Weekly Weigh In

As Nick transitioned back to school this week, the kids and I transitioned back to life at home with just the three of us for much of the day.  For me, change brings stress and stress brings eating.  I went over my target calories many days this week.  Somehow I must have managed to exercise enough to compensate for my over eating, however, because this week at the scale I LOST 2.5 POUNDS!

That brings me back down below where I was 3 weeks ago before I gained some weight back.  Halleluiah!  That was not the only success this week, though.  I also went down a pant size!  I tried on some size 16 pants that I had been saving and I found that I finally fit into them.  I didn't waste a moment getting rid of all my fat pants.  The size 18's have been boxed up and are headed out to consignment later this week.  No looking back, this time. 

I hope to find more time this week to blog and keep you all updated on my journey.  I am so thrilled to see the changed taking place in my life that I have so longed for during the last few years.  As always, thanks for sticking it out with me through the ups and downs.  I leave you with some facts and figures to ponder this evening...

• 14.5 lbs. down do far 

• 15.5 lbs. left to my pre-baby #1 weight 

• 40.5 lbs. left to my ultimate goal 

• 1 size down, 2 to go 

Weekly Weigh In

Another sad week at the scale, I am sorry to report. I gained half a pound, bringing my weight back up to 193 - 2 pounds higher than it was 2 weeks ago.  Ugh.  As is often the case, I am disappointed but not surprised in the least.  As a matter of fact, this sort of pattern is very consistent with my weight loss patterns of old.  What often happens after I experience several weeks of weight loss is that I get comfortable.  I start to feel thin and indivisible. I start to work a little less hard and make slightly worse food choices.  I usually gain all the weight back, but not this time.  I am going to stop this in its tracks!  I am going to get MAD and get WORKING.  I am going to BLITZ my bulge this week and kill the scale at the next weigh in.  Here is how I am going to do it:

1. WORK OUT - Instead of just taking the kids or dog for walks around the neighborhood I am going to get to the gym at least 3 times this week and really work out.

2. EAT SMARTER - MyFitnessPal has definitely been beneficial for me, but its also had some negative effects, too.  Instead of focusing on the quality of my food, lately I have been just focusing on the caloric value only.  In other words, there have been days in which I eat cake for breakfast, Ramen Noodles for lunch, and hot dogs for dinner, but still stay within my calorie limit.  I don't feel good anymore, nor am I putting good food into my body.  So this week I vow to think about quantity AS WELL AS quality.

3. NOT GIVE UP - Keep fighting the good fight.  What more do I need to say.

SO here's to week of fighting the urge to grow complacent and fat.  I can do this.  The question is, will I???

Weekly Weigh In

Quick little post from my Kindle. Weighed in yesterday at 192.5... so I GAINED a pound and a half since last week. I am not surprised. I had a majorn lapse in self control and basically went over my targetted calorie intake every day. I'm not sure why it happened, but I can tell you this: I had to lose nearly 15 pounds before I felt remotely thinner, But only had to gain one to feel like a big fattie... I inow it isn't true, though. I am not a big fattie. I am a girl who has still lost over 10 pounds, despite my recent gain. I can't let a bad week make me stop. That would be the worst thong I could do. So I accept last week as it was and focus my attention on the week ahead and all the possibilities it has in store...

Eating, eating, eating...

This has been SUCH a hard week for me.  The stress of trying to sell our house has been compounded by the baby not sleeping (she just cut a new tooth today) and all the usual house cleaning and summer music lessons.  I have really buckled under the pressure and have been eating everything in sight.  Snacking with reckless abandon has been my routine this week.  I suppose it had to happen sooner or later, I couldn't have TOO many great weeks in a row.  Frankly, I will be lucky and happy to maintain my weight this week.  Losing is probably not going to happen. 

As always, however, I am not giving up on my long term goals, and I'm not letting one rotten week spoil my drive or motivation to get healthy.  I will weigh in on Saturday, accept whatever the scale says, and turn the page in my planner to a new, fresh week.  Here's to hoping I can eat less tomorrow and reserve some dignity to bring to the weigh-in in 2 days. 

Dinner by Nick

Nick made dinner tonight, and he even took the time to figure out the caloric value of all the foods on my plate.  It was delcisious, wholesome, filling, and surprisingly low in calories.  AND beautiful!  (See picture above.)  Here is what he prepared for us: 

4 oz Swai filet - 90
1/2 cup of prepared Trader Joe's Harvest Blend Grain Mix - 170
1 cup Steamed Broccoli - 50
1 tsp oil for frying the fish - 40
1 tbsp flour to coat the fish - 35
8 oz red wine - 170

That works out to 555 calories for the entire meal, red wine included.  I thought it was such a great meal because it included whole grains, lots of fresh veggies, protein, healthy fats and oils, AND wine to boot. (um... antioxidants... yeah, we'll go with that as our excuse for drinking red wine.)  In addition, it was made with minimal processed ingredients.  Bravo, Nick, what a great meal.  Does this mean I have to cook tomorrow.... ;-)

Weekly Weigh In

 I weighed in this Saturday, and it was good news again!  I lost 2 pounds, bringing me down to 191.  I am very pleased with my progress.  As I mentioned last week, I seem to be on a roll and LOVING it.  After being stuck at 200 lbs. for weeks, this string of successes is so sweet.  I attribute my success to a few key factors:

1. JOURNALING!  Using MyFitnessPal has revolutionized the way I eat and exercise and balance my diet.  It is so very good to look back and see all that I ate during the day.  Its also fun for me, dare I say, to log my daily caloric activity. 

2. NOT GIVING UP.  In recent years I have often had a manic spell of weight loss motivation that shot out like a cannon but died within days.  My husband Nick could tell you how frustrating it was for him to stay supportive every time I would have a big idea, work hard for 2 weeks, then slowly give up and slip back into self loathing.  This time, however, I fought through the let down that comes after the "honey moon" of a new weight loss plan, and now I am experiencing real rewards.  And Nick stuck with me through it all, which brings me to my next factor...

3. SUPPORT SYSTEM.  Nick is an incredible man.  He fell in love with me when I was 150 lbs. and he has loved me through every weight gain and loss all the way up to my peak at 205 lbs.  He admits that it was hard for him to watch me put on so much weight and feel so sorry for myself.  Although I was the same woman he loved on the inside, I did change drastically on the outisde, and that was hard for us both!  However, Nick has not only loved me through it all, but also supported me and encouraged me and believed in me despite the dead ends I kept running into. I cannot tell you what strength that has given me.  In addition to my spousal support, I also find incredible support through my friends on MyFitnessPal, my faithful blog readers, as well as my sisters and parents.  No matter who it is in your life, you need someone who will love you enough to see past your weight gain but NOT see through it.  The people who truly love me never treated me differently because I was fat, but they never ignored the fact that I needed to make some changes in my life and get healthy.  That support has made all the difference. 

 

 So here we are, 4 months into this... 14 pounds down, 41 to go.  I continue to feel good and motivated and excited as my body takes new shape.  Just have to keep on trucking.  Thanks, as always, for being such an important part of this journey.

Track the calories BEFORE you eat them

Just a quick little post today with another quick little trick...

If you are able, when going out to eat, look up the caloric values of the food you intend to eat and log those calories BEFORE you eat them.  Try to plan your day around your big meal.  You may not be able to prevent yourself form going over your calorie goals, but you might be able to prevent yourself from totally and utterly blowing it. 

A couple of months ago I wrote about going out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  I though I was eating a healthy meal, only to look up the nutrition facts later on and find that my dinner 100 calories over my TOTALLY daily intake.  (YIKES!)  Tonight my husband and I went out to eat at the Olive Garden.  I decided to do it differently this time by looking up the nutrition facts and logging them before we went out to eat. By doing this, I was aware of what I was eating and planned my day around the big splurge that was coming.  YES, I still went over my alloted calories for the day, but only by about 200 calries instead of 900 that is typical when I go out to eat. 

The moral of the story is to think ahead, plan ahead, and prevent complete pig outs by being an informed and educated consumer.