Weekly Weigh-In: Whew!

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aug 17After the chocolate cake fiasco, I thought I’d gained 1-2 lbs. Turns out I’m down 0.2 lbs…so basically even.

The big challenge this week is my trip to Texas.  I’m hitting the road tomorrow, so I’m spending the day prepping my snacks for the road trip. I’ll have cherry tomatoes, berries, nuts, and plain yogurt and granola for snacks.  For my meals, I’m packing up salads and my home-made dressings.  For the protein, I’ll more than likely stop off at some local joint for a bun-less burger.

Weight Watchers allows me 37 points daily. I also have the 49 weekly allowance points to tap into if needed. If I pack the right foods, I can avoid dipping into the 49. Just to be safe, I’m researching the points value of various items at fast food joints. If I have to stop at a Mickey D’s, at least I’ll know how to spend my points.

I’m staying with family, so once in Texas, I’ll prepare most of my own meals. I’m even looking up nearby gyms I can visit.

With some careful planning, I can stay on plan and maybe come home lighter.

 

Fat Jeans To The Rescue!

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Me in my size 28 fat jeans. The photo doesn't do justice to how baggie those suckers are now. I'll try to get a better photo up when the hubby is home.

Me in my size 28 fat jeans. The photo doesn’t do justice to how baggie those suckers are now. I’ll try to get a better photo up when the hubby is home.

Yesterday was a bad day. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say that I started the day feeling sorry for myself (sore knee = no exercise; plateau frustrations galore).  And I ended the day with a big slice of chocolate cake and a side of vanilla ice cream.

Ugh! I hate self-pity days. My rational side knows weight loss is a marathon not a sprint.  It’s just amazing how quickly you can turn on yourself regardless of success.

This morning I stumbled upon an idea to hold the negative thoughts at bay.

While getting dressed I found an old pair of jeans.  I completely forgot about them. When I started losing weight, I did a complete wardrobe overhaul. The only item I kept was the size 28 jeans. I wanted a reminder of how far I’ve come.

I decided to try them on.

Wow! If I needed a pick me up, this was it. I can’t believe that I was that big. But then again, I have days like yesterday where I still think I’m that size.

Sure I look in the mirror everyday, but I can’t see the weight loss. I notice that my clothes are a bit loose or that I have more energy. But I needed to put on old clothes to shake me out of my funk and appreciate the work I’ve done this past year.

From now on I’m going to take a photo of myself once a month to track my progress.  It’s a great way to chronicle my weight loss and motivate me when I feel down.

Getting the photos off the phone is key. Seeing is believing, right? I’ll keep them in strategic places – on the fridge, in my wallet, as my screen saver on my phone and tablet, and on the blog.

I can’t trust my own eyes, but photos don’t lie.

How Do I Measure Up?

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I broke out the measuring tape today. Thanks to the plateau, I’m feeling a bit down. I needed some good news and hoped this would do the trick.

I last measured myself at the end of April. I’m only 2 lbs lighter now, so I was very happy to discover I lost an inch off my arms and hips. Nice!

My Chest, waist and thighs remain the same.

My measurements since the weight loss journey began.

My measurements since the weight loss journey began.

I really need to take my measurements once a month.  The scale is just a moment in time. Seeing my measurements go down is the best way to track my weight loss.

If you’re only relying on the scale to determine your success, I strongly urge you to take your measurements. It is too easy to get frustrated if the scale doesn’t move. I’m bouncing around by a few pounds in either direction for the last month or so. Yet, I still lost inches. That’s something the scale wouldn’t tell me.

Not sure how to take your measurements? Well here’s a little video to show you how it’s done.

Weekly Weigh-In: Up 1.2 Pounds

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aug 10 weightI can’t believe that I fretted about losing “only” 0.6 lbs. last week.

Ok, I need to shake things up this week. Here’s my plan:

  1. Write It Down – Research shows you lose weight with a food journal. I keep a food journal, but I’m not diligent about it. The goal this week is to track everything, including the tastes I take while cooking. I set up the Weight Watchers app on my phone and tablet. I even set up alerts to remind me to track. No excuses now.
  2. 7 Hours – My insomnia is back. I’m getting about 5 hours of sleep a night. So my body isn’t properly producing the appetite-regulating hormones. Ghrelin tells you when to eat. Leptin tells you when you are full. Lack of sleep and you’ll have too much ghrelin and not enough leptin. Time to break out the herbal tea 45 minutes before bedtime.
  3. Water Weight – Thanks to the more intense walks, my legs are sore. I think this is the source of my gain. When you workout microscopic tears appear in the muscle fiber. The fiber basically becomes a sponge, absorbing water. In a few days, my muscles should release the water (and the 1.2 lbs.).

Weight loss is a marathon not a sprint. My resolve is a lot stronger than 1.2 lbs.

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Weekly Weigh-In: Learning To Love Small Victories

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aug 3 weightI’m down a total of 0.6 lbs. Not as much as I hoped, but I’ll take it. The needle moved in the right direction and I need to keep it up. This plateau’s kung fu is very strong. But I’m stronger. I will break its death grip.

I have essentially lost 2 sticks of butter this week. When you put it that way, -0.6 lbs is pretty frickin’ awesome.

Funny, when I got off the scale I felt disappointed. I know that the average safe weight loss is up to 2 lbs a week.  But like most people, I focus on “2 lbs” and that becomes my weekly benchmark. I need to temper my expectations. If I keep up the work I’m doing this week – eating right and exercising – I’ll have weeks where I’m down 2 lbs or 0.3 lbs.

I just need to keep my eyes on the prize and celebrate all the victories…no matter the size.

Today Is A Glass Half Full Day

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I've hit another freakin' plateau. Time to shake things up.

I’ve hit another freakin’ plateau. Time to shake things up.

I hoped that I would hit the minus 75 lbs mark today. Instead I’m up a 1 pound.  I felt amazingly frustrated after getting off the scale. The last month I’ve been going up and down…up and down. Clearly I’ve hit another plateau. Crap!

But I refuse to mope around. While the fickle finger of fate fu….ah…toys with me, I plan to kick it up a notch this week. I’m going back to my week one menu that jump started my weight loss. Also, when it comes to measuring food, I just haven’t been militant.  That stops today.

As for exercise, this week I’ll walk 3 miles/day and start muscle workouts back up.  Amazon kindly delivered my exercise bands a few weeks ago. I promptly took the bands out of a box and tucked them away in a drawer. Time to christen the bands and break a sweat. I think 3 muscle workouts a week is a good start.

Time to kick this plateau’s ass and blow past that 250 lbs mark.

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Weekly Weigh-In – Down 2.8

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July 20 weigh inGood news this week. The constant vigilance mindset paid off as I lost 2.8 lbs. That puts my weight at 253.8. I’ve officially dropped all the weight I gained while in Arizona. Total weight loss is at 72 lbs. Next week I plan to break the 75 lbs mark.

 

Weekly Weigh In – Down 3 Lbs!

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chartThe numbers are moving in the right direction again. Down 3 lbs since the end of June. I expect the rest of my Arizona weight to fall off by the end of this week.

I postponed the daily walks the last week. I really wanted to focus on good eating habits. Plus the humidity was brutal last week. But the walks start back up this week – rain or shine.

Weekly Weigh In – April 27

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april 27 weightAfter gaining a 1+ lbs last week, I ended up dropping 5.2 lbs over the last 7 days. The difference? I stuck to my weekly menu – no deviations and no eating out. Plus I successfully completed week 2 of the  Weight Watchers LiveLive Challenge. I stayed active everyday, and not just during my workouts.

I also credit my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. It’s amazing how gaining one little lbs can open up the flood gates of negativity. The meetings really do help me get back on track and keep the big picture in mind.

So now my total weight loss is 72 lbs. Not too shabby!

What The Scale Won’t Tell You

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Image courtesy of stockimages/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It’s been nearly 6 weeks since I broke out the tape measure to get an idea of what my body is doing. Stepping on the scale gives me a general idea of where I’m at on my weight loss journey – the cliff notes version if you will. But it doesn’t take into account body composition.

You can be skinny but out of shape or heavy and fit. The scale doesn’t tell me the proportion of fat in my body or where its deposited at. Measuring inches lost and body fat is a much better measurement of fat loss.

So how did I do since I measured myself in March?

Chest – 45″ (down 1.5″)
Right Upper Arm – 15.5″ (down 0.5″)
Waist – 44″ (down 3″)
Hips – 53″ (no change)
Right Thigh – 27″ (down 2″)
Body Fat % – 45% (down from 47%)

With the exception of my hips, everything going in the right direction.