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!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
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
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