6.26.2008

Plan B

Last night, my work out buddy and I headed to the gym, ready to brave a new frontier, the Racquetball court. Work out friend is a former high school athlete, while my hand-eye coordination leaves a lot to be desired - picture trying to teach a Saint Bernard how to juggle. That's about where I am at. But I'm all about the funny and being open to a new way to move my body, so we had a date at 6 pm. When I arrived at the locker room, work out buddy was feeling a bit debilitated due to super cramps, but she was ready to hit the court with me. I started changing into my gym clothes, and when I dug for my tee shirt, I found another pair of pants. Whoopsie! Two pairs of pants and no shirt does not a YMCA approved outfit make. Although our friend Dave at the membership desk encouraged us to try topless racquetball, we declined. Are there no mistakes? Was my subconscious trying to save me from embarrassment on the court? We'll never know for sure. Thwarted by my poor planning, we headed to happy hour - wouldn't you have?

6.24.2008

HYC Check In

Week 25 already? Happy Tuesday! I’ve had Big Doins around here, as they say. My Mom retired, and we had a big fat party for her this weekend, with old friends and tons of family. Nothing makes me want to hop on the scale faster than a family-filled event. One must have exact pounds to report, should someone ask about your progress.

This is a large preamble to say, I weighed myself for the first time in 4 weeks or so on Saturday, and I was relieved to see 220! I have finally hit the 70 pound mark, and that puts me down 3.6 pounds since my last weigh in. I think I could get used to this weighing in every 3 weeks or so. I really am just focusing on doing the right things and feeling great and hoping that the weight will come off too. Just Do It June seems to be working! Exercise was great this past week as well.

My Mom’s party consisted of a lot of finger foods, and a devilishly tempting torta of pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and cream cheese. I did succumb to the torta a bit but I also loaded up on fruits, veggies, and had a few shrimp. All in all, I think I did well. I love summer time for losing weight, because it is warm (make that warm-ish here in Seattle) so I naturally drink more water, and I could eat bowls of nectarines and blueberries all day – and it is good for you too, what a bonus.

So I’ll continue to just do it, and maybe hop on the scale again sometime in July, methinks. Hope everyone else’s week was grand!

6.17.2008

HYC Check In

Week 3 of no weigh in, so let’s focus on the NSVs! I missed one work out, but otherwise, I kept everything up. I even went to the gym last week after a root canal and a PAP – if that doesn’t show commitment, I don’t know what does.

One of my goals during this off the scale period is to keep my calories pretty steady. When I was following Weight Watchers, one woman in the class asked “At what point does the size of your apple count as 2 points?” And the instructor replied “You know I never gained weight because I ate too many apples, so I always count them as one.” That is the truth. I have to watch the stuff that is calorie dense, the sugary extras, and the half and half. I hate being the nerd that weighs her pork chop before she eats it, but how else am I going to know how many ounces it is? Also, I made an Excel sheet to calculate the exact calories in my made at home dishes. Nerd fest! I hope, I hope, I hope that these tools will keep me on track, and get that number below two hundred! As much as these things are nerdy and time consuming and kind of a drag, I am so glad to have a plan and look forward to a life with healthy eating habits, exercise and oh yes, smaller pants!

Hope everyone has a great week!

6.15.2008

Kind of like Disneyland, but not

I've spent two weeks enjoying the ride. My less saturated fat, more whole grains, staying off the scale ride. Only a little bit of self-sabotage surfaced. (Still? Really?) The part of me that starts to think that if I stop weighing in, I can also stop thinking about what I'm eating. Whee extra peanut butter! But this defeats the purpose, yes?

I read an interview with Jeannette Fulda, on her memoir "Half-Assed". In it, she mentioned that when she was in a plateau, she had to enjoy the work she was doing for health's sake. Oh right, that health stuff. I have suffered few physical effects of my weight, while the emotional toll is far greater. While the scale was trumpeting my increase in weight, my self esteem was going down the drain. I felt as though I was losing 2 pounds, gaining one back, and losing my confidence, gaining some guilt and losing my motivation. Not so much fun. These past two weeks have been a good experiment for me. I'm still cooking wholesome food, sticking to my exercise routine, and today I enjoyed the first sunny day we've had in weeks. I'm also considering embroidering on a sampler that doing all things good for my body, even if the scale isn't moving, these things are still worth doing. My scale is now away on a shelf, waiting for when I'm ready. I don't know when that will be. Until then, I find myself channeling Mr. Jagger and getting myself to remember sometimes you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.

6.03.2008

HYC Check In

Oh dear. Where was I? Oh yeah, I was rejoicing in my dietitian's words, enjoying the long weekend, and then blammo! Work exploded and it was annoying as there was no time for blogging - reading, writing or otherwise. Bummer. So, last week I was up 1.2 pounds, to 223.2 and this morning I am up too, to 223.6. Arrrrgh! This is maddening. I feel like I'm moving 1 step forward, 2 steps back. So aggravating.


I was so inspired a couple of weeks ago. Now, I find myself wanting to give up. Not REALLY give up, but stop thinking about it. I may have to put away the scale. My endless yo yo-ing around in the 220's is making me want to cry, or eat a loaf of garlic bread, or both. Add to that the feeling of when I plug in goal weights and dates into calculators and the numbers come back as "You must lose 3.8 pounds per week to make your goal." I don't feel better. Maybe I will secretly weigh myself only once a week. I think that's the only way to combat my anxiety. This is my own personal journey, and I enjoy this community, but I may need to try and focus on the journey and health for the sake of health, not weight loss.


I've decided that this month will be Just Do It June.


Just exercise. Just eat well. Just breathe. Just enjoy yourself. Just do it. Without worrying about the end result.


The trick will be to just do it without throwing reason out the window, still work toward the goal without thinking about it every day, and without zooming back up to 290 pounds. Any miracle advice?