Weekly Weigh-In: That Damn Peanut Butter

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I'm up 3 pounds this week thanks to dipping a spoon into the peanut butter jar a few too many times.

I’m up 3 pounds this week thanks to dipping a spoon into the peanut butter jar a few too many times.

When I woke up this morning, I instantly knew the scale would show movement in the opposite direction. My bad knee swelled during the night. That along with incredibly sore abs and arms from my new upper body training meant I’m retaining some water.

When I walked into my Weight Watchers meeting I expected to be up a pound.  Not the three the scale showed.

Sigh…

Confession:  It’s not all water. I think the peanut butter has something to do with it too.

Our Old English Sheep dog has to take a pill with every meal. To make sure she actually eats the pill, we smear it with peanut butter.

The first time, I finished a workout and I needed to eat something. So, before I prepared the pill, I dipped the spoon in the peanut butter jar for some quick protein.  Well, over the course of the week, that little dip turned into a full-blown peanut butter monkey on my back. Before feeding Peekabu, I would take a little taste…or two. OK three, no four tops.

I just couldn’t help myself.

Well that’s not true. I could have, but it tastes so good when it hits the lips.

I think I need to let the husband feed the dogs for a while.

It’s The Little Things…

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weight loss body changesJust before my morning stretches I noticed something…I sat in a chair and crossed my legs. That’s it. I crossed my legs. I don’t mean crossing one leg over the shin or ankle of the other leg. Nope. I’m talking about an above-the-fricking-knee leg crossing!

And I did it without using my arms to pull the leg doing the crossing.

I haven’t crossed my legs like that since…well crap, I can’t remember.

I’m sure there are things I couldn’t do before that I can now. And that will continue as I get thinner and my body stronger. I just don’t know if I should be happy that I noticed my legs today or sad that I’m missing those little firsts.

It’s the little things that keep you going when the tape measure is unbending or the scale is just outright rude.

I know you’re not supposed to sweat the small stuff, but I think it’s time I start enjoying it.

Simple Start Week 1: Lost 7 Pounds!!!

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Dropped 7.2 pounds this week thanks to Simple Start and a whole lot of water retention.

Dropped 7.2 pounds this week thanks to Simple Start and a lot of water retention.

It turns out that Simple Start is a great way to shake up my diet. I ended my first week on the plan by dropping 7.2 pounds. That puts my total weight loss at 94 pounds!

Oh, I know most of the weight was the water retention from my sore muscles, but I’m still going to celebrate this one. Seven pounds in one week is a lot.

I set a short-term goal of weighing 200 pounds by the end of April. Thanks to today’s loss, I’ve got 31 pounds to go with 15 weeks left.

A pretty sound start to the year!

Simple Start: Week 1 Observations
My worries about going over my daily carb limit were missed placed. Under Simple Start I got to re-introduce certain types of carbs back into the wild my diet.

Light English muffins, shredded wheat, sweet potatoes, rice…these are not typical Dot2Trot fare.

The old me loaded up on that type of food and my waistline ballooned.

The new me combines the right amount of protein, healthy fat and produce with those carbs. I found myself filling up quickly and didn’t feel hungry between meals. Overeating wasn’t a problem. The program is as advertised.

The big bonus — no cravings!  I love me some bread, so I feared the English muffins. My test was to only eat them with the designated meals. I planned to trash the muffins if I even thought about eating them as a snack!  Thankfully those delicious nooks and crannies didn’t pose any danger to me.

During the week I tracked and measured everything I ate. I know you don’t have to with Simple Start, but when I track and measure I lose weight. It took me forever to create those habits and I’m not going to lose them now.

When choosing the menu items for the week I paired everything with my training schedule, especially muscle workouts. Thanks to some strained leg muscles, I only worked out twice and ended up altering my menu towards more lower carb (50g daily) fare.

Simple Start’s flexibility allowed me to cut back on carbs without feeling cheated of great meals or flavors.

Bravo Weight Watchers!

I’m looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on the program. Just not any pasta dishes. I know I am not ready for pasta.

Lost 2.5 Inches Since September

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I entered Gold’s Gym 2014 Challenge and weighed in on Saturday. While I wasn’t thrilled with wearing a two-piece for the photo, I was very happy to see I lost some inches since the last time I measured myself.

jan 4 measurement

I lost a total of 2.5 inches. Finally some movement on my thighs – 2 inches down.

As for the inch off my chest, that explains why my sports bras no longer give the support I need.

I think the differences with my hips and waist has more to do with a Gold’s trainer taking my measurements vs. trying to measure myself (not always easy). I’m assuming Gold’s is more accurate.

Gold’s didn’t measure my upper arm, so I did that myself. I plan to have the husband remeasure since I my cat kept tugging on my measuring tape. While I can see more muscle definition, I don’t think I added a half-inch of muscle.

golds frontAbout That Photo…
No, I’m not being held for ransom. I had to hold up Saturday’s Washington Post for proof that I weighed in on January 4th.

For the photo, I opted for shorts and a sports bra. All of my swim suits are too big and workout gear seems more appropriate anyway.

And yes, Gold’s did take a photo of me from behind but I wanted to spare you.

Maybe in 12 weeks, once I have the after photos I’ll share that one.

Weekly Weigh In: Got a Surprise When I Stepped On That Scale

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Thanks to very sore leg muscles I'm retaining water and up just a pound the week after Christmas.

Thanks to very sore leg muscles I’m retaining water and up just a pound the week after Christmas.

I weighed in this morning and expected to see a 5-pound gain (although 10 pounds was in the realm of possibility).  Turns out I’m only up 1 pound and all of that is water weight thanks to my very sore glutes, hamstrings, calves and adductor muscles.

So with my trainer’s killer workout and those blasted awesome burpees I probably lost weight this week but my body hasn’t recovered yet.

Looks like I didn’t go insane over Christmas after all. Yes I ate cookies. But unlike someone who will remain nameless (“cough” husband “cough”), I can count on one hand how many I ate.

Weight Loss Doesn’t Equal Perfection
We talked about perfection in my Weight Watchers meeting today. If a person fears they didn’t do the program perfectly, they tend to skip the meetings because they can’t face the scale.

It is easy to tell yourself, “One small cookie and the week is shot.”

I think I had my own bout with “perfection” in Texas and it lasted until I got on that scale this morning. For a moment I thought about not weighing in today. Oh, I’d go to the meeting but WW does allow you to skip a weigh in during the year.

Thankfully I came to my senses and know where I’m at after the holidays. I wanted to lose another 5 pounds by December 31st. Instead I lost a total of 2.4 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Not perfect, but I’ll take it!

Holiday Cheer: Down 1.2 Pounds This Week

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Even with the holidays, I'm still losing weight. I need to continue with the food and exercise plan for December.

Even with the holidays, I’m still losing weight. I need to continue with the food and exercise plan for December.

Woohoo! My weight loss this holiday season continues. I dropped 1.2 pounds this week. That puts my total weight loss at 87.2 pounds.

So far this holiday season, I’ve lost 3.4 pounds and I’d love to lose 5 more to hit my revised 3-month goal. Tomorrow’s spin class can’t get here soon enough!

My Body Mass Index went from 52.5 two years ago to 38.4 today. And my makeover clothes are fitting a little looser.  Sweet!

On Monday I take new body measurements. While I love seeing smaller numbers for my hips and waist, I really want movement in my legs and arms.

Today is a great day!

 

Water Weight Vanquished; Finally Below 240 Pounds

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The water weight is gone and I'm now officially below 240 pounds!

I controlled my eating on Thanksgiving and my water weight is gone. I’m now officially below 240 pounds!

While I attended my Weight Watchers meeting last week, I decided to use my free pass and not officially weigh-in. While I didn’t over do it on Thanksgiving, I suspected I’d show a lot of water retention with all that tasty turkey day sodium. Sure enough, when I got home from that meeting, I stepped on my home scale and saw a 6 pound gain.

No one gains 6 pounds in one day. More water weight. Basically I needed to flush the excess water and salt out of my system before getting a more accurate weigh-in.

I worked hard this week to stay on my food and exercise program.

The result? I’m down 2.2 pounds from my earlier weigh-in.  Awesome! That damn water weight is finally gone (for now).

What makes me happy is that I’m finally below 240 pounds. Woohoo!

I know I dropped below 240 a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I just couldn’t let myself get too excited until that holiday was firmly in my rear view mirror.  I needed a post holiday weigh-in for confirmation.

Missing My 3-Month Goal
I’m not going to reach my 3-month goal of dropping about 20 pounds before the end of the year. I’m not being  pessimistic, just realistic. I’d have to lose 14 pounds in 3 weeks. That’s nearly 5 pounds a week…not very healthy (or smart!).

Am I disappointed? Sure, but I was overly aggressive in setting that goal mid way through October. But I’m not beating myself up over it.

Besides, I’m happy I controlled myself over Thanksgiving.  That gives me a lot of optimism for the rest of December.

I’m revamping my expectations and shooting for 6 more pounds by the end of the year. Still a tall order considering 2 pounds a week is at the top of the range for healthy weight loss.

I think an extra spin class can help.

Damn You Water Retention

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water retention and weight gain

Swollen feet, knees, hands and face means I’m retaining water. Just in time for my weekly weigh in!

I knew going into my Weight Watchers meeting that I’d show a gain. Not only were my hands, feet and knees swollen, but my face was puffy too. Great! Nothing like water retention on weigh-in day.

The old me would skip the meeting.  I never wanted to step on the scale if I had a bad week or knew I gained weight. I didn’t get that stepping on that scale week after week makes you accountable to yourself. Without accountability, I’d fail…and I did.

I must admit the thought of skipping yesterday’s meeting did cross my mind…for about half a second. I can no longer fear the scale. The scale is just a snap shot in time and doesn’t tell the full story. Sure Weight Watchers will officially record a gain.  But the difference is I know that it’s water weight and it will fall off in a day or so. The new me knows weight loss is about baby steps and I’m not going to always have the losses I’ve had the last few weeks.

I also know if I want to reach my 3-month goal of losing 19.5 pounds by year’s end, this was the one Weight Watchers meeting I’d be foolish to miss. Thanksgiving is this week and I need all the good karma I can get before Thursday.

This week I’m up 2.8 pounds. I’m less puffy today than yesterday, so I know I’ve lost a chunk of the water. The real test is coming up — no, not Thanksgiving. I’m talking about making it to the post-Thanksgiving weigh-in.

 

 

I’m Down 3 Pounds And Closing In On Year-End Goal

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weight loss, weekly weigh-in

With my 3 pound weight loss this week, I’m now down a total of 86.6 pounds!

Woo hoo! I lost 3 more pounds this week, bringing my total weight loss to 86.6 pounds. Back in October I set a year-end goal of dropping about 20 pounds by December 31. As of today, I’m about half way there with 10.9 pounds to go in just a little over 6 weeks.

Clearly I didn’t do much math when I set the goal, because I’m just 13.4 pounds away from losing 100 pounds since this little journey began. Holy cow!

Well with Thanksgiving on the horizon, I’m not changing my 3-month goal now. Instead, I think hitting 100 pounds lost on my birthday (early January) is an awesome bonus!

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Embracing Weight Loss Compliments

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accepting compliments, weight loss praise

As my weight loss continues, my confidence grew and I happily learned to accept the compliments that come my way.

Yesterday, my hairdresser gave me a wonderful compliment on the weight I lost since the last time we saw each other. I flashed a big smile, thanked her, told her how much I’d lost and completely forgot how sore I was sitting in that chair.

What a difference a year and 82 pounds makes.

Mark Twain was right. You really can live for months on a good compliment.

I couldn’t say the same thing 15 months ago. Then, compliments were like nails on the chalkboard. If someone sang the praises of my waistline, that little voice in my head went straight to my flaws.

“Why did I deserve praise? I’m still a hot mess with a ton of weight to lose.” I felt embarrassed.

Tell Me More About My Eyes
During the last 15 months my confidence and self-image have grown. I can see the difference in my figure, skin, walk and attitude. I get excited about each pound lost and more determined with each gain or plateau.

My confidence grew and that little voice in my head piped down. At first, I learned to smile and say “Thank you.”

Now I embrace the compliments that come my way. And why shouldn’t I?  I work hard on my weight loss and am proud of my accomplishments.  I get excited when people notice.

A few weeks ago, I visited my old workplace to meet a friend for lunch–the same office I left to get healthy.

While waiting in the lobby for my lunch date, I saw many former co-workers. All of them had the same reaction – double take, mouth dropped open, and “Wow, you look great!”

The embarrassment was gone. I returned a conquering hero…and loved every minute of it.

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