182.5 this week, for a 1 lb gain. I think it's safe to say that my easy loss days are over. I was secretly hoping that I could keep eating whatever so long as I kept up my current workout/training schedule, but it seems that my body has adjusted. I'm going to have to start paying attention to my calories again. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. :)
In other news, I picked up the SystemSix on Tuesday as planned, and have ridden a couple times since then. I was looking forward to having performance numbers to compare from last night's ride, but I was a dumbass and forgot my GPS at the office. Circumstantial evidence suggests that I held my own ok (probably averaged 20-21 mph...a guy that finished behind me averaged 21.5, but he stayed with the front group longer on the first leg), but actual data would have been better. The bottom line is that I'm marginally faster overall, but the bike and I are still getting used to each other.
I'm having a bit of a time getting used to the 53-39 chainring combo again after riding a 50-34 in the front for a few weeks. I also think I might need a longer stem (on the re-fit, he swapped out the 110 for a 90...I think I want a 100), and I'm not totally sold on the Speedplay pedals I'm trying out. I may try it with the quattros this weekend, see which I really prefer. I also may swap the wheels on it for the ones I was riding before, since they're the next level up from what came on the new bike. They're also 2 model-years back, though, so may be totally equivalent, the way technology progresses.
Anyway, I'm pleased with the bike overall, but it's going to be a little while before I really tweak it to my satisfaction. As a teammate put it, talking about her new bike...we're still dating. :)
181.5 this morning--knew that it would go back down eventually. :) Hoping for sub-180 in a week or two...by September at the latest.
Song: Fix You (right-click, save as)
P.S. The rear wheel torque issue on the Casseroll appears to be fixed. I was able to stand and pedal several times last night, and the wheel stayed put. I also had my fastest average on the Salsa, at 20.3 mph for 26 miles. This is only 1/3 of a mph slower than my top speed on the Orca on this same course...amazing what can happen when I'm actually able to trust my equipment. :P
183 again. Well, at least I'm consistent.
183. 2 lbs up, but nothing to worry about. As long as it goes down again next week, I'll be happy.
Song: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (right-click, save-as)
181 today, kids. I have not seen this weight since 2005. :) Or a consistent weight loss pattern, for that matter. So, woohoo!
Song: Better Than Love (right-click, save-as)
Quick question...is anyone downloading these music files? And if you are, does your browser convert the file to an mp4 on download? Why does it do that?? I'm uploading them as m4a's, I swear. I would upload them as mp3s, but it seems silly to go to the trouble of burning a CD to convert them when they're already DRM-free. All this is leaving copyright issues aside, which...you're all friends, right? I can consider this limited personal use of my music collection. :)
I suspect this wouldn't be nearly as annoying if I didn't have an irrational hatred of Quicktime, but if anyone can offer some insight, I'd appreciate it.
182.5 this morning, for a 1.5 lb loss (or if you're counting from last week's unoffiicial, horror-inducing weigh-in, 4 lbs. Yikes). It's like my body's just been waiting to see how this 4-days-a-week, high-intensity riding was going to hold up, and after a few months it just said, "eh. I can handle this. Let's drop some fat!" I've averaged a pound a week for a month and a half, dude. That rules!
In bike news...I still haven't decided what to do with the Orca. However, I will be taking it apart this weekend and building the Casseroll with its parts (well, a friend will be. I have no skills for that sort of thing, but I am more than willing to buy beer for those that do). While this won't make the salsa what I ultimately want it to be (the brakes from the Orca won't clear fenders or fatter tires, so those will have to wait until I buy long-reach cantilever whatevers), it can work as my interim club bike until the SystemSix is paid off. It's not a racer so I'll get dropped even earlier on the speedy-boy rides, but if I can bring in a few hundred for the Orca frame, I can get the Six out of purgatory all that much faster. :)
Oh, P.S.--I averaged 20.6 mph on the ride last night. 20.6! This was my first time on that particular course and with that group, and those things make a difference so I can't exactly declare it my best ride ever. However, it is my first known 20+ average on a club ride, so I was pretty stoked. :)
184 today--it's going down! I was kind of hoping for 182-183 this week so I could stay on track for my plan to hit 150s by the end of the year, but coming off what was essentially a two-year plateau I'm grateful for what I can get.
Training this week has been kind of light...other than the test ride on Monday and the team ride Tuesday, I haven't ridden at all. My regular Wed ride has been moved to Sunday, and I thought last night's team ride would get rained out so I didn't go. Weather turned out fine, but at 5:00 it was looking pretty ugly.
Anyway, I've been spending my evenings searching in vain for my Garmin Edge so I can use it on Sunday. Folks, I have lost the hell out of that thing. I know exactly when I last used it, and where. I know what car I was driving at the time, and what laptop bag I was using. There are only a handful of places it could be, and yet...it is not in any of them I've checked so far. I'm afraid it has taken a trip to the Island of Lost Things. At $250-300, I can't afford to just replace it, and certainly not before Sunday. I really want to use it then, too, because the new bike won't have a computer. I can gauge the difference between the S6 and the Orca by how well I'm able to stay with the group, but if/when I lose the front of the group I'll lose my base of comparison. Not that it really matters, since I'm buying the bike either way, but I want NUMBERS, dammit. :)
Between this and my ipod nano (lost that 2 weeks ago), I'm beginning to think that my house has a hidden portal to another dimension somewhere. Perhaps in the corner behind the computer desk?
Song: Let's Get Lost (right-click, save-as)
UPDATE: A very kind and generous friend has offered the use of his Edge this weekend. Thanks, dude!
185.0 this morning, which is fine. It's That Time. Things will drop again in about a week and a half.
I leave for Austin tonight...I could say that I feel confident about this weekend's races, but I'd be lying.
I think we'll do okay in the UAR...McSpeedy is fast, I've got a good route plotted, and I think we scored well enough on the bonus quiz to go out in the first wave (82%!). The crit, well...the bright side is that there's only 15 girls registered and there's no day-of registration available, so I'm virtually guaranteed a top-20 finish. :)
Song: Fake Empire (right-click, save-as)
Hey--it wasn't a fluke! I'm at 184.5 today. This is a bit of a landmark, because my weight loss for 2008 has finally hit double digits. Rock on! I was kind of worried about stepping on the scale this morning, too, since I had been in the upper 180s most of the week. Stupid triathlon. :) But it all got sorted out by Friday, I guess, so no harm/no foul.
Speaking of the triathlon, what damn-fool thing am I going to try next, eh? The answer is that I've kind of run out of damn-fool athletic things to do over here. Or, at least, I've run out of new ones. So that's why, next weekend, I'm going back to humiliating myself in ways that I've already tried.
Intrigued? Click OPEN WIDE.
Don't care? Here, have some music: Racing Like a Pro (right-click, save-as)
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am sticking with what I know. Next Saturday, I will be heading back to Austin to participate in another crit. Or at least, I think I will. I haven't actually signed up yet, since I don't need to decide for real until Tuesday. I'm waiting to see what the field size turns out to be before I commit. Right now, there's 5 girls signed up for the open race, and I like that field size just fine. Plus, all the pros and superfast amateurs will be participating in the big P12 women's race later on in the afternoon, so the open race will be mostly cat 3s and 4s. That's not to say that they'll be slow or anything, but at least I have a chance at keeping up for more than 35 seconds. If the field size jumps up over 30 by Tuesday, though, I might decide to take a pass. We'll see. My luck, everyone else is doing the same thing I am, and I'll sign up right at the same time as 60 others. So my small-field hopes will be dashed, but I'll still be out $40 with no chance of getting out of it without a DNS.
So, you might be asking yourself...given my, um, lackluster performance in last month's local crits, why on earth would I be considering this nonsense again so soon, and traveling to it besides? A couple reasons. One, the pro races for this event are kind of a big deal. National/international teams represented for both genders, the chance to see some pretty big names in cycling show us how its done. So I kinda wanted to go watch it anyway, and racing will help kill the afternoon before the main event.
And secondly, the Urban Assault Ride is the next day, and I finally wheedled McSpeedy into teaming up with me. I'm kind of excited...I've never done this event with someone faster than me. I think this might be the year I finally finish the thing with ALL our checkpoint beads. Fingers crossed.
So, these are my plans for next weekend. This weekend, on the other hand, is the first one in a while when I don't have anything going on. Not a single elsewhere to be. I plan to ride the beginner ride, do the Sunday shop ride, and then sit around the house and do nothing the rest of the time. Well, besides laundry. And Father's Day stuff. But other than that, nothing! Woo! :)
I stepped on the scale this morning, and it told me 185. Then I got off, made sure it was level, and got back on again. One. Eighty. Five. That's 3.5 lbs this week. It's also a pretty good sign that I won't hit the 190s again unless I jump deliberately off the weight-loss wagon. Woo!
Unfortunately, the rest of my day was kind of awful. I took the last two days off because my son's last day of school was yesterday and I wanted to help usher in his summer vacation. Also, McSpeedy is going on a family road trip to visit his inlaws starting this weekend, and wanted to get a couple good long rides in the mornings. So I rode hills with him yesterday in a 25 mph wind, and was planning on a nice, flat 40 with him and another friend (let's call him the Fireman) today. Due to some flats (4, in 5 minutes, all on the same tire), McSpeedy, the Fireman and I didn't get on the road for our 40 mile ride till almost 10 am. We meant to leave by 8:30 or 9:00. On the bright side, our late start allowed Fireman's wife to join us. On the less-bright side, she's faster than all of us so it was kind of a mixed blessing, and the temperature was about 10-15 degrees hotter once we finally got on the road. Add to that a bit of leftover wind, terrain that was hillier than I had bargained for, and the impending rainstorm, and the ride was kind of a death march.
And when I got back to where we had left my car? It wasn't there. The rat-bastards had it towed. Which, you know, it was completely within their rights to do since I had parked it at a gas station and they did have a sign posted that unauthorized cars would be towed. Unfortunately, I did not see the sign until AFTER my car was gone...though it was helpful that they put the wrecker service number on the sign so that I didn't have to go into the place and make a scene.
So anyway, I called the wrecker service who had my car, and that's when the fun started. Long story short--since I don't own my car, I could not pick it up without a notarized state form from the company that does. So not only did I have to pay nearly $200 to get my car out of impound hell, but I also had to call my office and irritate at least 4 other people. All to pick up a car that I had the keys for, had all my stuff in it (including my driver's license and insurance card, which I also needed), and was obviously my primary vehicle. I shudder to think what would have happened if this wasn't a weekday or anyone involved besides me had been on vacation. I would have been screwed and carless till Monday.
188.5 again.
Sorry I haven't had much to say lately...this has been an extraordinarily busy month. On the diet/exercise front, here are the highlights in no particular order:
188.5 today. I am...indifferent. It's been one of those weeks, I guess.
189 again. I would really like to leave the 190s behind for good this time, please.
188.5 today...I think it's mostly luck, emotion and hormones, but hey--I'll take it!
My flight to WI leaves tomorrow morning at dark:30, and I'll be gone through next Wednesday. The funeral's Monday, and then I figured I'd spend a couple days with the family before I head home. Not exactly a pleasure trip, but the weather will hopefully be nice and springy. :)
190. I could lay the blame for this in several places--PMS, poor hydration, whatever. But the real truth is that I have not been trying very hard.
Song: I Don't Know What I Can Save You From (right-click, save as)
189.5 today, which is two pounds more than Monday (when I was probably dehydrated from the race, but I liked that number so much that I posted it anyway), but two pounds less than last Friday. No matter how you look at it, I've FINALLY made it out of the 190s. Woo!
190 even today, which is not the loss I am looking for. The 180s continue to taunt me from behind the locked door as they leave me standing haplessly on the porch. (Or some equally-belabored analogy.)
Song: Paralyzer (right-click, save-as)
190.5 this morning, a new low for 2008! And 4 lbs lighter than last week, not that it really counts since I knew that weigh in was more about water retention than anything else. Nonetheless, this one is still heartening. :)
Song o' the Day: Rainy Monday (right-click, save-as)
192.5 this morning, for a 1-lb gain. While I am not happy, necessarily, I kind of expected it. My water intake has not been good, work has been keeping me from working out...[insert some more well-worn excuses here]. I kind of wanted to make the 180s by February, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen and I'm okay with that. I climbed a mountain* last weekend, for goodness sake...that's way cooler than the 180s, as far as I'm concerned. :)
Song: Tire Swing (right-click, save as...also, go see Juno, it's awesome)
*or at least, a really formidable hill. 10-12% grade for over a mile, followed by a scary-sweet descent, then another ascent at 8% for nearly 2 miles. I've started a ride report, but who the hell knows whether I'll ever finish it. I can't seem to get my groove back as far as the ride stories are concerned...as is evidenced by my lack of a duathlon report, a Galveston report, an Urban Dare report, and any other reports I may have promised then failed to deliver over the past 6 months. Frankly, I've lost count. Also, I suck.
well, it has been a while, eh? And not really anything new to report--191.5 this week, for a solid maintain.
Of course, if I had done an official weigh-in last week, I would have lost 4 lbs this week, since I gained that much over the business trip and other nonsense that has been going on in my absence from the site. But now I'm back to where I was before I left, and I'm hoping it will keep going down from here.
Later today, I'm heading off to race team training camp weekend* in Leakey, TX, where I'll spend 2 days climbing some wicked hills with really fast people. Or, rather, lagging along a mile or so behind some really fast people, gasping for air and trying not to die. :) Hopefully, I'll have something to write about when I get back.
*no, I'm not racing (yet). I am getting faster all the time, though, and I've started riding with the speedy groups more often. I still mostly get dropped once the warm-up's over, but I last a little bit further every time. :) At any rate, I have no plans to race this year...I'm just in this for a little bike vacation.
191.5 today, for a 3 lb loss! Take THAT, 2008! :)
I know that this isn't a true 3-lb loss, since my 1.7lb gain last week was mostly the result of water retention and change of routine. It was gone almost immediately, once I started drinking water instead of beer and stopped hauling boxes around for 5 hours a day. I am happy to see, though, that I was able to send 1.3 more lbs on their merry way as well.
I was at 194.5 this morning, which means I lost weight this year...for the first time since 2004. It may only be 6.5 lbs, but I'll take it.
Now, for 2008, how 'bout we quadruple that? :)
192.8 today...what is up with this body of mine, eh? Hangs on to the high 190s for most of the year, and then drops almost 6 lbs in 3 weeks. Not that I'm complaining, but it's weird. Usually gain weight over the holidays.
Song: TBD (my carols are at home)
194.0 this week, for a loss of a whopping .6 lbs. :P And this is the part where I trot out the old "a loss is a loss is a loss" thing...but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a letdown from the 4 lbs last week.
Song: Angels We Have Heard on High (right-click, save-as, you can probably expect carols from here to xmas)
...but it's not 194.4 either. It's 194.6. Since my last weigh in was...(looking it up)...198.6, that's a 4 lb loss. Rock. :)
For this minor miracle, I would like to thank spin classes, a little bit of discipline, and the watercooler 50 feet from my new office.
Song: Wash Away (right-click, save as)
198.2. Round and round and round she goes.
In other news, I picked up my packet for the 2-day ride this weekend. I have still not heard from my ridemate, so I'm going to have to assume that she's not going. That makes 2 teammates to bail on me in a single month--my Urban Dare partner got promoted at work and starts her new job the Monday after the race, so she decided to stay home that weekend so she can be well-rested for her new role on Monday. So now, two weeks before the event, I'm looking for a teammate for that as well.
Gosh, do I offend? :)
Song o' the day: Not Your Year (link expired)
197.6! Huzzah!
Even though I know that the 200.6 last week wasn't "real" (a result of PMS and vacation--two great weight loss obstacles that go great together!), it's still nice to have that knowledge validated. It is also nice to get back under 200 lbs. again.
I still owe y'all a race report on the duathlon, but I can't seem to get started on it. I know what I want to say, but it's just a matter of sitting down and putting it all to paper. Or screen. Or disk. Whatever. I just need to write the damned thing.
In the meantime, however, I do have pictures.
Every time I see event pictures like this, I wonder whether I have some kind of body dysmorphic disorder...when I looked in the mirror that morning, I looked almost svelte. Maybe not a gazelle, but perhaps one of the larger antelopes? The pictures, however, make me look more like a water buffalo. (Though I do like that last one where I'm running and smiling. And I'm amazed at how well my pigtails held up.)
200.6. Yikes.
At least I'm not all the way back where I started.
Still sitting in the 197s...197.6 today. It's a slight gain, but nothing earth-shattering. Since my objective here is to lose weight, however, it is a little disappointing. I really need to start making more of an effort.
Also, I've decided to go ahead and take the results of the bike naming poll--Keiko it is! Thanks to all who voted. :)
197.2 again. Apparently, 197 is the new 201.
Also, my bike's ready! I'm going in for the fitting today after work...I've got butterflies already. I'm not sure if it's excitement about getting the new bike or dread of writing that huge check. :) I'm planning to take pictures after I get her home, but it may be a couple days before I actually post them.
Song: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (right-click, save-as)
I'm dedicating this song choice to my godfather, who passed away this week. RIP, Nimzy...you were always good to me. I hope life treats you better on the other side.
I've opened my browser to post this at least 4 times now, but kept getting distracted by my other bookmarks. Today's not a good day for the concentration.
It was, however, sort of a good day for the weigh-in. 197.2 today--a loss! Granted, it's the smallest loss that my scale can measure, and if I had followed the plan with even a little discipline, I could have seen a bigger one. That's a goal for next week.
197.4, baby! Who'da thought I'd ever be excited about that number again, but there you go.
Song of the day: Because I'm Awesome
(Update: Link removed. You know, I kind of stumbled into this CD when I was looking for a good version of Brand New Key the other day, but I totally love the whole thing. I think Watch Me Go is my favorite track, but this one's just so fun to sing along...)
one of the nice things about weighing in every day is that if you wake up on the official weigh-in day and discover that you've gained 2.6 lbs overnight, you can just pretend it never happened and use the totally legitimate and happy weigh-in from the day before. Some may call that fudging the truth, others outright lying...I call it "avoiding putting a fist through my scale."
So, 199.2 today. Or yesterday. Whichever.
Song o' the day: Escape (link removed)
200.0, which makes for two losses in a row!
I'm happy with this, but also frustrated since this was the cleanest eating week I've had in months and I worked out nearly 6 hours. Compare that to the crap food and 2 hours of exercise last week, and guess which week I lost more weight? As if I needed any more proof that this weight loss business is a less-than-exact science. And also not fair.
But hey, it was still a loss, even if it was considerably smaller than I had hoped. And next week? I'm totally breaking that 200-lb barrier.
(Again.)
Song o' the day: How Come (link removed)
So, this week, I've worked out exactly zero times since Saturday. I half-assed my food intake, paying attention when it suited me, but otherwise just eating whatever, whenever.
Can you believe I lost weight? Not much weight, mind you, and still not enough to get me out of the 200s, but more than I've lost in a month or so--200.2 this morning.
Now, to be fair, I suspect that I was bloated last week, and the one thing I HAVE been good about this week is my water intake. So I think that this loss is more about flushing the system than any actual fat loss. Still--I'll take it! (At this point, I'll take anything.)
Song o' the day: Anything, Anything (link removed)
200.8, for a solid maintain. I can't complain, as I was thisclose to skipping another weigh-in out of fear. I've only worked out twice since last Friday (time total of 2:40, $26.67 in bike fund*), and was fully expecting a gain. If my eating hadn't been unusually controlled this week, I'm sure I would have gained. So, um, yay me, I guess.
Song o' the day: Little Wonders (link removed)
*and speaking of that, I don't know what I was smoking when I came up with $44.40 as my total for last week. Looking back on my stats (from polarpersonaltrainer.com, uploaded from HR monitor), I had 6 hours and 8 minutes of exercise that week. How I translated that to $44 and change is beyond me. If I remember right, I miscalculated or left something out and ended up with 4 hours and 44 minutes, but even that would have been more like $47.50 (damn that decimal number system!). The real total from last week was $61.33, which works in quite nicely with this week's $26.67 to give me $88. So sayeth my calculator, at least, which I will now use for all arithmetic more complicated than 2+2=4. I guess Barbie was right--"Math is hard!" :)
Um, I was a little cranky yesterday...could you tell?
A decent night's sleep and a couple liters of water later, my outlook is a bit brighter. My weight still isn't down to where I'd like it to be this week, but it did drop 3 whole pounds since yesterday--200.8.
I'm torn on whether or not this means I should stop weighing in every day. I do it because it helps me focus and tends to discourage straying from the path. Nothing like a 3-lb gain mid-week to make you lay off the cookies, you know? However, it does have the potential to bring on the crazy when the mood is right...or wrong, depending on how you look at it.
Another thing I'm torn on: whether to change my bike-building goal. Here's my dilemma...I have this beautiful, feather-light bike frame sitting in my office at home, doing nothing. It begs to be built and ridden. Every time I pass the doorway, it calls to me. Not to mention, I paid over a grand for the thing, and I can practically hear it depreciating.
I set the 30-lb goal because I figured it was perfectly reasonable to lose that much weight in 6 months. Now, though, at 10 weeks in, I've lost a grand total of 2 tenths of a pound. It's hard to keep at it when the number on the scale doesn't seem to have any damn correlation whatsoever to my level of effort, either. At that net rate, I could have grandchildren before I have a new bike.
Part of me wants to buckle down and stick with it. I'm so bad at following through on things, and just once I'd like to reach a goal that I set for myself without relaxing the terms. Then the other part chimes in and says that the only reason I set this goal in the first place is because I wanted to give some structure to my bike savings, and if I could also lose 30 lbs in the process it would be all the better. Then I signed up for that duathlon, and it totally upped the stakes for me. While it would be nice to be 30 lbs lighter AND ride the new bike for the duathlon, what I REALLY wanted was the latter. So, when I continued to lose weight excruciatingly slowly, I found myself with two conflicting goals.
The bottom line is, what started out as an incentive meant to keep me on track has devolved into a constant source of frustration and discouragement as October looms closer. The losses I need to keep on track each week just keep getting bigger--at this point, we're up to 2 lbs/week, minimum. While I think I could lose 2 lbs/week if I dropped to 1200 calories and an hour of exercise/day, there's no guarantee. So, I think I'm going to scrap this plan and go back to my original--building the new bike when my old bike's odometer reaches 5,000 miles, regardless of how much I weigh at that time. That still requires that I put 400-500 miles on the Pilot between now and September (I don't remember the exact number on my odometer), which will require some diligence...especially considering that my work schedule is going to include weekends for most of the next two months.
To pay for the upgrade, I'm throwing $10 into the savings account for every hour I work out. At an hour/day, every day, I'd be ready to build in mid-September. With some long rides and some rest days in there, it should come out just about the same. I think this action-based plan is going to work better for me. Hell, maybe I'll even get some results, while I'm at it.
Hmm...I guess I wasn't really all that torn after all. :)
Song o' the day: Trust Me (link removed)
Behold--my scale numbers this week:
Monday: 201.2
Tuesday: 202.6
Wednesday: 202.8
Thursday: 203.8
At this rate, instead of hitting 180 by September like I'd hoped, I'll weigh 300 lbs by the end of the year. Sigh.
Yes, I KNOW it's because of the race this past weekend (our official result was 75th in the women's division, by the way) and getting back into running. I'm retaining so much water that I haven't put any rings on, for fear I wouldn't be able to get them off. I've also been exhausted all the time yet unable to sleep. None of that makes it any better, honestly. I feel huge. I feel impatient. I'm about one gain away from feeling utterly fucking hopeless.
Song o' the Day: Click Click Boom - Saliva (link removed)
Yeah...back up to 200.0 today. It's not terribly surprising, since my workouts have been non-existent since the weekend, but I thought I might be able to skate by on diet alone and see a small loss. Alas, it was not to be. Next week, I'm making weekday workouts more of a priority...obviously, I need them.
Hey, guess what? My body has finally decided to cooperate...199.6 today!
That's 1.6 lbs since last week, 1.4 since the start of the challenge, which translates into $35 for the component fund! Woo!
Apparently, last week WAS bloat week (there is other evidence to indicate this). And maybe my return to running did cause my body to hang onto weight for a few weeks, as Julie commented a couple weigh-ins ago. Whatever the case, my body seems to pulled out of WTF mode now, and hopefully I can start making real progress again.
Yyyyyeah...I'm beginning to think I need to see a doctor, or get some blood tests or something. 201.2, despite a sub-1800 calorie average* and regular exercise. Judging from my *cough* volatile moods, I think it might be Bloat Week, but still. Ridiculous.
*I know this isn't terribly low, but I haven't had any trouble losing weight at this level in the past. I wasn't, like, losing 3 lbs/week or anything, but I sure as hell wasn't gaining.
I brought my bike into the shop yesterday, because the last time I was in (to fix that chain rub thing I mentioned briefly a few posts ago) I had a brake cable that needed replacing. We also talked a little bit about the weight-distribution issues I was having on the bike (too much weight on my hands). Bike Shop Guy (BSG) suggested a refit, because we hadn't done one since they changed the handlebar (and I changed the pedals, and the saddle, and my shoes...) and things were probably off. (I don't really have anything more to add to this, but I think I needed one more parenthetical notation in this paragraph.) (God.)
So I dropped it off for the cabling yesterday at lunch, and went back for the fit after work. Everything went great, BSG adjusted my seat height and my cleat position, and would have moved my seat back if the rails had been longer. He suggested a seatpost with a 20mm offset, since my current saddle is pushed back as far as it will go. This was a relief to me, since I was a little afraid that this new fit would indicate that I needed a shorter reach. If that were the case, then buying the Orca was a mistake. But no...it actually needs to be longer, which is what I was hoping for. Whew! (Except I was kind of hoping that it would need to be longer in the forward direction...a new stem is cheaper than a new seatpost.) Then we talked components and saddles a little bit...he agreed with my component choices for the Orca (Ultegra 10-spd, compact double crank), suggested a saddle. It was nice...I felt very competent, which is a feeling I don't usually get in the bike shop.
Then I paid, left, loaded my bike, and forgot my front wheel in the parking lot. Sigh. So much for competence. :) I didn't even notice it was missing until 45 minutes later, when I went to put my bike together and test out the new fit--whoops, where's my wheel?!
After nearly throwing up at the thought that I may have run over it on my way out of the parking lot(though I think I would have noticed), I frantically searched for my receipt with the bike shop's phone # on it. Then I noticed my phone had new voicemail. Sure enough, BSG had seen the wheel fall as I drove away, I didn't run it over, and it was safely tucked away at the shop. I called back to thank him, and I'm picking it up today.
Just once, I wish the universe would let me get through an entire day without dorking out in some fashion. Hell, maybe it's just God's way of keeping me from getting too cocky. :)
Anyway, music. I actually have some this week! (UPDATE: links removed.)
As I've mentioned before, I have huge playlists. This is because I bore easily, and anything less than a 50 song rotation gives me too much repetition from day to day. Thus, my normal playlist size is anywhere from 100-300 songs. Even with this many songs in the shuffle, I can tell when it's time to switch 'em up when I start skipping 5 songs for every one I play. My commute playlist (232 songs) is nearing that point now, but there are a few songs that still get played every time they come up. This week's selections are a sampling of those.
Stay Gold, Ponyboy - The Get Up Kids While I do like this one in the car, the workout playlist is where it really shines. The tempo change part is great for keeping the cadence up.
If I Were Brave - Shawn Colvin
Good Man - Josh Ritter I think this one may be on the list because it's so recent for me...I finally got around to watching the House season finale on Wednesday, and downloaded this song immediately afterward. We'll see if it has any kind of staying power.
What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie I finally got sick of I Will Follow You Into the Dark, but I still indulge my morbid romanticism every time this one comes on. Maybe because it makes me think of my mom.
Just A Sign - Allen Wayne Damron Still my favorite song of all time, probably proving that my tastes aren't terribly well refined. :)
Right click, save as, and enjoy your weekend!
The good news is, I lost almost a pound this week (0.8)!
The bad news...that brings me back to my start weight. Sigh.
I'm disappointed, but not terribly worried. I'm still sore from the sculpting class, and my rings are tight, which generally means that I'm retaining some water. My clothes also feel a bit looser, and my pants are longer. :)
I guess this is just another way to start over, and the 1st of the month is a nice time to do it. 17 weeks to lose 30 lbs before the duathlon...I can still totally do this.
I'm not weighing in today...well, actually, that's not true. I did weigh in today, and the number is so utterly disheartening that I'm pretending it didn't exist. Let's just say that if I were to count this week's weigh-in, my component fund would now be in the negative numbers.
Music will be coming later...stay tuned.
199.2 again this week. At this rate, I'll be building the Orca sometime around October 2008. Sigh. Well, I'm stepping up the exercise over the coming weeks, so we'll see if that makes a difference.
This week's music is a party-shuffle first five. I thought about doing an Idol theme since my favorite made it into the finale, but I decided to wait until it's all settled next week (go Blake!).
Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World
Everyday - Buddy Holly
Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
Somebody More Like You - Nickel Creek
I Held Her In My Arms - Violent Femmes
So, there it is...I guess my itunes feels a little bit country, little bit rock 'n' roll this morning. Right-click, save-as, and have a great weekend!
I'm feeling really melancholy today...not sure why, I guess I was just due for a day that doesn't seem worth the trouble of getting out of bed. And then I gained 0.4 lbs this morning, which did not improve the mood. 199.2 is not the number I was hoping for. Hardly the end of the world, but still...$10 less in the component fund, man. Bummer.
Music's all over the place today...all pretty recent acquisitions, but that's really the only thing they have in common.
UPDATE: Links/files removed.
If I Were Brave - Four Bitchin' Babes
Invincible - Pat Benatar
You'll Ask For Me - Tyler Hilton
Get a Clue - Simon & Milo
New Slang - The Shins (live, w/Iron & Wine)
I was going to post some Bl@ke Lew1s too, but my uploader didn't like that file for some reason. Oh well...if he gets voted off next week, I'll try again. After I'm done sobbing into my couch cushions, that is.
Aaanyway...right click, save as, enjoy your weekend. :)
198.8 today. I lost a quarter-pounder! Well, without the bun. And probably the cheese and condiments. But I lost something, at least!
I'm not sure if it's heartening or disheartening that I lost 0.2 lbs on a 2100-calorie daily average. On the positive side, that tells me that I don't have to take my calories down very far right now to see results (though I do know that will change as I get smaller). Conversely, it highlights how much I've been overeating for the last few months. If I can lose weight at 2000 calories, how many was I putting away when I was gaining?
Anyway, SparkPeople is still working pretty well for me, though yesterday was the first time I stayed within my target range since I started. I had to fight with the Inner Fat Girl to do it, too...right around 6:30, IFG was all, "I want chips, bitch" and I was all, "If you eat the chips, you can't have that pudding later, and you're gonna want the pudding." Then she was like, "If you didn't want to eat the chips, why did you buy them?"
I conceded that this was a good question, sighed loudly, then I (we?) ate some chips. But later, I had strawberries instead of pudding, and came in barely under 1950 for the day (1929, to be exact). So yeah, progress may be slow over here, but at least it's going in the right direction now.
And speaking of progress, those of you who look at the sidebar will notice that I've changed my start date yet again. This is because I've got a challenge in the works, which I'll be posting about later. Also, I'm tired of having the fact that I'd kept off less than a pound since August just staring me in the face over there. :) It's time for a new beginning.
Today's music has a bible theme, in that either the artist or the title of each song contains a biblical name. Nothing too churchy (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Doubting Thomas - Nickel Creek
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel (a saint AND an angel, all in one name!)
The Marvelous Toy - Peter, Paul, and Mary (three-fer! I'm on a roll here, people!)
Uncle John's Band - Grateful Dead
And what inspired this theme, you ask? Yesterday, these two songs came up on my work playlist one after the other:
Hey There Delilah - Plain White Ts
Right-click, save-as, peace be with you.
So, yeah. I weighed in at 199.0 this morning. Would you believe that I was HAPPY about this? I was, because it's actually down 2 lbs from last Friday, and a whopping seven since Monday. Of course, Monday was all fake weight, my body's way of saying "Dude--What the hell?!" about the MS150. Still, it's kind of nice to watch 7 lbs fall off in 5 days.
Also, I'm focusing back on weight loss around here again, now that I don't have a specific event to train for. I created a SparkPeople account, and I really like the site so far. In fact, I think it may be the best diet/weight-loss site I've ever used. The calorie counts are reasonable, the site's easy to use, and the meal plans contain foods I would actually eat. And it's completely free!
This week, I just recorded everything I ate, rather than try to hit the target range...man, do I eat more than I thought! I mean, I knew I wasn't eating weight-loss calories, but it turns out that I regularly eat between 2000 and 3000 calories/day. And that's when I'm paying attention. Lord knows what it's been like for the past 3 months, when I've just been eating whatever/whenever. Yikes. Anyway, I'm following one of their meal plans to the letter today, and hoping to end the day at about 1880 (they set my range at 1600-1950). We'll see.
As for music...I was listening to a podcast the other day that features "podsafe cycling music" at the end, and the featured song was "Code Monkey". I'm not a programmer, but I still got a kick out of it. So then I went looking for Code Monkey, ended up at Thing a Week, and well...today's music theme is novelty songs.
UPDATE: Links/files removed.
One Voice - Gear Daddies Two-two-two songs in one! The novelty is the bonus track.
If I Had a $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton this one cracks me up.
White 'n Nerdy - Weird Al
And the one that started me down this path:
Code Monkey - Jonathan Coulton
Right-click, save as, braaaaaains. :)
I guess I was right about the bloat last week--I'm down to 195 today, for a loss of 1.2!
Music will probably be coming later...I've got a busy day today, so I don't know when I'll get to it.
Since people usually want the bad news first--I've been sick, which is why I didn't post a weigh-in or a FMF last week. It's the same swine-flu/bronchitimosis* combo that struck me down last winter after I spilled my lunch on the floor and ate it anyway. I didn't do that this year, so maybe that wasn't quite as cause-and-effect as I originally thought. Not that I'm going to make a habit of eating off the breakroom floor, but it's nice to know that it might not have driven me halfway to my deathbed.
The good news? Being sick makes me not want to eat, therefore I lost almost two pounds (1.8, to be exact). Back down to 196.4, as of Saturday morning. Woo!
*not an actual disease, as far as I know.
198.2. Someday, I'm going to get a handle on this weight loss thing again. Today is not that day.
196.8. The new scale can stay, I guess.
This is still up 2.3 lbs. from my last 2006 weigh-in, but meh. It'll start going down again soon.
I didn't have a chance to weigh in either Thursday or Friday, but I wanted to get a good pre-holiday weight logged, so I drove to the WW place by the house and weighed in this morning.
198.2!
In addition to taking my decisively out of the 200s, it's 3.8 lbs lost since my last weigh in, and 2.4 less than my previous low weight since the MS150 challenge began. New ground all the way!
I didn't make 100 miles this week (Sat-Fri = 73), so my contribution to my MS150 fund for this week is $3.80. Depending on which number my other sponsors choose to follow, this makes the grand total either $33.40 or $36.20. Sweet.
Up 2 lbs, back to 202. I expected a gain...I've been shy on both water and exercise, and it's That Week besides. I had hoped it would be a smaller gain, but this is fine too. All the more motivation to reassess what the hell I'm doing over here.
A quick analysis of this week's calorie balance after the jump, for anyone interested in that sort of thing.
Exercise was, as I mentioned, lighter than usual. The party on Friday* prevented me from doing my Saturday club ride, and then I skipped the Sunday ride due to TOM lethargy. I did make the two spin classes, walked the track for an hour Tuesday, and hit the cardio machines after the trainer eval on Wednesday, so the week wasn't a total wash, but it's not nearly the activity level I'm used to. About 3 hours for the week, when normally it's closer to eight.
Food, well...after keeping track of everything I ate for a couple days, I discovered that I take in a lot more calories than I think I do. I'll plan an entire day with what I think is a reasonable amount of food, but then somewhere around midday I'll start jacking with it. Making deals with myself..."okay, you can hit the vending machine now if you take the meat out of the pasta sauce later." Then I eat the same sauce that I made for the boys. "Okay, I'm going to have jello instead of pudding." Then later, "Oooh, pudding would be good." And I eat the pudding too.
Nothing is terribly bad by itself--30 extra calories here, 150 there. The problem is that it's cumulative. If I plan an 1800-calorie menu in the first place, it doesn't take very many little extras to get me off track. It's also very easy to "forget" about those 50 or 100 calorie indiscretions.
Really, this shouldn't come as any surprise to me...I've known for some time that this is how I am about money. Every time I get frustrated about where all my money goes and sit down to track it, I realize that I'm spending hundreds of dollars each week in tiny little increments. $3 coffee here, $10 lunch there, $1/song at iTunes...and most times, I don't even remember doing it. I'm great with budgeting and planning the big stuff, but the small things get away from me very quickly. This + not-so-strong impulse control = budget problems, whether with money or with food. Devil's in the details, as they say.
*The picture from which will not be posted, as it was HORRIBLE. My hair did not photograph well, and I wasn't really crazy about the style in the first place...this is the last time I'm having it put up, I think. My makeup looked weird, it's a terrible angle, and basically I looked like a gussied-up cave troll. Rob, as usual, looked lovely.
Believe it or not, I lost weight this week--1 lb. I'm now at 200.0...right on the outskirts of One-derland. While the term is a little corny, I sure am anxious to get back there.
This loss also earns $1 for my MS150 account, along with the $10 for my 100-mile week. With other sponsors' contributions, this brings the grand total to $24.80.
I had the dubious honor of weighing in twice today (three times, if you count my scale-check at home). I dropped into the WW office for the 11:00 meeting, then my trainer did weights and measures at my 12:00 session.
WW was 201.6 (-1 lb), gym was 201-something (she was too quick for me to see, and I think she only records whole numbers anyway). Losses all around! My bodyfat also went down by 2%, so a huge "woo!" on that. She didn't break out the tape measure, so I don't know what the inch measurements were like, but I'm sure that they went down significantly. Maybe not the 7" I got last time, but definitely some progress.
On my stated goals from a few weeks ago...
1. Quit eating so damned much. Eh. I don't know. I've been bad about recording things. I've been eating cleaner, I guess. (Well, except for the halloween candy. Damn leftovers!)
2. Try to stay away from white food. Going from flex to core is a step in this direction, and I had a salad at Chipotle the other day instead of the bol I usually get. I always have them skimp on the rice for my usual order, but the salad takes it out of the options entirely. I've also been pretty good about avoiding bread.
3. Five fruit/veggie servings a day. Been weak on this point. Need to work on it for next week.
4. Bike commute once a week. The only day I can really do this now is Fridays, since the workday is shorter. But I've been doing it!
5. Personal training. I've mostly hated it, but I haven't canceled or rescheduled a session.
6. Work out every day. Weeeeell, no. On weekdays that I'm not commuting or PT'ing, I've been bad about getting my cardio in. This is about to change, as I plan to go back to the 5:30 spin class on Monday and Wednesday mornings. I went to the Wed. one yesterday, and it was really good. She calls it the fat-burn class, and it's basically controlled-HR training. Concentrate on getting the HR up by 5 beats/minute for 4 minutes, then hold it there for 4-5 minutes, then 1-2 minutes recovery. Repeat for 45 minutes. I really enjoyed the class, and I think it will fit in nicely with my goals. I also got back into the running plan a little bit yesterday, and plan to do that on Tues/Thurs. We'll see how that plan pans out next weigh-in day.
202.6.
Shoot me.
On a side note--you know what's hard to find? Knee-high boots that will fit a 16" calf. I mean, I doubt that I would have bought them anyway, on the grounds that I'm not quite confident enough in my body to pull off a dress and knee-high boots. Still, I'd like to at least have the option. You'd think that a woman with a size 10 foot would be able to find a boot with a calf circumference of over 13", that's all I'm sayin'. Must be a lot of tall, skinny women out there...
...tain. 201.2.
201.2 today, for a 0.6-lb gain. Eh.
Since I stated a sort of loose plan last week, I figured I'd put together an update on that, also.
I didn't stay for the meeting because I had a trainer session at 12:30, but I did do my WW weigh-in this morning. 200.6, for a loss of 2 lbs!
Man, I hope this is the start of a trend.
202.6 today, for a LOSS of 1 lb. And I'm back under my original start weight from a month or so ago. Woo!
203.6.
I repeat--Worst. Weight-watcher. EVER.
But since today's meeting was about "positive self-talking"...at least the gains are getting smaller!
Bah.
Up 0.4 lbs this week. I'm unmoved by the gain...it's small enough that it could just be the difference in time of day or clothing from one meeting to the next.
The good news is, I think I finally found a meeting I like. I've been shopping WW meetings near my office for a few weeks now, and I was having trouble finding a leader who fit my style. Which is, under 50 years old and reached goal weight sometime in the last decade.
Today's leader fit both categories, and was even fun to listen to. There were times she got a little too high-energy for me, but it was, by far, the best WW meeting I've visited. So Thursdays at 11:00 is my new meeting/weigh-in time, for the foreseeable future.
I'm so glad to have found one...I was beginning to wonder if WW didn't have some kind of complicated seniority system, where you couldn't lead a meeting until you had manned the scales for 20 years. Not that I have anything against the older leaders...I just don't relate to them very well. This is better.
I thought for sure that I would gain this week, because we've been living on takeout since the floors went down. Color me surprised--I lost 1.6 lbs!
Of course, seeing 201.4 on my WW folder is still a bit of a shocker. I'll be very happy when that number gets back down into the 100s. On the bright side, being over 200 gives me 2 more points to work with each day. :)
Oh, and to avoid any confusion and simplify my life a little, I've updated the sidebar with the WW weigh-in numbers, starting from last week's meeting. Here's to new beginnings, however many there may be.
196.0 today, for a loss of 1.5 lbs. Woo!
Music will should be coming later today...I've got a pile of work a mile high over here.
197.5...a maintain. Eh. That's okay.
I probably could have waited half an hour and gotten a loss, but I didn't feel like quibbling over half a pound or whatever. Don't wanna be that girl today. :)
If you recall, I started WW last Thursday. Last Friday, I lost 2.5 lbs. Throughout the rest of the weekend, I lost another three. I was ecstatic, looking forward to a great weigh-in this Friday.
Well, now it's Friday. Guess what the scale said this morning. Go on, guess. No, really--I insist. GUESS.
197.5. A 1.5 lb. gain from last week.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
I mean, I'll be willing to admit that I didn't have a great WW week. Short on sleep and exercise, a bit long on food and emotional drama. Still, it wasn't a terrible week, diet-wise, and I find it very hard to believe that it was bad enough to gain 5 lbs in 4 effing days. Sigh.
I don't want to talk about it.
And since the scale is being SUCH A RAGING BITCH uncooperative, I've decided to record my weight once a month rather than once a week. If that doesn't help with morale, I'll go back to recording weekly. Or daily. Or maybe not at all, I don't know.
191.5, for a loss of 2 lbs! It finally gets me below my official start weight from March, also.
I could say that this loss happened because I considered and documented everything that went into my mouth, but I'd be lying. I wasn't really any better about food this week than I was last week. I probably exercised a little less, too. So maybe it was hormones, or less salt the day before weigh-in. Or maybe my body was just ready. Whatever the reason...yay, 2 lbs!
193.5. I am going to weigh 193.5 for the rest of my life, I think. Sigh.
This week, I start concentrating on the food again. Exercise has been good--My HRM total weekly total time was nearly 7 hours, with over 3700 calories burned. If I add the one workout where I didn't wear the monitor, I'm at almost 8 hours and 3800 calories. If I can reduce my calorie intake average to less than 1800/day (I have only a vague idea of what it is right now...probably around 2200-2500), I should be able to drop some weight.
At least, I hope so...I'd like to fit back into my 14s sometime this decade.
193.5. Maybe last week's Wednesday weigh-in was the true one. Crap.
I could pull out the excuses--I got one hour of sleep between Sunday and Tuesday morning, no time to work out because of the events that kept me awake, lots of restaurant eating, not enough water, etc. But it still boils down to eating too much and not moving enough.
This week, I will do better.
190.5. Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that this was yesterday's weight. And then I had a Chipotle burrito bol for lunch and an ahi tuna ciabatta sandwich from Rockfish for dinner, both of which are totally salteriffic (the bol alone has over 2000mg of sodium). So I'm 100% positive that the 3 lbs I have gained overnight are all water retention, and therefore refuse to acknowledge the 193 I saw on the scale this morning. 190.5 is my official weight this week, even if I saw it on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.
So there. :)
Down a 1/2-lb. this week, to 193.5. At this rate, I should be at goal somewhere around mid-2009. *sigh*
But hey--at least it's something!
I did go to the doctor yesterday, and she said that it looks like my hormone levels had dropped to the point where my body decided it was time for a period, and it started that process. Unfortunately for me, blood had pooled and clotted from the D&C, leaving a huge, terrifying mess to deal with...at work. Woo!
She also apologized, since she thought she had gotten the lining pretty thin with the D&C, but whenever blood pools there's going to be some clotting. And if she missed any tissue, there might have been a delay in the hormone levels getting to the point where the uterus would start to expel whatever lining was left. She did not expect this to happen, though, which is why she didn't warn me. Gee, thanks for that.
Anyway, she assured me that it was definitely not a miscarriage--she got the sac with the D&C, and the ultrasound didn't reveal any others. In the exam yesterday, she was only seeing old blood, so it didn't look like I was hemorraging either (yay!), and since it had let up considerably by yesterday morning, it looked like I was going to be fine in a few days. She did an ultrasound to check the thickness of the lining, gave me a month's worth of birth control pills to regulate and stop the bleeding, and we're going to monitor my hcg level weekly or bi-weekly until it hits 0. Then we might do another round of BC pills to help my body stay on track before we can start trying to conceive again.
And, icing on the cake, even after expelling what looked like at least a pound of hell, I've somehow gained 2 pounds. 195.0 on my scale this morning. (I was a whopping 202 on the doctor scale yesterday, but I don't really count that one since I wear different clothes every time and yesterday was cold.)
Well, hasn't this been a grand freaking adventure! Sigh.
191.6.
In case you were wondering, that's exactly 9 lbs above my former start weight back in November.
Yikes...good thing this is a fresh start. I'd like to see myself at 180 again by the end of February.
...the weight-watcher, she broke even.
My scale this morning said 185.0, which is exactly what it said last year at this time. It's about what I expected, better even than I felt I deserved to hope for. Now I can just call a do-over on 2005, and try to make better progress in 2006.
I'm still suffering from a bit of...well, I don't know if it's jet lag, though I did go from central to eastern time and back again. I think it's more of a trip exhaustion. A 10-day vacation with crazy sleep and food schedules, followed by a 4-day workweek of 12 to 18-hour days with crazy sleep and food schedules, and it's going to take me a couple days to recuperate.
About what I expected...181 even, for a loss of 0.6 lbs. With Thanksgiving in there, that's actually pretty good.
I forgot to do measurements this morning, so those will have to wait till tomorrow. I've probably gained inches, though, so I'm not terribly excited about it.
181.6 tonight. Another 1.6 lbs. in the wrong direction.
I think it's about time for a good, on-plan week, don't you?
180 at the morning meeting today, for a gain of 1.8 lbs. My only consolation is that it would have been worse Thursday night.
I know I say this all the time, but I really need to start taking this seriously if I don't want to be 175 lbs for the rest of my life. I think I'm going to try Core this week, see if I can't get back to eating more healthy.
Here we go again.
You know, I just never can tell what the scale is going to do in the evenings. I'm not complaining this week, though--the WW scale said 178.2, for a loss of 2.4 lbs! That brings me to 4.4 lbs lost since I went back to meetings. I'm only .6 away from that bookmark...
It's also measurements week, but I know those are going to be crappy, so I'm postponing till later today.
UPDATE: I'm hiding these...to protect the innocent. Or the guilty. Or whatever.
Bust: 38 (-1.5)
Waist: 35 (+2...the hell? I measured this 3 times, sure it couldn't be right. Yet, it is.)
Hips: 45 (nc)
Thigh: 22, both sides (-.5 on the left)
Calf: 16, both sides (+.5 on the left)
Arm: 13/13.5 (+.75 on the left)
Put it all together, it's a net gain of 1.25 inches. This is not entirely surprising, considering that I'm heavier now than the first week of October, and that TOM just left the building. There could be some residual bloat still hanging on that could account for the huge gain in my waist. Still sucks, though.
180.6 tonight, for a gain of 1.8 lbs. Considering that my last weigh-in was in the morning, I'm betting that only about half of that gain is actually deserved.
Still, enough thinking about the plan. Time to actually follow the plan.
well, I rode to the WW meeting. It ended up being a longer ride than I anticipated, since I got lost a couple times on the way, and once on the way back. The total distance was 52 miles or so, 28 of those miles were on my bumbling way there. I got to the meeting slightly late, mostly because once I got to the correct shopping center, I couldn't locate the damned WW office. I was just about to go into the Smoothie King and ask, when I looked across the parking lot and spotted it.
Anyway, I weighed in at 178.8, down 1.4 lbs from last week. Woo!
Less "Woo!" is the fact that although it was a different leader, she was even more grating that the Thursday lady. And there actually was a--shudder--group cheer. It was for the Astros, but still.
I did learn some stuff from her, though...for instance, if you earn more than 4 activity points in a day, you are required to eat the extras that day. That may only apply to the Flex plan, but it's still interesting. So yesterday, when I earned somewhere around 14 points, WW strongly suggests that I eat at least 10 of them. Shit, lady, don't have to tell me twice. :)
She also went into some specifics of lifetime membership...there's actually a 6-week maintenance program that they suggest lifetimers complete after they hit goal, to figure out what their maintenance points should be. I don't have much more to say about that, since I won't be lifetime for another 40 lbs. Still, this was the first time I had heard that.
So yeah, she had some good stuff to say, but I didn't like her meeting. The other leader's meeting was a lot more interactive, and while this gave Annoying Know-It-All Man a chance to irritate me, it was still better than listening to one person talk for 30 minutes. And then there was the whole group cheer thing, which eh.
I liked riding to the meeting...even though no one there really acknowledged it (though one of the members did compliment my bike), it made me feel like I had accomplished something. And I like the WW facility. But I think this same lady does all three Saturday meetings, and I just wouldn't be able to take her every week. So, now that I know what else is out there, I think I'm going to go back to the Thursday night meeting.
I weighed in this morning at 175.5, which is 1.5 lbs down from my last Friday morning weigh in. So let's see...if last week's WW weigh-in showed a 2.4 lb loss and the home weigh-in showed a half-lb gain, then that would mean that this week's 1.5 lb loss at home would translate into...about 9 lbs lost at the WW meeting tomorrow! Rock!
Yeah, I don't really believe that. But wouldn't it be nice?
Speaking of nice things, despite his absolute refusal to turn on last night or this morning, Mr. Peanut seems to be fine connected to the USB port on my computer now. Whether or not I'll ever actually be able to USE him again still remains to be seen, but he is responding correctly to iTunes, anyway. There is hope!
Okay. Last night, wearing exactly the same clothes as last week, I weighed in at the WW meeting down 2.4 lbs. This morning, wearing the same clothes as last week (er, none), I weighed in and gained a half lb.
So, this week I either had a really nice loss or a not-too-disappointing gain, depending on which scale you ask. I'm going with the WW scale, which means that I have to put my WW weight on the sidebar. Back over 180 I go!
Sigh.
I did put a 3-lb variance in the yearly and total weight loss numbers, though. I didn't want to drop those numbers down so far, when I really have lost that much weight.
Well, I'm happy to report that the WW ladies didn't throw me out. They didn't even glare at me.
Of course, it helps that I LOST 2.4 LBS. :) My meeting weigh in was 180.6.
I can't decide whether to start putting my WW weight on the sidebar, or just leave it as is, since I still weigh in at home on Friday mornings anyway. It's a pain to keep track of 2 weigh-ins, but I don't know if I can take the thought of bumping that number back up into the 180s, however temporarily.
At the WW meeting last night, my weight was 182.6.
On my scale this morning, my weight was 176.5.
Either way, it's a pretty big gain, and therefore time to bring my current eating trends to an immediate, screeching halt.
Today is my first day on the WW Core plan, again. I've paid for 10 weeks of meetings, so I'm committed for at least that long. I may go to Flex at some point, but right now I need to get more of a grasp on quality of food rather than quantity. Ease myself back into the world of vegetables, etc.
The measurements were okay, though I think the losses and gains broke even. Let's see...
Bust: 39.5 (-1)
Waist: 33 (nc)
Hips: 45.5 (+0.5)
Thigh: 22/22.5 (nc)
Calf: 16/15.5 (nc)
Arm: 12.75/13 (-0.25)
Well, lost 3/4 of an inch in September, I guess. These measurements probably would have been better if I hadn't put 3 lbs of whatever back on my body this week, but hey...bygones.
173.5...a maintain, which is fabulous considering all the slacking I've been doing these last couple weeks.
I'm really curious about measurements, since I magically went from borderline size 16 to 14 last week and everyone and their mothers have commented about my weight loss lately. It must be showing, and I'd like to know exactly how much difference there is. I was tempted to measure this morning, since it is the last day of the month, but decided against it because I always do measurements the first weigh-in of the month. Next week.
173.5 today, a new low! Almost makes me wish I could wait until tomorrow to weigh in officially, since it will most likely be even lower. But I'd rather go on my vacation, so...173.5 it is. :) My hometown 20 is officially a Hometown 11.5-13.5.
Rob weighed in at 266.5, so he's got 6.5 lbs to go and I've got 8.5. Only 2 lbs behind!
Who's that who lost two pounds this week? It's meeee, it's meee! :)
175 even today, which is definite progress in the right direction. Not new ground yet, and nowhere near on track for the Hometown 20 (which I've pretty much given up hope on anyway), but progress.
Rob forgot to weigh this morning, so we're just going to say that he maintained. So his lead has been shortened to 3 lbs...I'm closing in again, people!
177. One. Seventy. SEVEN.
It's also measurements week, and they're a little happier...and a little more telling.
Chest: 40.5 (+1.5)
Waist: 33 (nc)
Hips: 45 (nc)
Thighs(r/l): 22/22.5 (-1.25)
Calf (r/l): 16/15.5 (-.25)
Arm(r/l): 13/13 (-1)
So, in the last month my chest has grown, and my extremities have shrunk. My middle is holding its own. The net change is one inch of loss, in a month where I supposedly gained a pound and a half. Makes no sense, unless you consider that I'm a woman. A woman whose TOM has been AWOL since the second week of July.
This isn't terribly out of the ordinary for me...I'm not the most regular girl on the planet. However, end of the month weigh-in is kind of a bad time to swell up like a parade float. Not to get graphic on you, but I don't remember the last time my breasts felt this swollen. I was totally unsurprised by the gain there. Even Rob noticed it...from across the room, even. I did think they seemed a little better today, though.
Anyway, with both the gain and the measurements telling their story, I'm calling this gain hormonal. There were other factors--fun-size Butterfinger Crisps, a couple days light on the water intake, and some skipped workouts played their part. But there is absolutely no way that I consistently ate over 1000 calories more than I needed every day this week. Especially considering that even though I did skip some workouts, I still clocked in over 6 hours and 3400 calories burned for the week.
I'll work the numbers out for real later today, and maybe I'll find out that my eating really was bad enough to justify a 2.5 lb. gain. Until then, I blame estrogen.
Oh, and Rob lost 2 lbs! Go Rob! That widens the gap between us to 5 lbs...he needs 7, I need 12.
174.5 today. This gets me back down to my low of two weeks ago, so any loss at all next week puts me on new weight-loss territory.
As for the race, Rob maintained this week, slashing his lead to just half a pound. Holy crap--I may just win this thing! :)
Remember those 1.5 lbs I was so happy to be rid of last week? They're back. 176.0 this morning, and while it doesn't seem completely fair, it doesn't seem totally implausible either.
By Tuesday, this week had turned into a sort of unplanned experiment to see what would happen if I worked out for at least an hour every day and ate whatever the hell I wanted without regard for calories or nutrition. Apparently, what happens is that I gain a pound and a half. Noted.
This week, I'm back on track with the food planning, tedious though it is. I'm cutting back on the starches, which I ate so much of last week that I'm expecting a thank you note from the National Association of Potato and Rice Farmers* any day now. Possibly from the M&M/Mars corporation as well...I ate more candy last week than I have in months. Today is starting out better already...breakfast didn't come in a Starbucks cup and even contained, like, fiber and stuff. So that's progress.
Oh, and Rob gained a half-pound, so I'm still only behind by 1.5 lbs in our race. Every cloud, silver lining...
*I'm pretty sure there is no National Association of Potato and Rice Farmers.
174.5 today. A pound isn't as much as I had hoped, but I'll definitely take it! This also gets me back down to my low of three weeks ago, so any loss at all next week puts me on new weight-loss territory.
As for the race, Rob gained 2 pounds this week, slashing his lead to just half a pound. Holy crap--I may just win this thing! :)
175.5 today, for a 1/2-lb loss. My feelings are neutral about this number. The only emotion I can muster over it is a sort of vague disappointment.
It's also measurement day, and these numbers are marginally more satisfying:
Chest: 39 (-1)
Waist: 33 (+0.5)
Hips: 45 (nc)
Thighs(r/l): 22.5/23.25 (-1.75)
Calves(r/l): 16/15.75 (-0.25)
Arms: 13.5 (-0.5)
So, 3 more inches gone. I knew my legs had gotten smaller, but I was surprised that my hips didn't. And that gain in my waist? WTF? It's probably a sign of bloat, which would also explain the scale's lackluster performance lately. I don't feel like water retention queen, though, so who knows, really?
In the Rob race standings, Robert has lengthened his lead to 3.5 lbs with a 1-lb loss. He now has 7 lbs remaining to his race goal (260), I still have 10.5 before I hit 165.
This week, ladies and gentlemen, will go down in my history as the week that I gained 1.5 lbs on a calorie average of 1800/day, and over 4100 calories burned in exercise. 176. Ugh.
I'll admit, the calorie average is not so good. However, the exercise more than offsets that, so there's no way this gain is real. No way at all. Adding to the unreality of it is the fact that, as they said on Sixteen Candles, my "monthly bill came early". My body is doing some weird, weird shit right now. All I can do is roll with it and hope next week is better.
Oh, and whine about it, of course.
Fortunately for our race standings but unfortunately for him, Rob also gained this week. He now has 8 lbs left, I have 11. I'm totally going to catch him next week. :)
174.5 today! It's been a long time since I've lost two weeks in a row...maybe I actually have the hang of this thing now. At this rate, I'll be to the 50-lb. marker before you know it.
Rob weighed in at 267 for 1 lb lost this week and 7 remaining. I have 9.5 lbs remaining...still closing in on that lead!
(I'm a little disappointed that the fishbar won't do half-pounds. It makes me look more successful than I actually am. I could put 175 up there, I suppose, but I think I'd rather be slightly misleading. Besides--42.5 lbs lost would round up to 43, right?)
176! New ground, finally!
I can't believe I finally reached the halfway point--41 lbs gone, 41 to goal. I'd like to thank my husband, for always being supportive and giving me someone to compete against. I'd also like to thank the swoosh fairy, whom I suspect is responsible for at least some of this, since my latest TOM just finished up. And finally, the folks at General Mills, Yoplait, Precor, Trek, Ozarka, Dove chocolate, 24-hour fitness, and Ryka--couldn't have done it without you.
Well, it's onward and downward from here, I guess...The second half's easier, right?
RIGHT!?
Heh. As far as race rankings go, I have 11 lbs remaining to Rob's 8. I'm closing in, people!
I maintained 178 this week. Though I was kind of hoping for a small loss, I'm not terribly disappointed by this. I did not have a very on-plan week. Not terrible...just not quite up to par. The holiday threw off my routine a little, and my motivation to exercise has been low for some reason. TOM is also here, and I've been fighting the urge to eat my weight in chocolate. So, I acknowledge that it could have been worse, and I move on.
As for race rankings, Rob gained 2 lbs this week, so the lead shrinks again. He has 9 lbs left to go, I have 13. Woo! It probably won't last long, but it's cool to be getting closer. :)
Actual accounting of how I did on my Hometown 20 plan will be coming later...I need to get to work.
178 today, for a 2-lb loss! I'm tempted to complain because I was hoping to see 177, but that would probably make me look ungrateful, so WOO! 2 lbs!
As for the race, Rob did not gain 6 lbs this week, which is the only thing that would have put me in the lead. Alas but also woohoo, he lost a pound. This leaves him with 7 lbs remaining to my 13. His lead, it is a-shrinkin'.
As for last week's goals, I missed the calorie goal two days, but barely. Staying below 1000 before 6 was pretty easy, and I think it really helped. Protein and fiber were fine. Water was fine. The only workout I missed was the lower body strength workout, and I added a walk.
And finally, today starts the Hometown 20 challenge (or if you prefer, the Hometown 21-23). I'm trying to get to 165 by 9/16, which is 13 lbs in 11 weeks. Doing the math, that's 1.18 lbs loss per week, which should not be hard if I stick with the program. To review the guidelines, go here.
Since I said that I would take measurements monthly for this challenge, here is the first set:
Chest: 40 (nc)
Waist: 32.5 (-1)
Hip: 45 (nc)
Thigh(R/L): 23.25/23.75 (-1)
Calf(R/L): 16.25/15.75 (nc--they balance out)
Bicep(R/L): 13.5/14 (-.5)
So I lost 2.5 inches since 5/26, which is pretty decent. I wish the hips had gotten smaller, but that'll come eventually.
Challenge ahoy!
180 this morning. I. Do. Not. Fucking. Understand.
Let's review, shall we? Week before last, my calorie average was 1935 and I lost a pound. Last week, my calorie average was 1833 and I maintained. This week my calorie average was 1727, and I gained a pound. Exercise was pretty much the same all three weeks.
Is it just me, or does this trend totally defy the laws of thermodynamics? I mean, last week I can understand, because I don't count weekends and that weekend was a doozy. However, this weekend was fine, my calorie counts were the best in MONTHS, and I gained a pound. Scale, I call shenanigans!
Of course, I know that there's more going on here than calories-in, calories-out. There's also womanly things to account for...though PMS should be on the way out if the schedule follows its usual customs, my rings and waistband are still tight. My water intake yesterday wasn't much, and I did eat dinner sort of late (Benihana, chicken & shrimp, no rice). It could just be bloat, probably is, but surely you can see why this trip back into the 180s makes me want to dive head first into a vat of Haagen-Dazs.
Regarding the race rankings, they're still dismally the same. Rob was at 268, so he's 8 lbs from goal. I'm back to 15 lbs. from goal. I'm still fighting to make it a close race, but Rob's victory is all but certain at this point.
Regarding goals, I did pretty well this week. For instance:
I need to stay under 1000 calories before 6 pm. [snip] I'm shooting for 1500-1700 again this week. Protein, water, fiber are all the same (75g, 2L, 25g, respectively). I had two 1800-1900 calorie days. And although I didn't copy the "no more free weekends" goal in here, I was mindful of it. I watched my calories on both days, since I didn't ride on Saturday as planned. They probably fell somewhere in the 1700-2200 range. There was only one low-protein day, but 3 low-fiber days. Water was fine for 4 of the 5 days.
For exercise, bolding the ones that I did.
1 walk/run interval workout (3 miles)
2 elliptical interval workouts (45 minutes each) just one, I think. I have no memory of Friday's workout. I have no memory of Friday, now that I think about it.
1 K@thy Smith upper body workout
1 K@thy Smith lower body workout
1 K@thy Smith abs workout
1 set of abs on my own
1 45ish-mile ride (I don't know the exact mileage, since I didn't finish last week because of the $%#&! flat) - Stupid brakes. There was an elliptical/treadmill hour, though.
1 15-mile ride OR 5-mile walk (these both work out to about 1:15-1:30 total time) I'm counting the walk from the u-haul place yesterday, which was about 50-55 minutes, probably 3.5-4 miles.
I'm also going to TRY to do my weights workouts in the morning, so that I'm not tempted to skip them. - Early mornings are not yet my thing.
This week's goals are coming. Probably after the closing.
179 again this week, which is neither what I had hoped for nor the end of the world.
Rob decided to eat carbs this week, and gained 2 lbs. Sadly, this does not change the rankings at all...he's still ahead with 10 lbs remaining to my 14. It does narrow the gap, though.
As for last week's goals...
Food: Less than 1400 planned calories/day gets the WDSoA this week. By experience, this should give me around 1700-1800 actual. The protein and fiber goals stay the same (75g and 25g, respectively), and I'm adding a water goal of 2L/day. - Mostly fine. I blew it on Friday and Monday, but was in the high-1600, low-1700 range on Tues & Wed. I still haven't added up the calories from yesterday, but it's going to be around 1850, give or take. I met the protein and water goals every day, and only missed the fiber goal twice.
For the workouts this week, I'm just going to bold the ones I did.
3 interval workouts - 2, I think. I'll have to double-check Friday once I get to work, but I'm sure there was one on Tuesday.
1 lower body strength
1 upper body strength
2 abs well, one.
1 long ride or spinning class not as long as I would have liked, but hey--22 miles, 1 1/2 hours? Long.
1 short ride or hour+ walk kind of. I did a 1/2 hour walk. I KNOW that it isn't an hour, but there's nowhere else on the workout goals to put that one. I can't really count it as intervals, since my HR never got over 130. I did go 2 miles with Speed Racer, though, so it was a good workout. I'm putting it here.
My HRM totals were 3:42:59 and 1970 calories. Not the best week for workout hours...but in my defense, work has been crazily busy this week. I brought my workout stuff to work every day, and only made it to the track once. That makes a huge difference.
Since work is going to continue to be busy until the end of August, I'm going to be altering my workout routine in the next few weeks to compensate. I'll get into that in more detail later. Right now, I'm late!
I didn't get my 178, but I did get 179. Down 1 lb, and buh-bye 180s!
Rob was down 1 lb also, to 268. Jarrod is not weighing for a while, since he's lifting so much that the numbers on the scale aren't moving much. He's using the mirror as his guide.
So, Rob's still in the lead with 8 lbs remaining, I'm behind him with 14 lbs remaining. It's still a little early to call it, but I think Rob might win this. :)
I'll update this post with goalish things once I get to work, or maybe this afternoon. Watch this space!
UPDATE: Or the space below the fold (OPEN WIDE).
Now, as promised, on with the goals. This is what I wanted for this week:
1200-1300 calories planned, 1500-1700 actual. Protein over 75g, fiber over 25g. - My planned calories were always between 1200 and 1600. My actual calories were between 1500 and 2000, though the majority of days were in the low 1800s. I met the protein goal every day, and the fiber goal 3/5. I think I might be getting the hang of this.
Workouts:
3 interval cardio workouts - check!
1 long bike ride (probably the same 30 mile course, but I may go a little further so I can stop for breakfast before I head back home) - check! 39 miles, even.
1 lower body strength - kind of...the sculpting class involved some squats and glute exercises, but I don't think I can really count it.
1 upper body strength - check! The sculpting class was mainly arms, back, shoulders.
2 abs - just one.
1 long walk - check!
1 short ride - alas, no.
By my calculations, this should add up to about 8-9 hours of workouts for this week. And it would have. The ones I actually did added up to just under 6.5 hours--6:22:51. Calories burned were 3481.
So, not a terribly bad week, and a pound's loss to show for it. So what are the goals for this week?
Food: Less than 1400 planned calories/day gets the WDSoA this week. By experience, this should give me around 1700-1800 actual. The protein and fiber goals stay the same (75g and 25g, respectively), and I'm adding a water goal of 2L/day.
Workouts: I've been having trouble getting two-workout days now that I've started using the Kathi Smith DVDs for my strength workouts. By the time I get that workout and dinner done, I've lost the daylight I would need for the 2nd workout. So I need to either start doing the Kathi in the morning and the walk/ride in the evening, or I need to stop trying to get two workouts on strength days. So, I'm going to meet this in the middle. I'm only going to try for two workouts on one strength day, not both.
3 interval workouts (eventually, this will go back to running. Right now, I'm just increasing the run intervals gradually)
1 lower body strength
1 upper body strength
2 abs
1 long ride or spinning class
1 short ride or hour+ walk
And that's it. Let's roll!
Well, I'm still clinging to the 180s, holding fast to 180.0. I thought measurements might cheer me up, but the only thing that shrunk was my thighs. Which, I guess, if there's a place I want to shrink, that's it...but it becomes sort of a hollow victory when I gain an inch on my waist. And hips. *weep*
The measurements for this month were:
Bust: 40 (+1)
Waist: 33.5 (+1)
Hip: 45 (+1)
Thigh: L-23.5, R-24 (-2.5)
Calf: 16, both sides (nc)
Arm: 14, both sides (+1)
These measurements are disappointing, especially since I was telling Rob just a couple days ago that I thought my bustline had shrunk. I've had to adjust the strap of my HRM smaller this week, and also move my bras in to the next set of hooks. However, even measuring the band area under my boobs, it came out bigger than the last time I measured. Maybe because I was inhaling and I don't remember what state I was in last time, but it still pisses me off. How can I be bigger EVERYWHERE except my thighs?!
Anyway, race rankings are still unsure right now, as they are every week at this time. Rob was at 269, for a loss of 2 lbs that will probably keep him in the lead. Jarrod is unknown, but he has been losing this week, so I'm betting on him in second place. And then I'm bringing up the rear again with a stupid maintain at 180.
UPDATE: Jarrod was at 180 also, so we're tied for 2nd. Woo!
Goal results will come later, but they're as you might expect for a maintain week.
180.0 today, and about damn time. Woo!
I'm not terribly fired up about the loss, though, because I really didn't have the best week. To wit:
Less than 1800 calories per day, workdays only - I think I had 2/5. Maybe.
(UPDATE: Make that 1/5, and only one of the others was even under 2000. I really need to get the food under control.)
At least 100g of protein, 25g of fiber per day - Fiber was pretty good, due to the wonder that is Fiber 0ne Honey Clusters. I think I missed one day. Protein was also good most days, missing one or two.
(UPDATE: Or, you know, maybe I missed the fiber goal twice and the protein goal FOUR times. However, I was in the 90s on those four days.)
At least 2L of water per day - This was the only goal that I had any kind of true success with...made it every day, mostly because it was so damned hot this week.
1 2-mile run - runs were scrapped because of my foot injury. I did do one interval workout, though.
1 spinning class (would be a long ride, but Noah has an early game and storms are in the forecast) - check!
2 2.5-mile runs - see the note on 2-mile runs. However, I did do the elliptical machine and walked more this week.
2 strength workouts - check!
1 long walk - check!
1 short bike ride - if you count the stationary bike.
HRM weekly numbers should be at least 7 1/2 hours, 3500 calories burned. - I don't have it right in front of me, so I'll update later with the exact numbers, but I think it was around 5 hours, 2500 calories.
(UPDATE: 4:45:24, 2230. However, the impromptu soccer Wednesday night adds 30 minutes and probably 200 calories to that.)
Now, the rankings. Rob is in the lead with a 2.5 lb loss and 11.5 lbs. remaining to contest goal. I moved up to second place with a 1 lb loss and 15 lbs to goal. And though I don't know for sure, rumor has it that Jarrod has been lifting weights again, and gained a couple lbs this week to show for it. Rob said he was over 180 again, but I won't know until he comments.
(UPDATE: Per comment and email, Jarrod was at 181, so the rankings stay the same as above.)
Woo--I'm not last this week! Now I just need to fill Rob full of fried food and pie so I have a chance to catch up. :) I'm such a good wife.
181 today. For those playing along at home, this is the third week in a row I have seen this same number. I'm very, very tired of this number.
As for meeting my goals from this post:
Less than 2000 calories per day: Only missed once, and by only 11 calories.
At least 100g of protein, 25g of fiber per day: I missed each once, on different days. I had one 81g protein day, and one 13g fiber day.
At least 2L of water, every day: Missed one day. I'm sensing a theme.
2 2-mile runs: Check!
2 strength workouts: Check!
1 long (1-2 hour) walk: Check!
1 short (12-20 mile) bike ride: Alas, no.
HRM weekly numbers should be at least 5 1/2 hours total time, 2300 calories burned. The numbers are 4:23:19 and 2006, because of the skipped ride.
And now...the contest. As of this morning, I was at 181, Rob was at 274, and Jarrod was...I don't know. Whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it puts him square in the middle of the rankings.
Rob is the leader with a loss of 6 lbs, and 9 lbs remaining.
Jarrod is in second, with some sort of loss.
Per Jarrod's comment, the rankings have changed. Since Rob is both the biggest and just starting again, he had to lose more in order to keep the contest fair. I was thinking he was still going to 265, but now I realize it's 260. So he has 14 to go, not 9. Since Jarrod weighed in at 178 with 13 remaining, he's now the leader. And I, sadly, am still bringing up the rear with a maintain and 16 lbs. remaining.
Sigh.
181.0, no change. With the kind of calorie counts I had this week, though, that's probably the best outcome I could hope for.
Weekly workout stats, since Monday:
Total time: 2:25:59
Calories burned: 1304
of course I'd be at 179.5 today. Of course.
Oh well...maybe this means I'll officially break 180 again next week.
I'm afraid 181 is as good as it's going to get this week. Dammit. I could wait another day and be sure to drink more water today, but really? What's the point. It's only a half-pound, it'll be gone next week.
Weekly HRM numbers will be posted later today when I can connect from the training center.
I skipped my run yesterday because of the rain and my total lack of motivation. Since I hadn't had a break day yet last week, I don't feel terrible about it. The weather's great today, so I'm running 2.5 miles this afternoon and skipping one strength workout this week.
The scale said 180.5 this morning, for a loss of a full pound! After 3 straight weeks of 1/2 lb losses, things are finally starting to move.
HRM weekly stats:
Time: 4:34:00
Calories: 2411
181.5 today, for another 1/2 lb lost. I'm not even a little upset about this, since my daily calorie average for this week was 2064, and that's not even counting the weekend. Also, TOM.
Workout stats for this week:
Total calories burned: 2908
Total time: 5:50:57
Yesterday, my normal weigh-in day, I was 186 and I wasn't going to record it. Today, I am 182.5.
I'd like to thank the 1500 less-carby calories and the 2+ liters of water I consumed yesterday for that loss. I will record a weight this week after all. :)
It looks like all the working out and clean eating is finally starting to pay off--182.5 today, a loss of 2.5 lbs!
If I gain them back this week, I'm just going to sit down and cry.
12/6, revisited--185.0. Ah well.
Change this week: +2
183.0. Not new territory by any stretch, but it is a good loss!
Weight change this week: -2
And now, I'd like to dedicate a song to those two pounds...
Mostly the second verse.
Yeah, let's just say this morning's weigh-in was, um, not good. 3 days of overindulgence, under-hydration, and an erratic pill-taking schedule have caused a little bit of legitimate weight gain, and an astonishing amount of bloat. I'm detoxifying today, so hopefully things will be better tomorrow.
I also voted this weekend, so now all I can do is wait and see how it turns out on November 2. I'm not going to get into who I voted FOR, because that's not what this blog is about. I'm a little bit nervous, though, because this is the first presidential election year that I've really cared who won. Generally, I figured I'd try to choose the lesser of two evils, and the country will survive whether I vote for the right guy or not. Any mistakes he makes can be countered by the next guy's overcompensations, and, well, the country will roll on in spite of who's in office. Sort of a fatalistic viewpoint, but it worked for me. This year was different, and we have blogs to thank for that.
So anyway, I don't have much else to say. Since I spent a good half-hour deleting spam comments this morning, I've had about all the blogging I can take for one day.
But, since I didn't post last Friday, music. I've been posting mostly folkish songs so far, because that's the bulk of my music collection. Also, it turns out that I don't have a whole lot of variety on my office computer. Maybe next time I'll post songs from my home PC so my tastes will seem less flower-childy (even though they mostly are). Anyway, here's a couple from the top of the shuffle play:
Hold On - T0m Waits Love that voice.
Punk Rock G1rl - Dead M1lkmen Sometimes I sing this in the shower.
180.5 today. Not the lowest I saw this week, but it makes me smile. :)
Weight change this week: -1.5
Stayed at 182 this week. And, after weeks of non-stop gaining, I'm thrilled! Maybe next week I'll actually have a loss.
Weight change this week: 0
Oh, and I'm in a better mood this week. Amazing what a (finally) clean house and a trip to the gym will do for you. Or for me, anyway.
I overslept, I have a raging headache, my TOM came two weeks early, there's a golf tournament in our neighborhood this week, I'm tired beyond belief, my right hand is swollen for no good reason, I had no time to shower, the office coffee tastes like ass, the printer's loud, and I GAINED ANOTHER POUND.
As for me, I'll be huddled in my office frowning and snarling and counting the minutes until I can go back to bed.
181.0 today. Oy.
I know that part of this is my fault, as I haven't exactly been diligent with that whole "only eat when you're hungry/till you're satisfied" thing. Or with the "work out at least 5 times/week" thing. Or anything, really.
Still, my rings are tight, my waist is about 3 inches bigger than normal, and my legs are exactly the same size as they were at 176.5. This tells me that I may be a bit bloaty. This also tells me that it will go away eventually, which is why I'm not donning an orange robe and lighting myself on fire right now. (That, and I'm not a Buddhist monk, or whoever those people were who did that that time.)
Still, it's time to stop the carnage. I ate breakfast today, I packed a lunch and 4 bottles of water, and I still have light string cheese and some fruit cups at the office. I'm going to go to the gym tonight for some walk/running and possibly some abs. While my meal plan today is sort of pasta-heavy, it's not insanely high-calorie. And I am absolutely NOT going to eat today when I'm not hungry.
We'll see if that improves things.
Weight change this week: +4.5
oh, and did I mention I'm back to Flex this week? I was getting a little too laid back with the Core plan. Must. Count. Everything.
as of yesterday morning, I once again weigh the number on the sidebar. We're not going to talk about this morning, because I'm convinced that it is a fluke. It better be, anyway.
This week has started off well...I've been mostly core today, and I have plans to work out tonight after work. We'll see. Maybe this is the week I break the 176 barrier.
So, it's been a month. In August, on the rare times that Robert allowed me access to the scale, my weight has been as high as 181, and as low as 176. I had a good on-plan week this week, so I thought for sure that the number would be good today. I guess that depends on which numbers you compare it to.
If you compare it to the August high, it's a 3.5 lb loss.
If you compare it to the August low, it's a 1.5 lb gain.
If you compare it to my last official weigh in on 8/1, it's a 1 lb. gain.
If you compare it to what I was expecting, it's somewhere between a wistful sigh and soul-sucking disappointment.
It's 177.5.
Considering that the August low was LAST FRIDAY, and in the 5 days since then I've done a long bike ride, had 3 good on-plan days, and have drunk plenty of water, I'm sort of confused. But whaddya gonna do?
Weight change this month: +1
Well, I avoided an official weigh in for over 3 weeks, though I did break down and weigh myself a few times unofficially. Today, I was at 176.5.
For those of you keeping score at home, this is exactly the same weight as I was the last week in June. It is also about 6 lbs. less than my highest weight in July. And since my last official weigh in (7/3/04), it's down 1.5 lbs. So even though it's not the new weight loss territory I was hoping for, I still count it as a victory!
Weight change this month: -1.5
178. One-$%*$#*-seventy eight.
Change this week: +1.5
I weighed about 7 times this morning, and it kept giving me different numbers ranging between 175.5 and 178.5. I got 176.5 twice, so that's the one I'm going with. I also got 177.5 after putting on pants, so 176.5 seems about right.
Change this week: -1
UPDATE: Whoa, I broke a 40-lb loss! This is the part in WW where we dance!
I finally broke 180!
I broke the hell out of it, actually--177.5. I am so close to the 40-lb mark I can taste it. And the ipod is but 1.5 lbs. away. :)
Weight change this week: -2.5
180.0 on my first Saturday weigh-in (this time around). I'm strangely at peace with the 1/2 lb loss, probably just because it's only been 4 days since the last weigh-in.
As promised/threatened/advertised/whatever, I have banished the scale to a high shelf in the closet, and will not be taking it down again until next Saturday.
Weight change this week: -0.5
180.5. I hate my body. What happened to 179??
I guess it's possible that I'm in PMS week, but my cycle is getting progressively longer, so who knows?
Weight change this week: -0.5
If I could find my measuring tape, I'd measure, because I'm pretty sure that I've lost inches since March or whenever.
Well, finally. I'm at 179 today. Now, if I can just keep from messing that up until next Wednesday.
Why couldn't this have been yesterday?!
Anyone want to guess the magic number? Anyone?
That's right--181. I am so sick and tired of 181.
Though, it's probably about right this week, due to the indiscretions of the weekend. Still, SIGH.
Weight change this week: 0
Anyone want to guess the magic number? Anyone?
That's right--181. I am so sick and tired of 181.
Though, it's probably about right this week, due to the indiscretions of the weekend. Still, SIGH.
Weight change this week: 0
181. I repeat, "Bah!"
At least I didn't gain.
Weight change this week: 0
181. I repeat, "Bah!"
At least I didn't gain.
Weight change this week: 0
181. Not out of the 180s yet, or even at my lowest weight. But at least I lost something.
Weight change this week: -1
181. Not out of the 180s yet, or even at my lowest weight. But at least I lost something.
Weight change this week: -1
182. My fault. Bygones.
Weight change this week: +1.5
182. My fault. Bygones.
Weight change this week: +1.5
I was 181.5 this morning, but I ate about 9 lbs. of food yesterday, so I'm counting yesterday morning's 180.5 instead. I'm likely to be down there by tomorrow anyway.
Weight change this week: -3.5
Oh, and about those wedding pictures...they are coming. I stayed at the westside house last night, and the computer is at the northside house. Sorry. They'll definitely be up today.
I was 181.5 this morning, but I ate about 9 lbs. of food yesterday, so I'm counting yesterday morning's 180.5 instead. I'm likely to be down there by tomorrow anyway.
Weight change this week: -3.5
Oh, and about those wedding pictures...they are coming. I stayed at the westside house last night, and the computer is at the northside house. Sorry. They'll definitely be up today.
184. To which I say, "ENOUGH."
I've been out of control. I haven't been following any kind of plan, or paying attention to any kind of nutrition, or doing any conscious, deliberate moving of the body for about a month now. That number on the scale just keeps climbing and climbing, and every week that it goes up another notch I think, "This is the week that I get it together." And then I don't.
Well, this is the week that I get it together. And I WILL.
The diet and exercise logs are coming back.
The 4-5 bottles of water sitting on my desk are coming back.
The meal planning and point counting are coming back.
The sculpting classes are coming back.
The walks are coming back.
Whether or not I feel like it is irrelevant. Even when I don't feel like committing to a healthy lifestyle, I feel even less like seeing 200 lbs again.
Weight change this week: +2
184. To which I say, "ENOUGH."
I've been out of control. I haven't been following any kind of plan, or paying attention to any kind of nutrition, or doing any conscious, deliberate moving of the body for about a month now. That number on the scale just keeps climbing and climbing, and every week that it goes up another notch I think, "This is the week that I get it together." And then I don't.
Well, this is the week that I get it together. And I WILL.
The diet and exercise logs are coming back.
The 4-5 bottles of water sitting on my desk are coming back.
The meal planning and point counting are coming back.
The sculpting classes are coming back.
The walks are coming back.
Whether or not I feel like it is irrelevant. Even when I don't feel like committing to a healthy lifestyle, I feel even less like seeing 200 lbs again.
Weight change this week: +2
First off, thanks to all who commented on the last entry. You guys are great, really. I'll do my best not to disappoint you. Much. ;)
Of course, that's going to be hard to accomplish with this weigh-in. 182 again. Like I say, my body loves that number. This week, I love it too, since it's the lowest I've seen since Thursday. Like I mentioned last entry, it got as high as 188. 188, people.
Weight change this week: 0
First off, thanks to all who commented on the last entry. You guys are great, really. I'll do my best not to disappoint you. Much. ;)
Of course, that's going to be hard to accomplish with this weigh-in. 182 again. Like I say, my body loves that number. This week, I love it too, since it's the lowest I've seen since Thursday. Like I mentioned last entry, it got as high as 188. 188, people.
Weight change this week: 0
I'm back to my body's much-loved 182. I'm getting tired of this up and down shit, but this time it's entirely a result of my bad habits so I can't complain too loudly.
Weight change this week: +1.5
I'm back to my body's much-loved 182. I'm getting tired of this up and down shit, but this time it's entirely a result of my bad habits so I can't complain too loudly.
Weight change this week: +1.5
I didn't eat much in the wedding hullabaloo, and it shows on the scale this week--180.5 yesterday morning. This morning it was 182, but it was mostly due to a late dinner last night. I'm using yesterday's as the official one for this week.
Weight change this week: -2.5
I didn't eat much in the wedding hullabaloo, and it shows on the scale this week--180.5 yesterday morning. This morning it was 182, but it was mostly due to a late dinner last night. I'm using yesterday's as the official one for this week.
Weight change this week: -2.5
I was at 183.0 yesterday...not as bad as I thought.
Weight change this week: +1.5
I was at 183.0 yesterday...not as bad as I thought.
Weight change this week: +1.5
181.5. Yeah, it's only a half-pound, not the end of the world, blah, blah, whatever.
Weight change this week: +0.5
In better news, Rob's down to 251. And I quote..."Evidently all that vigorous sitting around I've been doing and the discipline I've had in eating whatever I wanted is finally paying off." :)
181.5. Yeah, it's only a half-pound, not the end of the world, blah, blah, whatever.
Weight change this week: +0.5
In better news, Rob's down to 251. And I quote..."Evidently all that vigorous sitting around I've been doing and the discipline I've had in eating whatever I wanted is finally paying off." :)
180 today. I swear, one more low Thursday, and my weigh-in day is definitely changing.
Whew...unlike previous weeks, my lowest weekly weight stayed until weigh-in day. Finally, a number other than 182. It's smaller, even--181.
Weight change this week: -1
Whew...unlike previous weeks, my lowest weekly weight stayed until weigh-in day. Finally, a number other than 182. It's smaller, even--181.
Weight change this week: -1
Ye gods, can I see any number OTHER THAN 182? Please?!
Weight change this week: 0
(On the bright side, it's That Time again. This is two months in a row, unassisted. Cycle is a little long, but still every 6 weeks is better than "every couple of years, maybe." And who on earth would complain about having less periods, really?)
Well, 182 it is.
Weight change this week: -0.5
Also, it's measuring day:
Bust: 34/42 (+1/+2)
Waist: 32 (-1)
Hips: 44
Thighs: 21.5 (+2)
Calves: 15.5 (+.5)
Arms: 13
Net size change this month: +4.5
Not sure what the hell is going on there. Well, at least I lost some at the waist.
191. I only gained 5 lbs on the massive gluttonfest that was our trip to Wisconsin. It truly is a frickin' miracle.
Weight change this week: +5
This gain means that in 2003, I have lost 26 lbs and kept them off. I have lost as many as 33 lbs. overall, but since I gained some of them back, they don't really count.
The total loss for the full year since 1/7/03 is hopefully going to be more than that, since I'm fairly certain that I'm retaining some water. If I can get back up to 30 lbs. for the year, I'll be happy. Hell, if I can make it up to 27 or 28, I'll be happy.
I am posting a weigh-in entry to say I am not weighing in. Oh, sure, I stepped on the scale this morning...but the number it gave me was so far from acceptable that I refuse to acknowledge that I saw it at all.
It terrifies me how easy it is to put the weight back on, and how quickly it comes back. I've been slacking for about 3 weeks now, and I have managed to undo over 2 months of progress. Now, granted, these have been an up-and-down two months. Still, it's frustrating that while I have to fight for every ounce that comes off the scale, I can put on pounds and pounds with virtually no effort whatsoever.
I know that my body doesn't want to be fat. I'm not a naturally fat person, and I don't believe there's any such thing. Still, this is one of the few things in my life that I've actually had to work for diligently and constantly, and it's really starting to wear me down.
My habits have taken a serious dive, and I'm taking this weigh-in as a wake-up call. I really, really need to get back on track with the water, pills, and not eating everything within a 3-foot radius of wherever I am. Oh, and working out every day would be nice, too.
185.5. The best thing I can say about this is that I was expecting much worse.
Weight change this week: +1.5
I KNEW that 3 lb. gain wasn't real. I'm back down to 184 today. Woohoo!
feeling brave enough for measurements now, there they are:
35(40)-32-45 (+1.5 + -2 = -0.5)
T: 21.5
C: 15.5
A: 13
I'm a little surprised that I didn't lose anything from my hips or thighs. They've felt different in my clothes in the past couple weeks. Of course, maybe that's just because my waist is 2 inches smaller. And what's up with the bigger rack? I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'.
Net size change for November: -0.5 inches
I feel like I'm breaking a rule here, but I'm doing it anyway. Lemme 'splain.
In the last two days, I have gained 3 lbs. out of NOWHERE. I've been averaging 28-30 points a day (except for the unfortunate zinger incident, which threw me up to 34 or something), getting in the exercise, too. Then I ate popcorn Monday night, and woke up 3 lbs. heavier Tuesday morning. This weight carried through to this morning.
I refuse to believe this gain is real, so I'm not recording it at all. Since WW has a 3 day range when I can enter my weight online, I entered the one from Monday and set the weigh in date as Monday. So that part's completely legal, but I still feel weird posting Monday's weigh-in here like it happened today. But considering the alternative, I'm doing it anyway. Just this once.
On Monday, I was at 184.
Weight change this week: -1
Also due to the bloaty-ness, I am not taking measurements today. Hopefully after the gallon of water I drink today and starting up the pill cycle again, I'll shed some water and feel better about measurements tomorrow.
the same number I've been seeing since Sunday--185.0. Works for me.
Weight change this week: -0.5
I have totally lost track of what week it is...45? 46? I've been doing this a long-ass time, whatever the number. Anyway, 185.5 today.
Change this week: -0.5
186. It could have been lower, but I haven't felt like sticking to my plan for the last few days. This seems to be a recurring theme around here.
Weight change this week: -1.5
I totally saw this coming, but it still sucks. 187.5.
I'm going in the wrong direction, people. That stops today.
Weight change this week: +2
I did measurements, but they're too depressing even to post.
Just as I suspected...185.5. Not the end of the world, but I could have had a loss if I had tried harder this week. Oh well.
Weight change: +0.5
I gained a lb this week. After telling myself I wasn't going to weigh at all until next week, I finally decided to go ahead. I didn't pay any attention to what I ate this week at all. I ate when I wanted and whatever was the easiest for me to eat. That meant some fast food, but really not tons. The biggest thing is that I didn't pay attention to how much I was eating and I didn't exercise. My only focus was on studying for a test. A test that I failed anyway.
Weight today: 255.0
Weight change: +1
Back in the game now.
After a little bit of scale wrangling, I managed to see 185.0 on the scale today. It was after I weighed 4 times at 185.5, then eliminating as much excess weight as I could possibly manage, but I did it. It's a loss. :)
I think if I had a scale that measured in .2 lb. increments, it would probably be more like 185.2 - 185.4, but hey. Sometimes that bigger increment works to my advantage.
Weight change this week: -0.5
254.0 this week, which is a loss of 2lbs for the week and 10lbs in 5 weeks.
Weight change this week: -2
I did pretty well on food this week. I didn't have any days I didn't count at all, and I still had flexpoints at the end of the week. I hit the gym, and I'm starting to feel better there. I still need to get some cardio, but overall I'm happy with how I did for the week.
Much to my surprise, what with TOM and the reckless bingeing of the last two days, I still managed to lose. 185.5 this morning.
It's also measurement time, so here's the new ones:
34.5(39)-34-45
T: 21.5
C: 15.5
A: 13
My thighs, calves, and arms were all the same on right and left, so I only needed one measurement for each. Yay! Finally, I'm fully symmetrical. :)
Also, the number in parentheses up there is new--as you may have guessed, it's my bust measurement across the breasts, rather than under them. After trying on the wedding dress I bought in July and discovering that there was now enough room in the bust for a whole other person, I figured that it might be fun to track that.
All told though, there is no net change in the measurements. I gained an inch in my waist since last month, and I lost an inch in my hips. Both of these are bogus measurements because of TOM bloat, but hey--lost an inch in the hips! Woo!
Weight change this week: -0.5 lbs.
Size change this 4 weeks: 0 inches
I was 256.0 this morning.
Loss for the week: .5 lbs
So that's 8 lbs in 4 weeks. That's not bad, but considering I wanted 14, I'm not overjoyed either. I knew that 14 was aggressive, but it being the first 4 weeks back, it was doable. The weight always comes off faster at first. I know what I did wrong this week, and why I saw such a small loss, and I'll just have to fix that.
The good news is that I'm showing a loss each week. I need to build on that. Lately, I'm feeling better in the gym, and that's a positive. I need to keep my diet clean throughout the week, and keep working out regularly. The biggest thing for me is that when I do take a free day or a free meal, to not just go completely nuts. I believe that taking a day off from the diet is good for us every once in a while, but moderation is key.
For my next 4 weeks, I need to work on limiting the damage done on free days. Overall, I did well on the diet, and stayed beneath my target points most days. I need to continue to workout like I've been doing lately, and increase the intensity as my groin injury allows me to. I want to continue bringing my lunch as much as possible. I did well with that the last 4 weeks.
I want another 10lbs lost in the next 4 weeks. Here we go.
I'm still at The Number that I talked about two days ago, so it's official: 186!
Over 30 pounds gone...damn, that's cool.
Weight change this week: -2
Slow and steady...or at least slower than I'd like. Another 2 lbs. lost @ 256.5. 7.5 lbs. gone in three weeks.
Weight change this week: -2
All that water I drank yesterday must have done the trick. 188.0 today!
Weight change this week: -2
Ate a little more, lost a little less. Things are as they should be. Scale says 258.5.
Total weight change this week: -2
Would it be 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, or 3 steps back, 2 steps forward? I guess it depends on whether you're going by numbers on the scale or in terms of positive progress.
At any rate, at 190 this morning, I have taken 2 steps the opposite direction of last week. Analyzing the root causes is pretty simple--I ate too much, and exercised too little. I didn't think I overate enough to merit a 2-lb gain, but hey--whaddya gonna do? This week is going to be all about the damage control.
Total weight change this week: +2
After a week of eating NOTHING FUN AT ALL, I've lost 3.5 lbs to 260.5. Not a bad start, eh?
Total weight change this week: -3.5
Well, not as good as I had hoped for, but I'm still happy--188!
Ladies and gentlemen, I have officially left the 190s behind forever. (It's about frickin' time!)
Total weight change this week: -3.0
UPDATE: Forgot to post measurements, as it's the end of a 4-week period. They're not terribly impressive through the middle.
34.5-33-46 (+2.25)
LT - 21.5 (-0.5)
RT - 21.5 (-0.5)
LC - 15.5
RC - 15.5
LA - 13
RA - 13 (-1)
Total size change for this 4 weeks: +0.25
lost 3 lbs and got bigger. Hmm. To my credit, though, I only got bigger through the midsection, and lost some inches elsewhere. TOM strikes again.
...the letters P, M, and S, and the number 191.
Oh well, maybe next week.
Total weight change this week: +0.5
I maintained 190.5. Totally understandable, and totally my fault. There were cookies last night. Many, many cookies.
Total weight change this week: 0
Well...I'm torn about which numbers to put here. The first time I stepped on the scale, it was 191. An hour later, it was a glorious 189.0. Then, since I couldn't believe that, I stepped on again--190.5. All subsequent steps on the scale gave me 190.5, too, so I guess I'll go with that. I sure wish that 189 hadn't been a fluke, though.
Total weight change this week: -1.5
This is extremely unofficial, but I weighed in at 190.0 this morning! I'm on the verge here, people...
192. Lost a 1/2 lb. Under the circumstances, that's good.
Total weight change this week: -0.5
192.5. I suspected as much, and I'm surprised there wasn't more of a gain. I ate way too much this week, and with TOM besides...
Total weight change this week: +0.5
192. Not so bad, considering how slack I've been this week.
Total weight change this week: -1
What. The. Fuck. If I didn't know better, I'd wonder if I was pregnant. Since I didn't really do anything differently this week, this has got to be a fluke. 193. 193. So much for breaking 190 this week.
Weight change this week: +2
This weigh in doesn't really count since I've switched to Wednesdays, but my lovely, wonderful scale showed me 191.0 this morning.
The measurements (which do count) are
34.25-32-45
LT - 22
RT - 22
LC - 15.5
RC - 15.5
LA - 14
RA - 13.5
Size change this 4 weeks: -3 inches
(Unofficial) Weight change since last Saturday: -3.6
I was serious about quitting weight watchers. To hell with the 10% goal. Technically speaking, I already reached it at 196...I just didn't join WW until 208, so they think I need to be at 188 for 10%. I'm not enduring 3 more meetings just to get some little 10% token. I'm still going to follow the plan, but I'm not going to meetings anymore.
Since I am now weighing on Wednesday, this week is ending a little early. My eating has been pretty crappy, so maybe starting a new week early will be like turning over a new leaf. This is also the end of a 4-week period, but I'm going to wait till Saturday to do the measurements.
As it turns out, my "lightest on Wednesday" observation still holds. The scale says 192.5.
Total weight change this week: -2.1 (some of that was clothes)
194.6. I HATE MY BODY.
At 6:15, I weighed 192. Then I went to the Champions Fit walk, and I came back weighing 195. After peeing several times, I managed to get it down to 194 on my scale. I understand why it's fluctuating, but I hate that it does it EVERY FUCKING WEIGH-IN DAY.
I also hate weight watchers meetings, and I am never going to another one. Ever, ever, ever. I am going back to nude weights on Wednesday mornings. It's just better for my sanity.
And right now, I'm going to IHOP to eat an insane amount of calories, because really, what's the fucking point? Work my ass off for a week straight, and I end up with a loss of LESS THAN HALF A POUND. Ugh.
Total weight change this week: -0.4
Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. 195.0. Considering that was my nude weight on Tuesday, I think I won't beat myself up over that 0.2 pounds coming back. I'm working on it...and it was worth it to have a free weekend on my vacation.
Total weight change this week: +0.2
after waiting an hour for things to settle down, I got my scale at home to a weight that convinced me I would maintain at the meeting.
Which I did--194.8 on the weight watchers scale. Yeah, it is a little bit of a loss...so I still have never posted a gaining weigh-in at a meeting yet. Since the meeting was about focusing on the 9000 positives instead of the 1000 negatives, I guess I'll look at that as the bright side. That, and it will likely all come off this week...and then some. I'm going for 191 or bust on my next weigh-in (which is in 2 weeks, since I'm going to WI next weekend).
And it's also measuring time, so here goes:
35.5-33-45.25
LT - 22.5
RT - 22.5
LC - 15.5
RC - 16
LA - 13
RA - 13.5
Total weight change this week: -0.2
Total size change this four weeks: -0.75 inches
Down another pound to 195.0!
Here I thought that I did really badly this week...I'm beginning to wonder if that's really the case. I'm mentioned this before, about the WW calorie counts being so low for the point ranges. My range is 22-27 now, and I don't think I've gone under 30 points per day all week. Yet, I've lost a pound. If I look back over the last three weeks, here's what I've seen:
Week 20 - 26.6 point adjusted average, 0.2 lb. loss.
Week 21 - 30 point adjusted average, 0.4 lb. loss.
Week 22 - 28.4 point adjusted average, 1.2 lb. loss.
Week 23 - didn't keep track of average, but probably around 30-32, 1 lb. loss.
I'm starting to think that maybe my body loses better with a slightly higher calorie count. There are other factors involved, of course...PMS issues, water retention, etc. Still, it seems that I lose the most when my adjusted average is around 28 - 30, and don't lose much at all when it gets down below 27. Something to keep in mind. Still need more evidence before I accept it as fact, though.
Total weight change this week: -1
I love Rob's scale. I love Rob's scale so very, very much.
I've been using it for nude weights for the biggest losers contest, and right now it's got me at 191. 191. I haven't seen 191 for 4 years.
Also, as of now, I am exactly 20% to the labor day goal for that contest. I'm probably not even close to the leader board, since I have been dieting for so long and won't have that "whoosh" of a first week, but 4 lbs. is looking pretty damn good to me right now.
Nothin' to worry about--196!
Color me surprised...pleasantly. I don't think I've lost over a pound in a week for quite a while.
Total weight change this week: -1.2
I just don't get it. I really don't.
Middle of this week, I was having these great weigh-ins...194s and 195s. Then Thursday I was a little heavier. Friday, heavier still. And this morning, at the house, I was 196.4. WTF??
Sure, I ate a bit more these last few days, but I was still below maintenance. I've still been drinking water like all the springs in the world are about to dry up and this is my last fucking chance. I've even been sleeping a lot.
I think my body knows the weigh-in's on Saturday morning, and is just trying to piss me off.
WW weigh-in is 197.2. *stomps off in disgust*
Weight change this week: -0.4
(Oh, and anyone who suggests that I shouldn't weigh every day gets his/her IP banned. Seriously.)
I complain, but really this isn't a setback. I lost almost 1/2 a pound, fer chrissakes. When I look at my chart of daily weigh-ins, it's still a distinct downward trend, and that's all I care about in the long run. In the short term, though, I was expecting around 195-195.5 and it's incredibly frustrating to not get it. That's all I'm saying.
197.6. It's still a loss, but dammit--I was expecting more. Oh well...I guess I shouldn't have eaten that beef jerky before the meeting. Every little bit counts. :)
Since it's the end of a 4-week period, I'm also doing measurements this time.
35.5-33-46
LT 22
RT 22
LC 15.5
RC 15.5
LA 14
RA 13
Total weight change this week: -0.2
Total size change this 4 weeks: -3.5
I clocked in at 197.8 today at the meeting. Not bad, considering my insane negative points bank this week. That's what I love about Weight Watchers...even when I completely screw it up, it's not the end of the world.
Total weight change this week: -0.6
198.4.
Down another pound! It wasn't the 1.4 I was hoping for, but it'll do.
Weight change this week: -1
Well, I'm officially in One-derland again...WW weight is 199.4. Another 3.2 lbs gone, and over 20 lbs total!
Of course, I got a haircut, am finishing up a TOM, and weighed on a Saturday morning instead of a Thursday night...I'm sure those factored in. But my pants are getting looser and my arms are getting firmer, too, so it's definitely not just that.
This also means that my points range goes down to 22-27. It's not a drastic change, though, so I'm not too worried about it. I was 10 points over last week, and still dropped weight.
Measurements will be done at week 20...I get too discouraged when I do them every week.
Total weight change this week: -3.2
Ok, this is weird. I undressed, got on the scale, and it said 201.0. To which I promptly said, no fucking way. So I got off, got back on. Same thing. Stood on one foot. Same thing. Then I put my hair back in a ponytail, and got back on the scale. 199.6. WTF?? Maybe it's all about the center of gravity. Whatever, I'm going with the lighter one.
199.6
35.5-34.25-46.25
RT - 23 (-1)
LT - 23 (-1)
RC - 15.5
LC - 15.5
RA - 14 (+0.5)
LA - 13 (-1.25)
Total weight change this week: -0.8
Total size change this week: -2.75
ok, I went to the meeting tonight instead of Saturday, because I have a full day on Saturday and wanted to be able to sleep past 6:00. (With my schedule, I would have had to go to a 7:30 am meeting)
I put on the same clothes I wore to the Saturday meeting, and weighed myself on my scale. 202.6. I figured the WW scale would add a pound or two to that, since it has in the past.
Well, this time it didn't. By that number, they registered a 1 lb. loss! I also crossed over that first 5 lb. milestone, so I got my little bookmark and everyone clapped. And then I was upstaged by that bitch who reached her 25 lb. mark today. Show-stealer. :) (I'm just kidding...I clapped as hard as anyone for her.)
So, since I cut this week to 9 days, I'm going to have another long week next week, then we'll be on track from now on. The 4-week report will be up either tonight or tomorrow.
Oh, and WOO! Another pound down!
UPDATE: I'm going to wait until the nude weight in the morning to get the "official" end of week 16 weight, so the 4-week report will be up sometime tomorrow morning/afternoon.
200.4.
It's not the end of the world...I was expecting a gain. I'm a little disappointed in the scale this morning, though, because last night it said 198.4 right before I went to bed. Apparently, my body put on 2 lbs. overnight.
Measurements:
35.5-34.25-46.25 (+0.25)
RT - 24
LT - 24
RC - 15.5 (-0.5)
LC - 15.5 (+1.5)
RA - 13.5 (-0.75)
LA - 14.25
Total weight change this week: +2.2 (or +0.2, if you go by the scale last night)
Total size change this week: +0.5
I don't believe it. I can't believe it. Sue, get your stompin' shoes on.
198.2!
See that first number? It's a 1. *dances around the room*
Measurements:
35.5-34.25-46 (-2.5)
RT - 24
LT - 24
RC - 16 (+0.5)
LC - 14 (-1.5)
RA - 14.25 (+0.25)
LA - 14.25 (+1.25)
Total weight change this week: -2.8
Total size change this week: -2
Well, there's good news and bad news. Good news is that the scale said 201.0! Bad news is that the measurements either didn't change at all or got bigger. Not sure how to feel about this. They were:
36.5-35.5-46.25 (+4)
and all the rest had no change, so I'll just say check the sidebar.
Weight change this week: -0.8
Size change this week: +4
Weight this morning was 249.5. That's down 1.5 lbs. Not the week I was hoping for, but at least it's a loss, and it gets me back under 250.
Food - I ate 13,252 calories which is an average of 1893/day. That's about 7.5XBW at 250 lbs. That should be considerably below maintenance.
Exercise - I didn't reach either goal I set last week. I lifted 6 times, and did about 2 hours of cardio for the week. I did burn 1664 calories which is pretty close to what I wanted.
I would have expected more loss from those numbers.
For this week, I'm not going to change the food intake much. I'm going to try to eat right at 14,000 calories for the week. I want to burn 2000 calories with exercise, and I want to improve my cardio. While I did cardio last week, I want to have longer sustained sessions of cardio. Instead of 30 minutes 3 times, I want to do 90 minutes in a session. From a pure calorie burning standpoint it may not make much difference, but if the long term goal is to get into better shape overall, then I've got to spend longer periods of time exercising. That's going to mean longer runs after work, and at least one long ride this weekend. We'll see if that helps.
I was all prepared to be disappointed this morning. I was 204.4 when I went to bed, and I was sure that this would be another 4 weeks losing less than a pound.
I was pleasantly surprised to find 201.8 staring back at me from the scale display. I've broken the 15 lb. barrier, and am less than 2 lbs away from the 100s! Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've seen that? Woohoo!
Measurements were good, too:
34.25-34.25-45.25 (-5.5)
LT - 24 (no change)
RT - 24 (no change)
LC - 15.5 (-0.5)
RC - 15.5 (-1)
LA - 13 (-2.25)
RA - 14(-1.25)
Weight change this week: -3.2
Size change this week: 10.5 inches (holy crap!)
Weight was 251.0 this morning.. I've gotten through the family and medical problems keeping me from exercising, and I'm starting back in full force as of today.
My goals for this week are to get back down under my shamu-like 250lbs. I want to get at least 8 weight training sessions in, and spend at least 4 hours in some kind of cardio.
Weight training sessions for the week: 6
Cardio: 2 hour
I fell well short of both training goals, but it wasn't a bad first week back. We'll see how the weigh-in turns out tomorrow.
205.0. My body SUCKS.
36.5-35.5-47.25
RT - 24
LT - 24
RC - 16.5
LC - 16
RA - 14
LA - 15.25
Total weight change for week: +0.6
Total size change for week: -0.5
This is really starting to piss me off. I don't care if it's not fat. It's still size and it's still weight and I'm tired of losing ground EVERY FUCKING WEEK.
202.8 this morning. Woohoo!
The measurements are even more surprising:
35.5-34.5-46.25
RT - 24
LT - 24
RC - 15.5
LC - 15.5
RA - 14
LA - 13
Holy shrinking Joy, Batman!
Weight change since 3/18/03: -1.6
Size change since 3/18/03: -6.75 (holy shit!)
Why am I weighing in a day early? Because I feel light today. :)
202.2! Now that's what I'm talkin' about.
As I walked into my bathroom about a half hour later, I realized that something had slid under the scale. I removed that, and re-calibrated, and I am now 204.4. Damn. Still, down 2 lbs. Yay!
Also, measurements:
35.5-35.5-47.25 (-1 in. on bust and waist, +1.25 on hips. Not sure what's up with that.)
LT - 25.25 (+0.25)
RT - 25.25
LC - 15.5 (+0.25)
RC - 16.5
LA - 14 (-0.25)
RA - 14.25
Total weight change: -2 lbs.
Total net size change: -0.5 in.
*sigh* It's like a freakin' roller coaster over here. 206.4 this morning.
It's expected, to a degree. I only had a 3700-or-so calorie deficit this week, with diet and exercise, so the most I could have lost by the numbers was a pound. Considering that I may have built a little muscle, and I'm probably storing a little water, a gain of 1.2 lbs. isn't that bad. Doesn't mean I'm enjoying it, though.
Measurements are a little better. On March 5, they were:
36.5-35.5-46
LT - 26.25
RT - 25
LC - 15.25
RC - 16.75
LA - 14.25
RA - 14.25
Today they were:
36.5-36.5-46
LT - 25
RT - 25.25
LC - 15.25
RC - 16.5
LA - 14.25
RA - 14.25
So, the only places I've really added size are the inch on my waist and the 1/4 inch on my right thigh. I dropped about 1.25 inches from my left thigh, and a 1/4 inch from my right calf. So if you balance the loss and the gain, I'm down about 1/4 inch.
So, I choose to look on the bright side about this. The largest gain was at the waist, which means I could be bloated. (Warning--Potential TMI ahead)
My periods have always been irregular, and I haven't had one for about a year. Still, I go through a little water-retention and bitchiness thing on a roughly normal schedule. But since I never have a period, I never know when this will hit. (Makes me fun to live with, lemme tell ya.)
Back to the inches...yeah. The inch gained at the waist is probably water weight. The quarter inch on the thigh? Well, I worked them pretty hard this week. There may be some muscle swelling there.
The losses in other places are encouraging, so I'm not going to worry about the weight gain. THIS time. It happens again next week, and it's gonna be ON.
Weight change this week: +1.2
Inches change this week: -0.25
205.2! Unbelievable. *does a happy dance*
Also, measurements are 36.5-35.5-46. Either I'm measuring my hips a lot differently that I was when I started (and I think I'm doing it in the same place), or all my inches are coming off there. Granted, there was a lot to take off there...
Also, I've added some leg and arm measurements, because I want to track losses there, too.
Left Thigh: 26.25
Right Thigh: 25
Left Calf: 15.25
Right Calf: 16.75
Left Bicep: 14.25
Right Bicep: 14.25
decided to get on the scale this morning, too. 206 today.
I guess I was retaining water....so I'm not set back as much as I thought. I'm only a pound up from my lowest point. 4-week goal is still unlikely to be reachable (under 200--6 lbs in a week? I think not.), but it's nice to know that I wasn't putting on fat for the last 2 weeks.
208 this morning. I took the last half of the week off, so I was expecting a little gain. I'm ok with it this time, and surprised it wasn't more. If I put on 1.2 lbs on a 5000-7000 deficit, how can I put on only 1.8 on what I'm sure was a 1000-2000 surplus?
At any rate, it doesn't look like there's any chance that I'll be meeting the weight goal this 4 weeks. Oh well.
206.2. Can I get a, "what the fuck?!" Where's the loss? The numbers say there should be a loss, and I want it. Instead, I get a 1.2 lb. gain since last week.
I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. I should have lost at least a lb. This totally sucks.
And the measurements... the only one of those that went down is hips, from 48.5 to 47.5. I guess that's something.
I'm not weighing in today. And you can't make me.
238.5 this morning.
That means in the last week with a total of 7083 Calories and lifting weights 3 days, I lost 1/2 lb.
205.0 this morning. I guess that's pretty decent, though not as much as I had hoped. With putting on almost a pound and a half by mid-week, it's heartening to see a net loss for the week. I guess that's the reason they say to only weigh yourself once a week, tops.
I also got the new myotape (thanks, Rob), and did the bust-waist-hips measurements: 36.5-35.5-48.25. I'm a little mystified at how my measurements are bigger at about 5 lbs lighter. If the weight isn't being seen there, where is it coming off? I think I may start taking arm/thigh/calf measurements too...but not this morning. Gotta go to work.
Ugh. 206.8 I find it impossible to believe that upping my calories to 1500 caused me to put on 1.3 lbs. Even at 1500, I'm at a 500-or-so calorie deficit. It must be water.
Oh, well. It will come back off.
I posted this earlier, but apparently it didn't take.
205.5 this morning. Total loss for 4 weeks: 11.5
207.8 now. I wasn't sure if I'd lose anything since Saturday, but it's been right at a pound.
Noah broke my body measuring tape, so I haven't been taking the bust-waist-hips measurements for a couple weeks. A new one has been ordered, so those should start up again soon.
First thing out of bed today, I was 238lbs. Exercise has suffered the last week or so. We've still been lifting some, but problems at work and a holiday have kept us from lifting in the mornings everyday as planned. Actually, those things have come up, but I guess we keep ourselves from working out. It's not always convenient, but it's got to be done. Even on lifting days, there has been no cardio. I've got to get to work if I'm going to be in shape to ride 65 miles in 6 weeks.
208.5 after two weeks. 8.5 lbs total loss so far.
210 even this morning...I've lost about a pound and a half this week, depending on which scale you go by. I guess I can't complain.
It hasn't been a full week, but it's easier to remember to weigh on Saturdays. The scale that I took the initial measure on is at Rob's house, and the weigh in today is on the new scale at my house. I'm not sure how accurate either of them are, so I think it's best to just stick with one or the other. Since I'm at my house more than his, I'm going to go with this one. Even though it hoses my calculations a little.
Saturday, January 11: 210.8
There's just no way I've dropped 6.2 lbs since last Saturday. But I do like this scale--a lot. :-)
I don't have a temperature reading for today, because my cats made off with my thermometer during the night...it does me no good to take the temperature now, because the book specified that it should be waking temperature. So I'll just have to find it and put it in a safer place than my bedside table.
UPDATE: found the thermometer, and since I've done nothing but run to the bathroom and type on the computer, I took my temperature: 97.2
I was 241 this morning. 5lbs in 2 days means I'm losing a lot of water weight. Water is always the first thing to come off, but even more so in a ketogenic diet. Your body needs carbs to fill your muscles and liver with glycogen, and a lot of water is held in the muscles with the glycogen.