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 c