Week 50 HYC Check In

Weight: 223

Healthy You Challenge Goals for Week 50:
1. Journal all my food
2. Stay on plan
3. 64+ ounces water per day
4. Earn 20 APs
5. Walk minimum of 25 minutes, 7 days
6. Run minimum of 20 minutes, 3 days
7. Minimum 50 ab crunches, 7 days
8. Eat 5 fruit/veg servings per day, 7 days

I'll be posting something longer hopefully today, but I'm trying very hard to get back on track. I think I know what my problem has been and I'll share that with you guys in that post.

I'm going to try 1 old thing - posting all my food, and 1 new thing - taking food pics. I love looking at Angie's blog and seeing all that beautiful food. It looks so wholesome. I think taking pics and posting them will also force me to eat healthier as I won't want you guys to see me eating crap will I?

I'll be in a class for work Wed-Fri this week, so I'm not sure how much I will be able to photo without being a weirdo, but I'll see what I can do.

I set goals that I should be able to attain this week, and that should net me a couple pound loss. Wish me luck!

Week 25 HYC Check In

As you may, or may not, have noticed I've been away for a few days. I don't have to tell any fellow blogger that rarely means that it's because we're just working the program so hard we didn't have time to write. I got a little off track for a few days. Not sure why, although it's TOM and I have had the emotional symptoms of that pretty bad for a few days - all antsy, hungry, and mean - really, ask DH if you don't believe me ;)

Anyway, I really didn't do anything bad or eat a bunch of junk, I just didn't do most of the things I normally do. I was fine up until Friday afternoon. Since then I didn't drink all of my water some days, didn't get my 5 fruits/veg every day, didn't journal, didn't 'officially' count points, etc... I did keep rough track in my head, just didn't feel like writing it down. I also did NOT weigh myself today as TOM has my guts feeling all heavy and swollen. After being off track for a few days, I did not need any mental crap to deal with. I am back today counting, writing, fruiting/vegging, hydrating, etc... so I have already moved on.

Things did go pretty well on the exercise front at least. On Friday I met one of my BIG personal mini goals. Are you ready........

I RAN 30 MINUTES WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't even that hard!

I was so excited I just couldn't believe I had really done that. I remember when we first started exercising and we would huff and puff up this one really big hill. More often than not, runner-guy (that's what we call him) would run past us up the hill and then once or twice more before we'd made the big park loop. I remember saying, "That's ok. One day I will run the entire park loop, including the hills." When I said it, I only kind of believed it, but I kept saying it just the same. It was so cool to actually achieve that goal. Saturday I just walked because neither of us felt well, and I wanted to give my legs a well-deserved rest. Sunday we didn't do anything but chores. Now you know how obsessive my personality is, so you can guess what I did last night. I had told myself that I wasn't going to do the 30 again for a week, and instead go back to interval runs - upping the time. Well, last night I got to worrying that it was all some kind of fluke and that I couldn't REALLY run 30 minutes straight. So I did it again - 32 minutes actually, just for good measure - just to prove I can really do it. I am still in shock. I think I will only do the 30 once a week and do the intervals the other days. I don't want to risk injury, and I think the interval training is helping. I have actually chilled and am only running M/W/F/Sa now, and walking or doing some other exercise the other days. I think I've proven to my stupid brain that I actually do better when I don't run every day.

Not so good news on the 100 Pushup Challenge. I actually forgot to do them on Wednesday and Friday. Seriously. Is that not sad? I guess I need to write it in my journal. I was going to start over yesterday, but we moved a sectional sofa on Sunday and I hurt my left bicep. The right one is just sore - like I moved a couch - but the left feels like I actually HURT it. It hurts just to touch it. My elbow on that arm hurts also. So pushups, even girly ones, are out until it heals. I am planning to re-start that program on Monday.

So, that's it. Sorry it's so long. Hope you all had a good week.

Here are my Week 25 goals - which I promise to work a little harder this time:

Goal	Status
Water 64+ oz 7/7	0/7
Journal food 7/7	0/7
5 fruits & veg 7/7	0/7
Stay on plan 7/7	0/7
Run 30 min per day 4/4	0/4
Earn 30 AP's 30/30	0/30

HYC Check In - Week 24

Weight: 207 (-3)

Well the 206 didn't stick, but I ate late again last night, so maybe it'll be back. I'll gladly take the 207 which puts me 8 pounds down from the fake weight that scale boy gave me last Wednesday, and 3 pounds down from what I'm pretty sure I really weighed which was 210. I had weighed 210 every day that week except WI day - and now that it's a week later and I'm 207 I'm even more convinced that I really weighed 210 because it's hard to believe I lost 8 pounds. Anyway 3 pounds sounds good and I'll take it.

I did good on my HYC goals for Week 23. Here's the final status report:

Goal	Status
Water 64+ oz 7/7	7/7
Journal food 7/7	7/7
5 fruits & veg 7/7	6/7
Stay on plan 7/7	7/7
Run 30 min per day 4/4	6/4
Earn 30 AP's 30/30	36/30

I actually hit every goal except for the 5 fruits/veg. I had one day where I was short by 3. But 6 out of 7 days for me is still most excellent.

So I am awarding myself the following:





Not too bad huh? Looking forward to checking in on all of you.

Week 23 HYC Check In - 215

215. Well crap!

I'm so mad at my scale. It had the nerve to tell me I gained 5 pounds last week. That little lying piece of s....

Anyway, I don't see how it could be true. I had that night I told you about, but I did not eat ten thousand extra calories over plan. That was Wednesday and I did pretty well with staying on plan Thursday through yesterday. Also, I ran 30 minutes a day, every day but Sunday. Yesterday I actually did 3 10/1 intervals at that hilly-ass park.

I did NOT gain 5 pounds. Did I? No, I really don't think I did. I did end up eating dinner late yesterday, and it was on the salty side (sausage - healthy turkey low fat sausage, but that's probably still salty), and I didn't do that well on water at all while I was in Dallas. They only let me out 3 times a day, and I cannot drink the amount of water I drink and make it with only 3 tinkle breaks in 9 hours. We were out of the good water at home, and I left my water cup at home on Monday. Sorry excuses I know, but it added up to me not getting all the water I should. I'm really hoping that has something to do with it.

I'm nothing if not honest though, so I did update my numbers - even my badge was exchanged for a 25 pound one (sniff sniff). Full disclosure. I have posted my Week 23 HYC goals, and I am gritting my teeth and trudging on. Even if it turns out I really did defy the laws of science and gain 5 pounds for real, I REFUSE to be knocked down. It's like yesterday, I was 3 min from completing my 3rd 10 min run and still had the biggest hill in the park to run up. It was so hot and humid and my legs were really tired. It was hard. That made me mad for some reason, so I started running faster. I ran up that hill as fast as I could. It really made me feel better.

I will do this. I may get pushed back, but I will not be pushed down. I will keep eating right, drinking my water, journaling, and running. I won't quit no matter what that *(@%ing scale says. I'm going to give it a talking to tonight, and it had better get it's sh*t together by tomorrow morning or I'm liable to take a hammer to it. Wonder how many APs that would burn?

Can't wait to read all of your blogs. I need some inspiration.

Weigh In, Tuesday May 27th

I'm a day late posting due to a day off from work, but can I have a drum roll please................

Weight: 210!

Woohoo! I weighed on Sunday and saw 210 after all of those days at 214. Then on Monday, it was up to 212. It's TOM, so I didn't worry about it. I'm glad I didn't because it was back to 210 again this morning. I even got on and off the scale about 4 times to make sure.

I am so excited. If you look left, you will see I am sporting a brand new badge to celebrate my now 30 pounds gone! I think I could fly around the room right now. I don't know if I finally broke through my exercise issues, or if the water helped, or if it was eating all of my APs, or what. I'm just going to do this week exactly what I did last week and hope to keep heading down a pound or two a week.

In other news, I 'graduated' to the next level in my running program on Monday. I ran 6 intervals of 4 min run/1 min walk. It wasn't even that hard. Granted it was at the bird sanctuary which is flat, as opposed to the hilly park, so we'll see how hard it is there - but I freaking did it! I even enjoyed it. I'm doing it again tonight, so wish me well. On the foot front, my feet seem to have gone back down to normal size and my shoes are fitting normally again. So, I haven't been having any problems there. That's good news.

Anyway, I've got to go for now, but I'll be checking in on everyone during lunch. I'm jonesing for a blog fix. :)

Not quite a 5K, but not too shabby...

Weight: 214 (yes, still)

Running: woohoo!

It's the start of a new week and the scale hasn't budged, but I almost don't even care today. Why? Because I had an awesome run last night. So sticks out tongue to you Mr. Scale! I'll deal with you in the 7 days to come.

For now, let me tell you about last night. For those of you that have been following my progress, you know that I have been kind of stuck at running 10 2min run/1min walk intervals for 2 or 3 weeks (seems like forever, I can't even remember) and had barely survived my one attempt last week at moving up to 3/1's. That was the run that I huffed and puffed, felt like I was about to have a heart attack, almost puked, and seriously thought about quitting at least 4 or 5 times during the session. That was last Monday I think, and after that I went back to 2/1's for Wed, Fri, and Sun. Wednesday and Friday actually seemed a little hard on the 2/1's and I was beginning to doubt myself - but I was determined that I would continue this running program if I had to run 2/1's for the next 10 years. Sunday went really well. I did 2/1's, but I experimented with pace quite a bit since I felt really strong that day. I even did my last minute of running at the absolute fastest pace that I thought I could maintain for a whole minute. It went pretty well.

So yesterday it was 94 degrees and I was tired. I was still looking forward to running in that weird way that I seem to have now, but I hadn't yet decided if I was going to continue with 2/1's or try 3/1's again. Since the last time was such a bad experience, I was leaning toward the 2/1's. Before I left work, I decided to check in on some of my favorite bloggers. I'm so glad I did. Since one of them had not updated, I decided to check out her beginning posts to see where she had started (she just ran her first 1/2 marathon just over a year later) and I saw her posts where she was struggling with the 3/1's. She, like me, had decided the rate of increase that the running program was suggesting was just too fast for her and that she would decide on her own when to increase her intervals. Reading ahead, I saw that although she struggled in the beginning there seemed to be a point where she was increasing fairly rapidly. She mentioned something about running with someone who pushed her past her comfort point a little. So that's when I decided I would give the 3/1's another chance.

It was awesome! The first couple of intervals were not very difficult. (There are 7 3/1's and then a 2 min run) There were 2 uphill intervals that I had to fight through in a couple of places, but all in all it was challenging without being discouraging. For the first time I actually ran at a decent pace. Until then, I've only been concerned that I was always moving in a jogging motion, sometimes in place if I had to, but I was going pretty slow. Last night I picked up the pace and I think that helped. I think I found a comfort zone because I maintained that throughout the run except for maybe twice when I had to run in place a few steps on the steep hills. I even poured on the speed and ran my last minute as fast as I could. DH was shocked. He kept saying how 'impressive' that was and that I 'ran forever and just kept running'. He must have been impressed because he kept talking about how proud he was and that he never thought he'd see me run like that. I have to admit it, but I am also amazingly proud of myself. I could burst!

So regarding the weight. Meh. I could've lost a couple of pounds, but I didn't. I suspect it's partially due to the reasons I mentioned in a recent post, and partially because I have been slacking on journaling points and drinking water. So, I will take my 214 (because after all 6 months ago I never thought I'd see 214 again) and I will challenge myself to some better behavior for this new week.

In the mean time, I am giving myself a big 'Woohoo!' and a virtual high five. Thanks to all of you that have offered your support here. It means so much to me. Thanks to those of you that, through blogging your own challenges and triumphs, inspire me to go faster and farther than I ever dreamed I could. You girls rock!

Long Overdue Update...

Weight: 214

You may notice that's only down a couple of pounds since my last post a few weeks ago. I attribute this to a few things.

First - I had some really awesome adventures during the last few weeks in which I was reunited with some old friends, and maybe even with the old me. The slightly less awesome side of this is that I behaved a little like the old me and drank more like a 30 year old than a 44 year old who is also trying to lose weight. So, I think regardless of what else I would have done, the extra drinks and the late night drunk hungries kept me from going down the scale any.

Second - I started my running program PLUS upped the exercise on the non-running days. See, I have never really eaten my Flex Points or Activity Points. Now that I am exercising pretty hard 40-75 minutes a day, I'm finding there are days when 26 points isn't enough food. So, I've experimented a little with using Flex and APs. This could also be one of the reasons I've not lost more.

Third - I have been reading about exercise (cardio especially) and losing weight. I've read that it is not uncommon for women to not lose, or even gain, weight when they first start a cardio program. Apparently we're designed to ride out a storm, and our bodies' first reaction to greatly increased exercise is to hold onto fat long enough to make it through times of physical stress and/or decreased caloric intake and particularly when those two things are combined. The good news is that supposedly this response will subside after 3 or 4 weeks if the eating/exercise regime is continued. So, it's one of those things that are so totally NOT fair, but I guess we play the hand we're dealt. Anyway, this could also be a contributing factor to my small loss of poundage.

LAST (I swear) - I think these 3 things combined may be the 'perfect storm' of weight loss inhibition. So, all things considered, I'm happy with my small loss. Hey, as long as I'm headed in the right direction, it'll all take care of itself eventually.

How's the running going? I thought you'd never ask... I'll put that in a separate post since this one's running on too long.

Anyway - can I hear a big 'Woohoo' for a total weight loss of 26 pounds to date? I am definitely on my way!

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.

Another quick update...

Weight: 219 - 21 Pounds Lost!!!!

Again I've been super busy with work and traveling. I'm actually heading out to Dubai for a week on Friday.

Have been on plan though. Norway was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. Drank too much beer - and they don't have anything even close to light beer there. We did really good at breakfast and lunch each day, but dinner was harder. Everything seems to come with some kind of mysterious sauce over there. It was hard to calculate points on and on top of that we were always too hungry by the time we got to dinner. We did a lot of walking up and down the extremely steep streets at least. On top of everything else, I ended up getting stuck in Frankfurt airport, having missed my connecting flight home. It's a long story that involves switched laptops, lost luggage, $400 airport hotel rooms, and other travel intrigue. Suffice it to say that there were just too many situations where I wasn't able to exactly control my food choices. I actually gained a pound while I was there, but lost it 2 days after I got back so no harm, no foul I guess.

I am now down to 26 points a day. According to the calculators, I will be at 26 until I hit 209 I think. Then I drop another point but stay there for a while. So far I'm still getting plenty to eat. Some days I have a hard time eating all my points. I have never used the 35 flex points as a practice. I wonder if I should start using them? I was reading Gotta Get Shrunk's blog and see that she has always eaten all of her flex and all of her AP's. I'm starting to worry that if I don't do the flex that I may mess with my metabolism and it could hurt me down the line. I have used over my points a few times, and counted that as flex, but I've never planned to use it. I always figured that would make up for any time where I underestimated points or overdid portions. I'm still not sure what to do there. I think I won't make any changes until I get under 200. That's why I haven't bought a new scale yet. I know my scale isn't as accurate as a digital. Since I had that problem with the one I had to return, I just figured I would wait until I was about 5 pounds the other side of 200 and then get a digital. That way I wouldn't even bother going back and adjusting all of my weights and goals, I'd just suck it up and deal with it looking like I had gained, or not lost 2-5 pounds. I figure my psyche can handle that as long as the number on the digital comes up under 200. Silly isn't it?

Oh well. I hope to get back to daily blogging soon, and posting my food journals. I'm still writing everything down, I just haven't had time to do it here.

Anyway, Only 3 pounds to go to make my 10% weight loss goal! I can't believe it. I remember when I posted that goal how much 24 pounds sounded like. Now here I am 3 pounds away from that. I am just over the moon I tell you. I'm hoping Dubai is easier for me to control what goes on my plate. I think the Rotana Towers has a 24 hour gym also, so I can work out. I would love to come back next Friday and see 216. That's ambitious, but I'm learning to think big these days.

More later....

Week 2 Official Results

Official Weigh In for Week 2 - 232 pounds

That's kind of a bummer because I've been fluctuating between 229 and 230 the last few days, but this morning when I'm doing my 'official' weigh in, it has to be 232. Bummer.

I'm not too upset. I don't like that it makes me look like I only lost a pound, because I'm pretty sure I lost 3, maybe 4. This is why I'm glad I weigh every day. If I didn't, I'd probably be really depressed thinking "what's the point?". Because I know that I have STRICTLY stuck to plan, and recorded every single bite of food, I KNOW that I did not gain 2 to 3 pounds yesterday.

I'm thinking it may be because I got home late and ate salty food for dinner at 9PM. Also, I drank a diet cherry RC this morning before weighing. Normally I weigh immediately after the morning tinkle. Maybe that's it. Oh well, it will just look better for next week. I know that I am losing weight.

Anyhoo, I decided not to do Wendie Plan for week 3. I'm going to be traveling for work from Sunday through next Friday, so I don't need any added hassle of trying to remember how many points I have. Also, it may be hard to find a variety of choices since I won't have a car. I may have to find one or two things that work and have them every day. Anyway, it just seems like it would be added things to worry about that I don't need.

Also, I discovered today that I have been eating too few points. Apparently I had a senior moment when calculating them before and came up with 25 per day when it should be 28. I will admit to struggling over whether or not to change my points because the fat girl voice in my head started all this babble about how I will gain weight if I do that, and while I'm at it, wouldn't I lose faster if I did something like 20 points? I told her to shut up and go away. Me and skinny girl don't need her 'advice' - it's what got us in this mess to begin with. Anyway, I redid my spreadsheet where I track my meals to show the new 28 points per day. So what if she was right and I gain weight? Well, I guess that's a risk I have to take. I refuse to look at this as a short term solution. This is a change in my life habits that I am trying to make. There's not a day when I will magically 'be finished'. This is a journey. I have every confidence that as long as I do what I have committed to do, everything will work itself out. Plus, I have read that eating too few points messes up your metabolism and sets you up to have to live off of really small amounts of food to not gain weight during maintenance. Who wants that? Not me! Better to get that sorted early on.

So I begin Week 3 with a really good feeling of good things to come. Plus, I'll take my one pound loss. That's one pound closer to goal, and 8 pounds lighter than I was and that's all good.

Onward!

Week 1 Official Results...

Woohoo! Week 1 weight loss total is 7 pounds! And that's with TOM kicking into high gear today. I am very pleased with those results.

Last night hubby and I took the boys for a walk in the park. It was about 40 minutes at an extremely brisk pace - the boys see to that. It's walk fast or be drug around the park by a leash. Two 70+ pound dogs that are highly excited are a safe bet that you will never stroll anywhere again.

After that we had caldo soup that he made. Delicious and healthy.

I am over half way to my 1st mini-goal of 10 pounds. Hopefully I will hit that by next Tuesday morning.

Day 1 - The awful truth

Starting weight: 240 (yikes!) Points allowed: 25

Breakfast:

6 pt - 1 large bagel

1 pt - 1 t. butter

Lunch:

5 pt - WW frozen dinner

0 pt - romaine lettuce

1.5 pt - 1 T. Ranch

1 pt- WW yogurt

Dinner:

4 pt - WW frozen dinner

0 pt - romaine lettuce

3 pt - 2 T. Ranch

1 pt - WW yogurt

Snack:

2.5 pt - 2 Hershey nuggets


Total Points consumed - 25
Water consumed - 64oz +