a New Years Resolution, but a change in my lifestyle. After I weighed in this week, my leader asked me if I had noticed any changes, and the smart aleck in me wanted to say, "I've lost over 30 pounds...of course I've noticed changes", but I simply answered "yes" and proceeded to note a few for her. Thinking about changes, I began to notice more and more - some big, some little.
- When I'm looking for someone else to cook my dinner, I'm thinking about actual restaraunts, not fast food chains.
- I spend significantly less money eating out.
- I snack on fruits and veggies rather than chips and pretzels.
- I have more energy than I've had in a long time. I've never really been a morning person...unless there's something super important going on in the morning (like leaving for vacay, taking someone somewhere, or opening Christmas presents), it usually takes me a few times to hit the snooze before I get up. Well, I still hit the snooze button (hey, I like sleep), but throughout the day I am way less tired than I used to be. I don't feel like napping after lunch most days, I don't drink coffee (not like I did much before, but I would partake in the occasional iced beverage before), and I don't spend my whole evening on the couch because I'm too tired to do anything else.
- I go for two hour walks with friends on the weekend instead of watching tv.
- Yoga is getting easier each time I do it. This week I did tree position without falling for the first time! (That's the one where you stand on one leg with the other foot on your thigh with your hands over your head) Though, I still kind of feel like Warrior Pose is the devil (lunging with your arms over your head)...
- Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill their husbands....they just don't! Okay, I stole that from Legally Blonde, but it's true. I am, in general, a happier person. I contribute it partially to feeling better about myself period, and partially to the new enorphins. I'm not really much of a grumpy person anyway, but I don't let things stress me out as much.
- I sleep better. I fall asleep faster - I don't get up during the night as often (unless I wait until late to work out then, I have to pee a lot because of all the water I drank).
- I don't work out EVERY day - and on the days that I don't, it takes me longer to get to sleep. I lay in bed feeling like I forgot something and have energy to burn.
- I am rediscovering all kinds of clothes that I had but couldn't wear. (I found even more since last week) On a slightly sad note, though, some clothes that I really like are getting way too big now. I know that it's really a good thing....but I liked them.
- This was the first year I've gotten out my summer clothes and not worried that they wouldn't fit because they were too small...I actually worried that they wouldn't fit because they were too big. There were a few that were a little big, none that were too small, but plenty that were just right. (And now I sound like Goldilocks)
- I don't have to buy a bathing suit this year...I have several now.
- My boobs are bigger than my stomach again.
- Some days I actually kind of like looking at myself in the mirror.
Change is hard...and scary. But change makes you stronger...and sometimes thinner.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 19: -1.0
Total weight loss: -34.2 lbs
Current weight: 223.0
I am almost at the weight I was when I started Weight Watchers for the very first time when I was in college...and, ironically, I've lost almost as much as I did that time, too.
When I first started this journey, I noted that it was not a New Years Resolution, but a change in my lifestyle. After I weighed in this week, my leader asked me if I had noticed any changes, and the smart aleck in me wanted to say, "I've lost over 30 pounds...of course I've noticed changes", but I simply answered "yes" and proceeded to note a few for her. Thinking about changes, I began to notice more and more - some big, some little.
- When I'm looking for someone else to cook my dinner, I'm thinking about actual restaraunts, not fast food chains.
- I spend significantly less money eating out.
- I snack on fruits and veggies rather than chips and pretzels.
- I have more energy than I've had in a long time. I've never really been a morning person...unless there's something super important going on in the morning (like leaving for vacay, taking someone somewhere, or opening Christmas presents), it usually takes me a few times to hit the snooze before I get up. Well, I still hit the snooze button (hey, I like sleep), but throughout the day I am way less tired than I used to be. I don't feel like napping after lunch most days, I don't drink coffee (not like I did much before, but I would partake in the occasional iced beverage before), and I don't spend my whole evening on the couch because I'm too tired to do anything else.
- I go for two hour walks with friends on the weekend instead of watching tv.
- Yoga is getting easier each time I do it. This week I did tree position without falling for the first time! (That's the one where you stand on one leg with the other foot on your thigh with your hands over your head) Though, I still kind of feel like Warrior Pose is the devil (lunging with your arms over your head)...
- Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill their husbands....they just don't! Okay, I stole that from Legally Blonde, but it's true. I am, in general, a happier person. I contribute it partially to feeling better about myself period, and partially to the new enorphins. I'm not really much of a grumpy person anyway, but I don't let things stress me out as much.
- I sleep better. I fall asleep faster - I don't get up during the night as often (unless I wait until late to work out then, I have to pee a lot because of all the water I drank).
- I don't work out EVERY day - and on the days that I don't, it takes me longer to get to sleep. I lay in bed feeling like I forgot something and have energy to burn.
- I am rediscovering all kinds of clothes that I had but couldn't wear. (I found even more since last week) On a slightly sad note, though, some clothes that I really like are getting way too big now. I know that it's really a good thing....but I liked them.
- This was the first year I've gotten out my summer clothes and not worried that they wouldn't fit because they were too small...I actually worried that they wouldn't fit because they were too big. There were a few that were a little big, none that were too small, but plenty that were just right. (And now I sound like Goldilocks)
- I don't have to buy a bathing suit this year...I have several now.
- My boobs are bigger than my stomach again.
- Some days I actually kind of like looking at myself in the mirror.
Change is hard...and scary. But change makes you stronger...and sometimes thinner.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 19: -1.0
Total weight loss: -34.2 lbs
Current weight: 223.0
I am almost at the weight I was when I started Weight Watchers for the very first time when I was in college...and, ironically, I've lost almost as much as I did that time, too.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)