Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Lesson Learned...

So, while I've been out trying to be "Super-engineer" the past 2 weeks, I've successfully reduced my workout time to about 30 mins/week. I have felt down, depressed (hence all the complaining on the our regular blog), and I have gained back some of the weight I lost in November.

Yesterday I was feeling really discouraged. I felt like my fat was growing. Ah! So, David and I were discussing how I can get back on track before we went to bed last night.. I decided there were a couple problems.

  1. I'm not tracking all my food intake anymore. I need to be more regular about writing it all down.
  2. I'm not getting some of the pep talks I got at the WW meetings since I quit. (But I still don't think that I will re-join yet. Dave convinced me that it would be a greater victory to lose weight on my own.)
  3. I am trying to juggle working extra hours, preparing for Christmas, and maintain the same level of health/fitness and plan out all my meals to be healthy. It is just not working. I think in my mind that if I work extra hours at my job that it shouldn't effect my health/fitness, etc. I thought that I was just not used to it but maybe next week I could begin to handle the working extra and still not suffer health/fitness-wise. However, last night I started thinking about it realistically.... If I work an extra hour each day at my job, then that takes away the hour in the evening I would spend at the gym. If I decide to go to the gym anyways (which I usually don't do cuz I am tired at that point and feel I deserve a night off cuz I worked so hard), then I end up getting home an hour later. I am grouchier when I get home then and rush through making dinner because I'm starving. I make poor choices about what to eat or I just plain overeat good foods b/c I'm "starving". Anyways, then David suffers b/c I get in a bad mood from waiting to eat, and he has to wait too, and then I gain weight and feel bad about my looks and...yeah....then we just don't have the same relationship. Whew! It's a domino effect. What a disaster. Just from working a little extra. Ahhhhhh.... Anyways, so we decided that I should really make working out a priority. I will not lose weight even if I eat the same amount if I'm not exercising like I normally do. We're paying for a gym membership. I might as well use it.
  4. But then............I worked till 6:15 tonight (an extra hour and 45 mins....). I called Dave. He said he'd be at work till at least 8. So I worked out and came home to an empty house.

And now I'm wondering..........is this all there is to life???

(Ok. So I didn't really mean to end this post all depressed-sounding...I really am feeling good about stuff since I worked out. It's an instant mood lifter. I just wish Dave were here to share it with me....ok. yeah. depressed-sounding again. I think I should just give up and call it a night! See ya!)

Friday, December 01, 2006

lost 4.2 lbs in november. yes!

Friday, October 27, 2006

New Diet Strategy

well, i decided, in an attempt to save money, to not officially do weight watchers anymore. i'm gonna try it on my own for now on. i feel that i need to buy a new more accurate scale to do this. so we probably will this weekend. this is a little scary for me but i'm determined to prove to myself that i can lose weight on my own without the structured program...

Friday, October 13, 2006

Fitness Goal Attained!!!!!!!!!

Ever since last July (...15 months ago...) when I began working out consistently, I have had the goal to be able to run a mile. And if I could run a mile, I would like to run it faster than I did in high school (which, let's face it, was no record...12:30 was the fastest then...)

So, anyhow, last July I could barely run 10 seconds without coughing and wheezing...I was so out of shape. Ever since, I've been hitting the gym 2-5 times / week. I usually try to do 30 mins of cardio (treadmill, elliptical, stairstepper, etc.) in addition to some weight training. Gradually, I've trained myself to run. I have been slowly increasing the amount of time that I run within each 30 min period. In March, I began working out in intervals of 1 or 2 mins of walking and running for a total of 30 mins. Slowly over the summer I increased the amount of running time. In September on a biz trip to Knoxville, I managed to run the longest ever - 5 minutes straight. I was so ecstatic! Then I began increasing to 6, 7, 8 minutes of running. Last Friday, Oct 6th, I ran 10 minutes then I decided if I just kept going a little longer, I would have run a full mile. So I did it. I ran 1 whole mile in 11:20. I was so proud of myself. Monday I tried to do it again. I was a little under the weather and did not quite make my time from Friday. Ran it in 11:46 though. I know that these are not stellar times by any means. I know people who run 5 minutes miles. But for someone who couldn't even run 10 seconds straight just over a year ago, I think that I've made fantastic strides!! I feel on top of the world!! YES!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Well, it really pays to write down goals....

....and write down what I'm eating...

September is starting off really well. I lost 4.4 lbs this week. (I weighed in today so I'd know where I was before going on vacation.) I'm over halfway to my goal of weight loss for the whole month of September! I just have to be good and not gain it all back this week...

Monday, August 28, 2006

Today at weigh-in I found out I'd lost another 1.2 lbs. I have almost recooped the 3+ lbs that I gained a few weeks back. It boosted my confidence to see a loss over 1 lb. Kinda made me want to keep going.

At the meeting, we talked about setting goals for September and writing down things we will do to try to reach our goals. I have decided to set a goal to lose 8 lbs in the month of September. That will be 2 lbs/week basically. I know that I need to step it up a gear and setting a goal like this might just help. I think I will do several things to reach this goal:
  1. Reduce the number of 100 calorie packs, manufactured foods I eat. Eat more naturally occuring foods such as fruits, veggies.
  2. TRACK my points. Stay within the recommended ranges (i.e., actually FOLLOW the WW plan!)
  3. Reduce the number of times I eat out in a week.
  4. Reduce the number of desserts and snacks I eat.
  5. Only eat when I need nourishment, not because I'm bored, happy, sad, etc.
  6. If making something at home, change the recipes to be healthier.
  7. Remember that although I look a lot better now, I still want to lose almost 20 lbs!!!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

cheerleading for myself...

weighed in yesterday. lost 0.6 lbs since my last weigh-in august 7th. i think that's pretty good considering all the food i had for our anniversary, then eating out while on biz trips the last 10 days. i feel a renewed commitment. i only have about 20 more lbs that i want to lose. i know that i can do it. i want to get down another size. then i can really begin to SHOP! YAY!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

revamping the diet

thinking about going on a "raw" diet where i eat nothing cooked for as long as possible. only fruits, veggies, nuts, etc. no meat. or maybe the protein shake thing again for 2 days. i need to jump start the weight loss again, stop eating 100 calorie packs of doritos and cheetos cuz i feel it's not as bad since it's only 100 cals. if i do something drastic like this it will psychologically shrink my stomach and maybe i won't feel the need to eat as much as i have been the last couple of weeks.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Ahhhhhhhhhh...gained 2.4 lbs this week. A little discouraged but deep down I know that I am just not trying as hard as I did when I started this diet. I need to be realistic and stay focused. I feel fat tonight.................ate too much in a state of depression after weighing in I think...

Tuesday, August 01, 2006


Monday, July 31, 2006

Found at out weigh-in that I've lost another 3.2 lbs! Yes!! Even after fair week and eating mexican two times...

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Progress!

Ok. Just in case I (and all you avid readers out there) didn't know, I am making progress toward better health and fitness. Yay! This evening, Erica and I both had fitness assessments with my old personal trainer, Kim. I love these assessments more and more as the months go by. I've had one about every 2 months since last September. So, anyhow...here's the overall picture in a nice mathematical format. It's kind of embarrassing to admit my "before" state but perhaps I can encourage someone...?

Last September, I was at a whopping 41.7% body fat. I was officially considered "obese." As of this evening, I have 28.1% body fat. That falls in the "Moderate" % body fat range. At this point I'm striving to go down another 5% or so to be in the "Good" range. That seems pretty attainable, as I went from 33% to 28% since the end of May...perhaps by the end of September or something I'll be in that range. Overall, I've lost 29 lbs according to their scale - that includes a loss of 35.3 lbs of fat and a gain of 6.3 lbs of muscle.

With the skinfold test: I lost 9 mm of fat hanging on my tricep, 27 mm of fat around my waist, and 20 mm of fat on my quad, the top of my leg...

Other stats: My cardiovascular fitness has improved from "Poor" to "Fair", my bicep strength has gone up from "Poor" to "Average," as I can lift 18 more lbs with my biceps. I can now do 17 more pushups in a minute than I could 10 months ago. I can also bench press 36 more lbs than 10 months ago. My flexibility remains "Good" (yes, that's all I had back then...).

My body age was 30 in Sept and is now 24, which is my actual age. So, I'm really pleased with that. The trainer says that I can attain a body age of 18, so I guess I'll keep striving for that!

Anyhow, I am really pleased with the results I'm seeing. It doesn't happen overnight, but then again, I didn't gain 60 extra lbs overnight either. :) That happened over the course of about 6 or 7 years... I'm just happy that I am making changes that I believe will stay with me for years to come. I have integrated new habits of exercise and healthy eating into my life . Over the past 10 months, I've worked out at least 2 times a week all but about 3 weeks. That is so much better than any other year in my life. I am so encouraged after this assessment to just keep at it. About 20 more lbs to go and I will be at a healthy weight. Yes!

Monday, July 10, 2006

Bad news

Well, here's my contrary wind for the week... Weighed in today and gained 3.4 lbs. Ouch. Different scale than last week so don't know if that had something to do with it or what. Oh well. It was not an "official" WW weigh-in b/c it is in between 12 week sessions, but I still feel pretty bummed. I will just have to be determined this week to NOT give in to cravings, bad choices, etc., etc. :( The past couple weeks I haven't been journaling what I'm eating and I think that might have something to do with this big gain too. I just kept getting more and more lax. Big mistake. Back to journaling and focusing now.....

Monday, July 03, 2006

The weight loss continues...

Had weigh-in at lunch today. Lost another 1.2 lbs this past week, even though I was on vacation eating carbs, cookies, and then Chinese, loaded fries and Mexican food once I returned to Indy... That's a total loss of 23.2 lbs on WW, about 29 lbs altogether since Christmas... Woohoo! I am just so excited! I feel like I really know how much food my body needs now to continue a slow and steady weight loss. For the first time in my whole life probably I feel good about the way that I look and most of all, I feel like I have control over how I look...