the chronicles of my journey to a thinner me

My Progress
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Mini Goal - One-derland

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

See I told you...

Weight: 216

Back to 216 today. That's why I'm glad I didn't let that phantom 2 pounds freak me out. If you know you've done well, you should just have faith.

Yesterday I did great on points, so that's good. I could have done better on water. Working on that today.

We walked for 35 minutes at the park last night. It's very hilly and we walk pretty fast - 6500+ steps in 35 minutes, so it's at what they would classify a moderate pace. I can talk while we're doing it, but I definitely could not sing while I was doing it - I'm sure the forest creatures and my fellow walkers would appreciate that if they ever heard me sing! Anyway, that's 2 APs thank you very much.

Tonight is the 3rd day of my running training - my 2nd Run/Walk day see (http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/smartcoach/beginner/0,7146,s6-238-277-278-0,00.html). Wednesday - Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes - repeat this combo 10x. For my trouble, I will earn 3 APs.

I've not had more than 4 hours sleep the last 3 nights in a row, so I know that I will be battling my bad inner voice. I am expecting all of the excuses that helped make and keep me fat for so long. I will prevail over her! No matter what she says about lack of sleep, unfairness, fatigue, etc... I'm just going to tell her that she needs to shut up and run. I WILL NOT BE DETERRED FROM MY MISSION!!!! Take that fat inner voice! I think I'm losing it. Oh well, as long as I lose weight with it, that's ok by me. :)

Ok, gotta run.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Weigh In

Weight: 218

I debated on whether to post a weigh in today, because I know it's not accurate. If you believe the scale, two days of counting points plus 30 minutes strenuous cardio made me gain 2 pounds. The scale said 216 2 days ago. So I didn't want to update the number to show a 2 pound gain. Then I thought about it. I have no reason to be ashamed. I had a week where I gained 2 pounds traveling and being at the mercy of a catered lunch for 4 days, but I had already lost that back. I did NOT gain 2 pounds from excercising. I know that sometimes the body reacts to the shock of a new or more difficult work out. I think the muscles swell or retain fluid - my ankles and feet looked a little puffy this morning, but looked down right slim a few hours later. That number means nothing. I refuse to hide or lie. I will not give the scale that much power. I know that is a very slippery slope. I'm NOT going there.

So - according to the scale, I weight 218 today. So what? I feel thinner, healthier, and dare I say even a wee bit athletic. So take that!

Also, in a NSV, yesterday I put on one of the sweaters I wear to work all the time. It was falling off my shoulders in a really weird way. I didn't think that much of it until I put on another sweater this morning and it's all loose around my collar bone and shoulders too. I obviously lost some weight in that area. That'll work.

I'm also eating healthier for the majority of my meals. I have really cut back on meat (not really sure whether that's a big deal or not - more of an observation) and am eating brown rice with steamed veggies and a salad for lunch or dinner quite often. So all in all, I'm pleased with my progress to date. I'm sure that I will see the numbers go down for next Tuesday's weigh in. 'Til then, I'm just going to keep tracking my points (thanks Elaine for the point tracker!), making good choices, and exercising as many days a week as I can.

Something new...

Well, I started something new. I'm training to become a runner. Yes, not to run a race, but to run - period. I have done a little running at times in my past (there were times in my life where I could run a mile or 2), but I have never stuck with it enough to get good at it - or where it wasn't so hard.

Yesterday I started a running program. It's similar to the 'Couch to 10K' thing that everyone is doing, only this one comes from Runners World http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/smartcoach/beginner/0,7146,s6-238-277-278-0,00.html

So last night was Week 1, Day 1. It was the perfect day not to start. I had to go and buy a stop watch and got sidetracked looking around at Academy, so we got a late start. I was tired and it was hot, there were big hills, but I SO wanted to do this, and I had my new stop watch and all... So I ACTUALLY DID IT! I even ran some of my intervals up hill. Now I'm not saying I wasn't huffing and puffing - hubby did ask for a confirmation that I was not going to have a heart attack on him - but I DID IT! All 10 intervals. I think I did pretty good. I tried to run softly to make sure not to injure myself while I'm just getting started. But I'm not in pain today. We've been walking that park quite a bit lately, and it does have some killer hills so I guess that paid off. I am so psyched!

Week 1 goes like this:

Monday - Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes - repeat this combo 10x

Tuesday - 30 minute easy walk

Wednesday - Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes - repeat this combo 10x

Thursday - 30 minute easy walk

Friday - Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes - repeat this combo 10x

Saturday - Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes - repeat this combo 10x

Sunday - REST

It's designed to get your body caught up with your cardiovascular system so that you don't overdo it early on and get hurt. By Week 8, you should be up to running 30 minutes non-stop. I am so excited.

Anyway, I figured that the Week 1 Walk/Run days are 3 Activity points (probably more actually because there is a warm up and cool down walk that last anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. But we'll just stick with 3 for now. The Walk days will actually be more than the 1 minute that an easy 30 min walk gets you because we will be walking longer at a quicker pace and there are some pretty good hills. I would say those days will be at least 2 AP.

I'm still not sure if I will eat the APs or not. I might. But I am going to start tallying them starting today which is my regular weigh in day - day 1 of my WW week.

Much more to come. I am going to try to come up with a good format for posting this activity info, but for now I'll just do it this way.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Update...Mini Goal Met

Weight: 216!

Just a quick update. Still really busy at work and traveling alot. Just got back from Dubai on Friday, and am headed to Kansas City on Sunday. So I haven't had much time to work on this blog.

A note about traveling and staying OP (On Plan). Being away from home isn't the hardest part about staying OP. For me, the plane ride is the problem. It's ok if it's a few hours, but when you fly for 2 days (like going to/from Dubai) it doesn't matter what you plan ahead, it's really, really hard to not just eat the plane food. I don't know what they do to that stuff. I think they fortify it like an MRE. If I could find a feasible solution to that problem, I think I would have it made. I'm sorry, I just can't/won't live off of meal bars for 2 days on a plane at a time. It's just too stressful and I don't like eating sweet-tasting things that often. I've got to work on finding a real solution to this problem.

Anyway, Dubai wasn't that bad. I did pretty well although there were a lot of situations where I just couldn't count the points and/or didn't have many choices. It worked out ok. I came back a pound heavier - but considering the stress of the traveling that far, and the food on the plane, I'm ok with that.

I managed to drop the extra pound, plus 1, within two days of being back, so I wonder how much of that is water weight. My feet were HUGE on the ride back. Since then, I have dropped another 2 pounds and find myself at 216 this morning. Woohoo! That's my 10% goal! I am so excited. Now I only have 17 pounds to lose to get under 200. I can't wait.

I have been feeling pretty good. I feel thin most of the time now. I have pretty good energy, especially considering that I swear I've picked up some kind of walking pneumonia or something. Staying OP has not been difficult since I've been back. I love how when I count my points, I lose weight. Yesterday I had a piece of cake and I still lost 2 pounds. I had to eat steamed veggies and salad for dinner, but that was ok. I stayed within my point limit. I really didn't want the cake as much as I want to learn how to eat cake and still lose weight, and ultimately to be able to eat cake and maintain my goal weight. Avoiding cake doesn't teach me anything. Plus, I think my starting weight of 240 proves that avoiding cake does NOT work for me. :)

Hubby is doing FANTASTIC. I am so proud of him. He's experimented with the points and different kinds of food/drink and I think he's found a way to stay happy and still lose weight. He is looking so good. I think he's lost 30-35 pounds. We have managed to get out and walk for 30-45 minutes every day this week. I really want to keep that up as ultimately I want to start running. I have a running training book that lays out a plan for safely going from a non-runner to running a race.

Everything is so exciting now. I feel like I am on track to being the person I want to be. I feel like anything is possible and my goals are all reachable now. I have a clear vision of the kind of life I want to live, what I want to do, and how to get there. Things are really coming together that way and it's really, really nice.

Today I slept in because I was feeling really bad this morning. I am just now getting in to work. So I kind of slept through breakfast. That leaves me opportunities to eat my points in a different way today, so that's kind of exciting. I kind of had lunch for breakfast. Then I just packed some snacks to hold me over until I get off work.

Breakfast:

6 - Healthy Choice Philly Cheese Steak Panini (pretty good)
0 - salad
1 - t. Ranch

Snacks packed:

1 - WW vanilla yogurt
2 - lite Laughing Cow cheese wedges
1 - 3 wasa crackers (.8 points actually!)

We got some ground turkey that I think I will make my first turkey burger from tonight. I'm going to try really hard to stop having weeks where I don't lose weight. I've picked out a dress (or type of dress more likely) that I want to wear to our company Christmas party this year. I have 71 pound until my goal weight and I would like to be there by the time I have to buy that dress in December. That gives me 8 full months. That averages out to 8.9 pounds per month. That sounds possible to me at this point. I will of course be upping the excercising as I get smaller and it gets easier and easier to actually exercise.

Anyway, gotta run now. Many, many things to accomplish today...