Week 3 Check-In

Start weight: 146 lbs

Last week's weigh in:  141.0 lbs

This week's weigh in: 138.6 lbs

Jillians: 13/35

Climbs: 5/15

Jeans that do up again! 3/4

Goodbye bloating! I'm really happy to be farther along than I expected before leaving for vacation, although it is a little disheartening that I am currently around the same place I was AFTER I gained a bunch of weight on our last cruise :( No one's fault but my own for letting myself slide so far past my max threshold. I am going to TRY to not stress about it, eat reasonable portions, be active, and plan to pick up right where I left off when I get back! It helps knowing I only have about seven weeks to meet my goal once I'm home.

Jillian quote of the day: When referencing her workout minions' bodies - "This is not genetics. Don't be fooled. There are no genetics happening in this room. You know what this is? This is Hard. Ass. Work!"

1200 Calories (Article)

Jenny recently posted this on Facebook and I thought it was definitely worth re-posting here.

The main point is that marketing to women only focuses on counting calories and gives no mention of quality of food or that you must eat more if you are exercising (or else enter starvation mode and completely set yourself up for failure).

She makes some good points about how women who have nice bodies work out with weights, not just endless cardio, and are heavier (but look slimmer) than their counterparts who don't exercise or only do cardio.

*Warning - it does get a little ranty by the end!

1200 Calories - Why is this the magic weight loss number?

Week 2 Check-In

Start weight: 146 lbs

Last week's weigh in: 140.0 lbs

This week's weigh in: 141.0 lbs

Boo bloating! I will have to wait until next week before I believe the scale :S

Jillians: 8/35

Climbs: 3/15

Jeans that do up again! 3/4

Last Cheat Friday turned into Cheat Weekend, and I'm behind in my Jillians, so hopefully this next week will be better! One last push before the cruise!

Jillian quote of the day: "We are going to beat you into a paste. But, a really sexy paste!"

Week 1 Check-In

This week started out great! Jiilian, walking, skiing.
And then Boopie got sick. And I was stuck in the no-sleep-constant laundry that is a stomach bug. Vomit, new sheets, shower, new pjs. Repeat. 8 times in 9 hours. At one point we out her to bed in Baba's jammies and she used a feather bed cover as a blanket. Oh the joys of parenting!
So that pretty much shot my exercise or ability to cook properly for a few days!
But I did manage to run today for the first time since Christmas break - it felt good to get out of the house and get some fresh air!
I also got to 32 pushups! Yay! I don't want to be the a$$hole who complains about having a skinny body part but small arms and big body mean pushups are hard! I am so glad I am forcing myself to do them. I can feel a difference in my strength already!

Next week I am going to try and make 2 new healthy recipes. I will report back!

Week #1 Update

Hello Everyone!

Here is my update:

Start: 147lbs
Current weight: 144lbs (I should have posted yesterday when I read that you are always your lightest on a Friday)

So my only major change for this weight loss journey is to eat 40/40/20. Since I love to snack on fruit and popcorn, my carbs tend to be around 60/70% which is terrible. Since I have been eating 40% carbs basically by swapping out fruit with veggies and eating lots of protein I have more energy, feel less hungry, snack less and weight is getting better. It is sad how this always seems to be the case yet I try so hard to fight the protein!

I decided that I won't cut out alcohol for this challenge. I don't really drink that much but when I do I drink to excess...then snack to excess to get undrunk. This time if I would like to have a drink I will just not a whole bottle or pitcher, hahah. I guess it also doesn't help that this weekend is a wine tasting weekend extravaganza. I am always the DD which helps with that except this time my friend offered soooo I don't have an excuse per say.

100 push ups of death challenge. So coincidentally in my boxing class we had to do 100 push ups (also 100 of a lot of other crappy things). I made it under 5 minutes but not how I wanted to complete the challenge so this one is going to be tricky. I did 50 real push ups and then 50 "ladies" push ups. Sooo hard! It didn't help that I just worked chest the other day. I told Steve when I got home and he was like "you can't do 100" well lets see you try....50 down. Ha!

Oh chin ups......so much harder when you are heavier! Seriously, add 10lbs and it is impossible. I bought a chin up bar so now I can bring the fun home. This one is going to be a toughy.


Still can't fit into any pants other than my fat ones! Hopefully this will change soon!

Week 1 Check-In

Jillian quote of the day: "Today we're going to beat you like you owe us money!"

Start weight: 146 lbs

Last week's weigh in: 142.4 lbs

This week's weigh in: 140.0 lbs

Jillians: 5/35

Climbs: 1/15

Jeans that do up again! 3/4

I'm sure none of the following is new to you ladies, but I am feeling fairly successful so far and thought I would post on what has been working for me:

1. Tracking my food and exercise.

My first week of dieting I went UP 2 pounds (probably some bloating associated, to be fair). The second week I lost nothing. The third week I started tracking my food and workout calories burned and… the diet took off! Maybe this is partly coincidence, but it is way less stressful knowing exactly what I have eaten and how much I have left, and I am really enjoying seeing the breakdown of cal/carbs/fat/protein/fiber by using an online counter. 

2. Frequent small cheats instead of one big cheat day.

I used to swear up and down I am all-or-nothing with food. I tend to binge, and having ANYTHING unhealthy in the house means I will binge on that, even if I don't like it that much. But this time I have been sipping Moose's booze, having a Werther's or two after dinner if I'm really craving dessert, eating bacon on the weekends. I count it all, and it really hasn't been hurting me, and my binge cravings have gone way down. I also haven't had a lot of temptation (by staying home and eating homemade meals), so we will see how it goes with a big party and Girls' Night coming up!

3. Reduced (not low) carbs.

I notice a big difference in the weigh-ins the morning after eating 120g of carbs vs. the 165g allotted to me by My Fitness Pal. And reducing carbs a little bit is WAY easier than a low carb diet (Atkins is about 20g of carbs a day). I am at the highest end of reduced carb diets (in The Zone), and I still feel healthy and like I am not sacrificing much food-wise because of carbs.

4. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day (even weekends!).

This is what any sleep doctor will recommend, and not only has it helped my sleeping issues, it helps fight off those late-night cravings and the late-morning so-hungry-going-to-die-must-eat-two-meals-of-food desperation after sleeping in.

5. Being excited about something that has nothing to do with diet or exercise.

I have a couple new sewing/art projects getting started and it has really improved my grumpy wah-I'm-dieting! mood. I feel like all I've done lately is think about and track food, so it is REALLY refreshing to focus on something else that is fun. I'm also really looking forward to my trip, focusing on the weather, activities, and socializing, and trying to ignore the weight/clothing/food issues associated with it!

Happy New Year!

In honour of the year of the horse I will eat workout like one!

I don't know why but I love starting things at the beginning of a week or the beginning of a a month or the beginning of the lunar year! Really I should get over it instead of cramming my face with alcohol because come Monday it will stop. 

Invisalign you were my best diet friend. For those of you who do not know I use to bite my nails when I would get stressed out. Such a terrible and bad habit but something I have worked hard to kick. The replacement: snacking. Invisalign was so helpful because for me to snack I would have to take out my mouth piece eat the food then brush, floss and mouth wash. Too much of a hassle for that small piece of free sample they are giving away! Then when Invisalign went away so did my will power. Invisalign negatively taught me that when it is out you can eat, so then my snacking increased when I got it out because hey I finally don't have to brush right away! So now I get stressed out ( a lot) and then I snack and then I gain 14!!!!!! lbs from when I had them out. GAH. I should return to nail biting. 

So how do I handle stress, well I have to work out. I have no issues with going to the gym unless it is going right after work in which I am just too damn tired and lazy. If I don't work out in a day I don't manage things well, little things bother me I sweat the small things and all and all I am crabby. I have had a lifetime of insomnia and I found that working out is the only way to help me sleep better so if I miss one workout I have trouble falling asleep. I feel like I am a puppy--I need to be walked! If I miss a workout for whatever reason then I feel so guilty that I wont be able to sleep and then I get worked up about it and then I eat a bunch of crap. If only I just went to the gym I would feel so much better and life would be fine. So one of my goals is to learn how to better manage stress. Yoga does not help, just gives me an hour to fester on all of the things that need to get done. Martial Arts work wonders but I can't do it every day unless I rope Steve in. Suggestions?

So my goals are to get less stressed out. Or shall I say deal with stress better. The scale will be my gauge! I am with Breanna that I never liked weight related goals but I am going to impose one on myself because my pants don't fit....wahhhhh. 

Goals:

Lose 10lbs

Shaming me back into my jeans

So here is how it all went down......

I was thin, and in shape.  Then I started to work. Which, in and of itself did not force too many calories down my gullet straight to my thighs and hips.

It did, however, avail me to things like alcohol whenever I wanted (big calorie no-no), ordering in when I was too busy too cook (another calorie no-no) and gave me the idea that since I was working sooo haaard, I deserved to reward myself.  With food.  #ohdeargodwhathaveidone?

Also, I stop prioritizing exercise.  Whoops.

Is this work's fault?  Of course not. It is mine.  I didn't handle the change to my lifestyle as graciously as I would have liked.  And my relationship with my jeans has suffered accordingly.

So it is time to take back the control.

I swear up and down and sideways every challenge that I'm not going to pick a weight based goal.  Then I always do! 

This time will be no exception.

My true goal?  Put my jeans on and wear them happily.  Right now, only my fattest pair even does up.  I miss all my old clothes.

In order to reach that goal, I need something concrete to work towards.  

Current Weight (Beginning of the week): 145 lbs

Goal Weight: 135 lbs

How to I plan to accomplish this?  The usual way.  Cut out alcohol.....  That before dinner drink that I like so much?  That sucker needs to GO.  Exercise... yeah, I'm gonna do it!  I have re prioritized my health.  I have an exercise block scheduled right into my day, 5 times a week.  More salads, less pasta.

I am through being too ashamed to admit that I don't like my body, and am actually going to DO SOMETHING about my problem.  I was scared to change my schedule, to make my life even busier, with adding dieting to my work-home-balance problems.

I can hardly find the time to do the laundry, how was I going to work-out?

Being passive and worried in my own life doesn't suit me.  

How am I going to work out?  I am going to put on my exercise clothes, go down to my basement and start a Jillian DVD.  It's like 30 minutes.  If I can't find 30 minutes for myself in any given day, what the hell am I working so hard for?

I will see you all at the finish line.  In my jeans!!