7/31/12: Checking In

It's Tuesday morning and I missed yesterday morning's weigh-in post, but I did not miss weighing-in yesterday.  So here's the post.  I weighed 182.8 pounds yesterday!!!  I am sticking to my trend line and all was looking good...until last night.  We bowl in a league on Monday nights (I'm not very good, in case you're curious.  My average is a 130, but it probably suffered a little last night) and last night I pulled a muscle in my left quad.  It only really hurts when I walk.  The pain is on the left side of my upper left quad.  I put heat on it last night, which helped, and this morning, instead of my normal cardio routine, I stretched, used the foam roller on it, rode the bike for 20 minutes, did 1500 strides on the elliptical, and stretched and rolled it again.  The bike and the elliptical did not hurt, so that's good.  At least I have cardio I can do until it heals.  The stretching and rolling seemed to help.  So, the goal is to not let this minor injury derail me.  My plan is to show up at the gym every morning like I have been for the last 22 weeks, and do whatever I can.  I feel like this will heal quickly, it's already better than it was last night.  I will not let this be a setback!!! 

So far, I have lost 41.2 pounds and I have 32.8 left to go.  It feels good to be well past half way to my weight loss goal and 22 weeks into living a much healthier lifestyles!!

7/29/12: Week 22 Photo

7/29/12 - End of Week 22 - 184 Pounds 

I still weighed in at 184 this morning, but that's OK.  It's coming off in spurts these days.  Here's today's photo.  Looks a little better than the following photo, I'd say.  And I am feeling tons better, too.  That's what is really important!

2/26/2012 - Start Photo - 224 Pounds

7/27/2012: Size 12!

I can't believe I missed yesterday's post. There is just too much going on these days, I guess. And I had great news to post, too! No, I have not lost another four pounds. I weighed in at exactly 184 again, yesterday. But I had no idea what I was going to wear to work yesterday since Jack had dropped all of my size 14 skirts off at the cleaners. So I checked the closet with my smaller clothes in it, wondering if there might be something in there I could wear. I had a really cute size 12 skirt in that closet and I thought, "There is no way that will fit," but I tried it on anyway. And it not only fit, it fit well! I am now a size 12!!!! Yeah! That feels like real progress!

7/23/2012: 40 Pounds!!

I can't believe it either, but this morning when I got on the scale I weighed 184 pounds.  I have lost 40 pounds in 21 weeks!  The last time I dropped several pounds in one week I got anxious that I was losing weight too fast.  That, of course, was followed by a week and a half of losing no weight at all.  So this time I'm going to look at this sudden drop in weight as the gift that it is and not fret about losing weight too fast.  The trend line has held true, and I'm sure sooner or later it will flatten out again.

But for now....40 Pounds!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  I am excited about that!!!

7/22/2012: Week 21 Photo and Chart Update

Week 21 photo! This is the first picture that I've taken and posted with my iPad. It turned out OK I think, though I will still need to upload it to my PC so I can print it out and paste it to my chart. Speaking of my chart, here's a current photo:




You can see the recent plateau that I have been complaining so much about, and the fact that I made it past my half way mark. This morning I weighed 185.0 pounds. If I weigh 185 tomorrow, when I mark my chart, I will be right back on my trend line.

I have discovered, through this process, that it is easier for me to think about this process in ten week increments. Therefore, at the beginning of each ten weeks, I create a smaller chart within the chart, and graph out a projected range of weights for that ten weeks. The process of making the mini-chart provides me with an opportunity to visualize success over then next ten weeks. It also gives me shorter term goals to work towards.

Not much else to talk about at the moment. I'm having fun with my garden and have been harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers faster than we can eat them. I bowled a 171 in practice yesterday, I hope I can do it again tomorrow in league. We saw The Dark Knight Rises yesterday. Jack thought it was awesome, I thought it was a rather tortured movie that tried too hard to be more than it was. But that's just my opinion and I am sure I am in the minority, there. We have seen other, in my opinion, better movies this summer including Moonrise Kingdom and The Intouchables. I recommend both of those to all of you movie goers out there.

I'll check in tomorrow with my official end-of-21-week weigh-in. Until then, stay as cool as you can in this summer heat!

7/21/2012: Back on Track

After an excruciating week and a half, which seriously felt like at least three weeks, of not losing any weight, I am finally back on track!  This morning I weighed (unofficially, of course, since I only mark my chart on Thursdays and Mondays) 185.6 pounds!  That puts me back on my original trend line, as if I never plateaued at all.  I can't begin to describe how difficult the last one and a half weeks were for me, emotionally.  I wasn't doing anything differently, I was still exercising everyday and eating less than 1500 calories a day.  I was still keeping my meals small, drinking plenty of water, and not drinking much, if any, alcohol.  I was doing everything that I had been doing for the first 19 weeks of my Get Fit Initiative, but it just seemed to stop working.  I started to get frustrated and depressed.  How much more could I do?  Did I have to cut my calories to 1200?  I don't want to do that.  First of all, I don't think it's enough, with all the exercising I am doing.  Second, that extra 300 calories makes a big difference when it comes to flexibility in my diet.  The thought of having to cut my daily calories to 1200 was just plain depressing.

Last Thursday I really wanted to weigh-in under my half-way mark, which was seeming more and more like an elusive goal that I would never attain, so as I mentioned in a previous post, I took it to extremes Tuesday night and skipped dinner.  I saw an immediate result on the scale Wednesday morning.  Wednesday evening, I ate a little dinner, but not much, and Thursday morning I get the result I was looking for, and crossed my halfway mark with a weigh-in of 186.6 pounds.  Therefore, I am happy to report that I am back on my 1500 calorie-a-day plan and that Jack and I went to Governor Stumpy's for dinner last night.  I ordered the Cajun style grilled talapia with fresh green beans, though I skipped the rice in favor of extra green beans.  I ate it all up, and even ate 10 or so peanuts at the ball park last night, and I still weighed in at 185.6 pounds this morning.  That's more like it!  That is more what I am used to.  Exercise hard, six days a week, eat about 1500 healthy calories a day, drink plenty of water, and slowly but surely lose weight.  My faith in the plan is slowly but surely being restored. 

The mind games I went through over the last 10 days (I swear it seems like at least 30) were incredibly difficult.  I wanted to just say f___ it!  I can't do this.  I was so ready, emotionally, to give up.  My elephant was not in the game, anymore, and my rider was tired, bone tired.  I felt like I did not have the emotional energy or physical strength to wrestle that elephant back on course.  Exercise, instead of being that thing I do in the morning, became the, "Dreaded Chore," once again.  Without the results on the scale, it all seemed so pointless.  And that emotional tail spin happened so fast.  The first weigh-in with no loss, I took in stride.  The second weigh-in with no loss was pretty frustrating.  After the third, I began threatening to cut off a limb just to see results on the scale.  The prospect of a fourth weigh-in with no loss was simply unbearable. 

Over this last couple of weeks it became crystal clear that my chart, my blog, posting on facebook, my husband, my trainer, and all of you are absolutely essential to my success.  If I had been doing this alone, if I had not made my goals public and available to the whole world, if I did not have dozens of people out there cheering on my success, if my goal was not so well defined, if I did not have my chart to mark and look at and remind me that I was still ahead of goal; I would have given up.  I know I would have.  I've been there, done that, before.  A few times.  But, because of all of you, my chart, my husband, my sister, and my trainer, I stuck it out.  Miserably, I will admit.  Complainy, whiny, pathetically, and all of that.  But I stuck it out and today the scale is reflecting my efforts again, and once again, I am emotionally back on track.

When I look at the chart closely and realize that the plateau lasted only 1.5 weeks, I shake my head in disbelief.  I can't believe that short period of time of no weight loss sent me into such an emotional spiral.  I look at the previous 20 weeks and see about 3 other flat spots on the graph.  I remind myself that this is a pattern, that this will happen again, and I need to take the plateaus in stride.  I will get there.  I will weigh 150 pounds on or before February 4th, 2012.  I'll do it with the help of all of my family and friends, my trainer, and my chart.  I'm looking forward to getting there.  The journey is not too bad, either.  These rough patches are opportunities to learn a little more about myself and what motivates me.  Here's to hoping I can get a couple of weeks under my belt before that next learning experience!!

7/18/2012: Halfway There! Finally!!

Yeah! Woo Hoo! Hip Hip Hooray! After a couple of weeks of flat-lining it, I finally dropped below 187 pounds and crossed my half-way mark!!! It feels good, yes it does! This morning I weighed 186.6 pounds. I've lost 37.4 pounds and have 36.6 to go to reach 150 pounds. I can do this! I was feeling incredibly frustrated over the last week as the fat on my body seemed to get more and more stubborn and just didn't want to let go. I will admit that extreme times called for extreme measures and I pretty much skipped my evening meal Tuesday and yesterday I ate a little dinner, but not much. Half a stuffed pepper and a few prunes (for regularity - they are helping). I know that skipping meals is not a reasonable solution and that eating 5 or 6 small meals is the best way to go, but I couldn't go much longer with the deadlock so I figured missing one and a half dinners wouldn't hurt too much. Anyway, finally, I have started to lose weight again. We'll see what my body decides to do over the next week. I am hoping to see the gradual, yet steady weight loss that has been the norm for most of the last 20 weeks, but you never know. Things change...

7/16/2012: Wait for it...Wait for it...

As I said in yesterday's post, I really wanted to weigh 187 pounds today so that I would be halfway to goal after 20 weeks, but it was not meant to be.  I weighed 188.0 pounds this morning, which is 36 pounds less than I weighed exactly 20 weeks ago. 

I seem to have hit a real plateau, having lost very little weight over the last couple of weeks.  It's very frustrating!  I did get an extra walk in yesterday evening, Jack and I went for a brisk 2 mile walk after dinner.  We ate late though, dinner was at about 7:30.  I know that makes a difference. 

Oh well, I am just going to keep doing what I've been doing, it has certainly worked so far.  That stubborn fat will let go of its grip on me one of these days!!!!

7/15/2012: Week 20 - Will I Be Halfway to Goal Tomorrow?

7/15/2012 187.8 Pounds, 36.2 Pounds Lost to Date

2/26/2012 224.0 Pounds, Start Photo

Tomorrow morning I weigh-in at the end of 20 weeks of exercising 6 days a week for an hour a day and eating approximately 1500 calories or less per day.  I started with the goal of losing 74 pounds in 48 weeks.  I am hoping (HOPING in all CAPS, actually) to weigh 187.0 pounds tomorrow morning, because that will be exactly 37 pounds lost, or half-way to my goal weight of 150 pounds, in exactly 20 weeks. That just seems so neat and tidy, doesn't it?

But no matter what the scale reads tomorrow morning, the pictures above speak for themselves.  It is not hard to see the results of all of the commitment, discipline and hard work that I have been putting into my "Get Healthy Initiative" over the last 20 weeks.  Sometimes I get frustrated, sometimes it seems like it is going to take forever to get to 150 pounds, sometimes I am convinced that exercise is just another word for torture; but when I look at these photos and remind myself that this has only taken 20 weeks, I know it is all paying off and that over the next 20 - 28 weeks I will be able to lose the remaining 37 pounds.  Yes, it is going to be hard work.  I imagine I will hit a few more plateaus losing the last 37 pounds than I did losing the first 37, but I have 8 extra weeks to lose that second half in, since I lost the first half in only 20 weeks!  I have been encouraged by both Ruth (my sister) and Jeremy (my trainer) to add 30 minutes of exercise at the end of the day.  I have to say I am not ready to commit to another 30 minutes of exercise per day, 6 days a week, but I also have to admit that adding 30 minutes of exercise on days that I don't have something else going on in the evenings makes a lot of sense.  Therefore, it seems as if a compromise is in order!  This week, starting with today, I will add 3 extra 30 minute workouts to my established routine.  Those workouts may be as simple as a brisk walk, or it may be a 2 mile jog...that's about all I want to commit to at the moment...but I am committing to adding a minimum of 3 thirty minute evening walks per week, to my routine for the next 28 weeks.

Until tomorrow's weigh-in... 

7/12/2012: Frustration Sets In...

This morning's weigh-in was not what I was hoping it would be.  I was very excited on July 3rd, when I weighed 189.8 and was finally out of the 190s.  Unfortunately, since then, my weight loss has slowed down again.  This morning I weighed 188.4, so I have lost 1.4 pounds in 9 days.  Perhaps I should not be frustrated with that, I am still significantly under my line, but my pattern seems to be changing from a slow and steady weight loss to sudden drops of a couple of pounds then a week or two of fluctuation around that new weight.  For some reason, that is a lot harder for me.  It is much more rewarding, emotionally, to see all of the hard work I am doing result in the steady downward progress of my weight.

One of contributing factors to this trend seems to be my lack of...um...regularity.  This is a relatively new problem for me and seems to be a direct result of the change in my diet.  I find it odd that I should be suffering from this problem since I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, I would think that I get plenty of fiber in my diet.  Yesterday I decided to actively seek out foods that might help this little problem.  I found a few prunes in the pantry that Carla left behind and had 5 of those for a snack.  I ate the last 4 for my breakfast fruit this morning.  Hmmm...they seem to be helping a little already.  I'll pick up some more prunes today and use them for my breakfast fruit for a week or so and see if there is an improvement.  I also read that ground flax seed helps, too.  If any of you have suggestions, please let me know.  I already drink plenty of water, so I am sure that is not the problem.  Perhaps I am not getting enough fat in my diet, though I am not actively avoiding fats.  But I have made a habit of substituting mustard for mayonaise and salsa for salad dressings and that sort of thing, to reduce total calories. There is a possibility that I need to add a little bit of healthy oils into my daily diet.  *Sigh*  Just when I thought I had things figured out!!!

Other than that, everything is going well.  I am exercising 6 days a week, 3 days of strength training and 3 days of cardio.  This week's strength training routine actually takes me about 65 minutes, so it is pretty exhausting!  For cardio this week I did one day of running on the treadmill for an hour - 4.8 miles, one day of stair master (100 floors level 7) and ellipitical (2500 strides level 7), and one day of running outside - 4.0 miles.  I feel pretty good about all that!  I have not been recording my calories, as I have felt very in control of my food, but perhaps I should start again to see if there are some surprises there, that I just have not been paying attention to.  I have been focusing on making sure I get healthy snacks, so I am not too hungry in the evenings, and keeping my evening meal small. 

Maybe I need to think about adding more activity to my day.  In spite of the fact that I exercise an hour a day six days a week, I do spend most of the rest of my day sitting at work.  I've talked before about adding a walk in the evenings after dinner.  That's probably a good idea.  I think I may start that now that my weight seems to be getting a little more stubborn.

I'm close to half way!  1.4 pounds to go, and I will be half way to my goal.  I guess it is not surprising that I need to change things up a little to keep up the progress...it is just a little frustrating.  I'll figure it out, though.  I will reach my goal weight by February 4th, 2012!!

7/8/2012: Squirrels!!

I can't believe I ever thought squirrels were cute.  They are thoughtless creatures!!  I have so much more empathy for Elmer Fudd and Mr. Magregor than I ever thought I would when I was a kid.  I totally get where they were coming from, now!  Shhhh...be vewwy, vewwy quiet...I am hunting wabbits...and squiwwels!

Last Monday, Jack found a cardinal trapped in my tomato garden and had to take the front panel off to let it out.  How did it get in there?  I examined the cage and, sure enough, there were a couple of holes gnawed through the netting.  I immediately patched those holes and when to bed Tuesday night thinking my tomatoes were safe.  I thought wrong.  This is what I woke up to:

And this...

And this...

Obviously this was unacceptable, so Jack and I spent the 4th of July on yet another squirrel abatement project.  We headed to Home Depot, bought chicken wire (only because Jack said razor wire was not a viable option), and spent a couple of hours in 100+ degree hit fortifying the cage.  This is what it looks like now:

There are a couple of sections higher up on the cage that don't have chicken wire yet, but, so far, the squirrels have only chewed holes through the sections they could reach from the ground.  We did cover the top, so the squirrels couldn't sit up there and chew through.  So far, it's held up.  I don't think the squirrels can get through the chicken wire, but if they do...I'll think of something else!!

Why do I fight so hard to win the war against the squirrels?  Because I love preparing meals with veggies that I picked that day from my garden.  Here are five of the vegetables from my garden that were in tonight's dinner:

And here are the dishes they went into:

Minty Carrot and Beet Salad

This salad contains four items from my garden; carrots and beets (obviously), mint, and chives.  It was delicious!!!!

Tossed salad

This is just a simple tossed salad, but the tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers were all picked today!  The only sad thing is that it is too late for lettuce, we ate it earlier in the spring, so the greens came from the market.

In addition to the items above, we had left overs from last night, broccoli (I harvested a beautiful head yesterday) and rosemary chicken (yep - you guessed it, the rosemary was from the garden, too).

I get a huge kick out of the fact that I grew 9 of the ingredients that were part of our dinner tonight.  So bring it on, squirrels, I am not giving up the fight!!!!

7/8/2012: Photo - End of Week 19

7/8/2012 Week 19

All is well as far as the weight-loss progress goes.  This morning I weighed 188.2 pounds and I feel solidly in the 180s.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was struggling to stay under 200, so I have to say it feels pretty good to know that the 190s are done and over with and that I am probably about 5 weeks away from the 170s.  I find it amazing, when I look at my chart, how steady the weight loss has been.  I know if I keep on doing what I've been doing, I will continue to lose weight and stay on track.

And that is where the challenge lies; sometimes it's hard to imagine maintaining the discipline that I need to maintain for another 20 - 30 weeks.  I don't know why it's hard, because each day, on its own, is not so bad.  It's not like on the days that I am disciplined I go to bed wishing I hadn't exercised or that I had over-eaten.  It's just that, for some reason, there are times when I just feel like being lazy, skipping the workout, and eating whatever I want.  So far, I haven't skipped any workouts, with the exception of a couple of travel days; but I have had days, here or there, that I have overeaten.  I don't feel good on those days...so I can't really say why I wish I could do it more often...yet there is that part of my brain that says, "I wish I didn't have to do this for another 20-some weeks." 

I combated that feeling today by updating my chart and getting ready for my next ten weeks.  It really did help to extend my trend line for the next ten weeks, and get my mini-grid set up.  It reaffirmed my goals and gave me the opportunity to visualize success.  I am looking forward to being in the low 170s when Jack and I go on vacation in mid-September.  So much of this is a mind game.  By spending about an hour updating my chart today, I was able to get my mind more firmly entrenched in the game.

I have one more week left in my second 10 weeks.  It looks very possible that by the end of week 20 I will have lost 37 pounds, which is half-way to my goal; 4 weeks ahead of schedule.  That is very exciting!!!

Until tomorrow's weigh in...

7/5/2012: Weighing in After 18.5 Weeks

After 18.5 weeks of exercising an hour a day, 6 days a week, and trying to consume approximately 1,500 calories or less per day, I have lost 35 pounds. I weighed in this morning at 189.0 pounds!  Two more pounds and I will be half way to my goal of 150 pounds.  I look and feel so much better today than I did 35 pounds ago it is hard to imagine what it is going to be like to lose 39 more, but I am looking forward to it!!

I appreciate all of your encouragement and support!!  This would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to do by myself! 

Now it is back to work for a couple of days.  But, Hey!  It's Thursday already!!

7/3/2012: Hello One-Eighties!!!

Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!  My two week stay in the one-ninety-ones is finally over!!  This morning when I got on the scale I weighed 189.8 pounds!  Wow, I even have trouble typing those numbers in the right order I am so used to typing the one and then the nine!!  Oh my goodness...it feels so good to finally see that change on the scale.

It's been a frustrating few weeks for me, with regard to the numbers on the scale.  Starting over two weeks ago there was a sudden drop in weight into the 191s, which caused me to go, "Whoa...where did that come from?"  It was fun to see those numbers, but it was unexpected and seemed too soon.  Ever since then I've been bouncing around 191.4/191.6.  Sometimes a little more, even getting back up into the 192.somethings, sometimes a little less, but staying in the neighborhood.  My chart helped ease my frustrations a lot, because I only record my weight on my chart on Mondays and Thursdays, and by looking at my chart I could see that I was still close to my predicted trajectory and also still well below my line.  Yesterday morning was the first time I was a little disappointed that I had not actually broken through the 191 mark.  After a weekend of pretty extreme discipline on the road (with the exception of the wedding party itself, in which I did indulge) I was hoping to see some positive movement on the scale.  Unfortunately, my body thought differently and when I marked my chart yesterday, I was still in the 191s; my line was definitely flattening out.  My response to that was a renewed sense of discipline.  Yesterday, I hit the gym hard, made good food choices all day, and saw the results on the scale this morning.  Finally!!

I have a tendency to retain water and I know that is part of the day-to-day fluctuation in my weight.  I try to avoid processed food at home and try to make healthy choices in restaurants, avoiding foods with a lot of sauces on them.  Even salads can be tough, considering the fact that you have no idea what is in the salad dressings.  I usually order my salad dressing on the side so I can control how much I use and just assume that it is about 100 calories a tablespoon (all oil).  On Sunday, Jack and I ended up eating lunch in the airport, it was unavoidable.  I made the best choice I could, a pre-packaged salad from California Pizza Kitchen that was only supposed to have 380 calories in it.  I believe that part, but who knows how much sodium was in the dressing? Also, I have long suspected that they treat pre-packaged lettuce with something to keep it from turning brown and I think "that something" as an impact on my water weight.  Perhaps, also, just flying caused some water retention.  Whatever it was, it's gone now and this morning's weigh-in was much closer to what I was expecting and hoping to see.  It's a little sad that it came on a Tuesday, a non-mark-my-chart day, but I did put a little dot on my chart to mark the occasion.  I also dotted my chart when I dropped below 200 for the first time.  I weighed 199.8 pounds five and a half weeks ago.  Ten pounds in 5 1/2 weeks...that's not too bad...

It's seems odd to me that controlling what I eat is much more frustrating for me when we are traveling than when I am at home.  There is something about being on the road that causes me to want to eat more or less constantly.  Is it the comfort of eating that makes up for the discomfort of being away from home?  I don't really know.  Whatever it is, it makes me feel like I should get more of a reward (on the scale) for behaving well while I am on the road than when I do the exact same things at home.  Silly, I know, but just where are those gold stars?  Today, when I got on the scale and saw 189.8, I felt like I got my gold star for being careful and diligent about my health plan while away from home.  I feel better now.

Thankfully, Jack and I decided to turn Pat and Heather's wedding into an excuse to take several days off from work.  We got home late Sunday night and we took off yesterday and today, in addition to the holiday, tomorrow.  It feels good to be away from work for several days.  I'm feeling relaxed, recharged, and energized.  I know being home will make it easy for me to take care of myself for the next couple of days and that on Thursday, when I get to mark my chart "for reals" (as Sharlynne would say), I will be well established in the one-eighties!

Next mini-goal?  187.0.  That will be half-way to 150!!!!

7/2/12: Week 18 Photo

7/2/2012:  End of Week 18

Not much to say at the moment, but needed to post my week 18 photo since we didn't get home until midnight last night. 

I worked hard at the gym today, we went bowling with Alix and Nicholas, and we are enjoying our time off.

Looking forward to the fireworks on Wednesday!!

7/2/2012: Steady as She Goes

The wedding weekend wasn't too damaging, but it did not result in any weight loss, either. With the exception of the wedding celebration itself, I was very careful about what I ate while away from home. The wedding was Saturday night and I did indulge in a few (or more) glasses of wine and a piece of wedding cake, in addition to the dinner that was served. I am pretty sure those calories got burned off with all of the dancing though! Jack was a dancing machine and it was all I could do to more or less keep up with him! In addition to the dancing I jogged for about on hour on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I was hoping to see at least a little bit of a weight loss this morning, but it was not to be. This morning I weighed 191.6 pounds. Staying on the bright side of things, it's always good to go on vacation and not gain weight, right? Also, I am far enough below my line that I can maintain my weight for three weeks before I hit it. So, even though I am a little disappointed that my efforts at staying on my path this weekend were not rewarded by a drop on the scale this morning, I am not discouraged. Today is a new day and those one-eighties are right around the corner!