Up-Down Challenge Weihg-in #12 - delayed!

I know it's Thursday but I did weigh myself on Sunday.  It's just I've been SO busy with work that I haven't had time to even think about blogging, let alone put words to screen.  To put it in perspective: I saw the Beau Sunday night; I did not see him awake again until he got home from work yesterday (i.e. Wednesday).  Royal wedding + federal election + dead terrorist = busy times at work.

But that is all behind me, which is good because I need to get back on track with the exercising.  My weigh-in wasn't great: 194 lb, which is up 2 lb.  I'm getting a little fed up with losing and gaining the same 2-3 pounds so I'm really going to buckle down now.  I find that when I get in the habit of running 3x a week my body responds rather nicely and I look good but more importantly I feel good.  That's what i want to strive for because I like feeling good.  And I've pretty much sworn off heels (which makes me so sad - have you SEEN the amazing wedge sandals out there this spring?!) which I think has really helped my legs to not hurt as much during/after my runs. 

I think I'm still a bit away from a 5K though; my lungs can't seem to keep up - yet. 

With any luck, I can get out of work soon too (still here at 6pm) because this girl wants a run!

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #10

You know the saying, "Two steps forward, one step back"?

Tonight the scale ready 194 lb; up one pound this past week.

Maybe this means the stress of the new job is wearing off so I'm not losing weight because of stress.  Or maybe it's because I'm not exercising as much as I should.  To fix this, my plan is to work out tomorrow before work.  That means I have to get up at 7:30 a.m.

Now, I know for the majority of working adults, getting up at 7:30 on a workday is standard - or might even be considered sleeping in.  I know I'm a little spoiled because I don't start work until 10:00 a.m.; but I'll be at work until around 9:00 tomorrow night so I'm allowed a later start.

But if I can get up at 7:30, I can get in an hour-long workout, which will give me a great cardio workout and some time with weights or a chance to do some ab work.  I'm just not a morning person.  At all.  AT ALL.

Still, I'm going to give this a try.  If I can get up for morning workouts on Mondays and Fridays, then get a big workout on Wednesdays (when I'm off), it will be a great start.  Then I can do weights on Tuesdays and Thursdays and spend weekends doing fun stuff, like hiking or just walking around a mall shopping for clothes to fit my new, super slim body.  (Positive thinking, y'all!)

7:30 a.m. wake-up call.  That's the plan.  I can so do this.

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #9

I weighed myself last night, but got home so late that I've only found time now to do an update.
To be honest, I was scared to get on the scale because I haven't been following any kind of sensible eating plan.  There's been beer and wine, sweets and burgers and not nearly enough exercise.

So imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale to see...193.0 lbs.

That's a loss of 2.6 lbs from last week!  How the hell...?

To be honest, I'm not completely sure how I ended up losing this week, but I have a couple of ideas:

1 - Since starting on Maclean's, I've started eating more throughout the day because my hours are so erratic and I often don't end up going for lunch until around 4:00.  But since I start work around 10:00, that's a long time to go between breakfast and lunch, so I'm snacking.  I've discovered these awesome Fibre 1 bars that are only 100 calories, are full of fibre and have dark chocolate in them, so they fill me up, make me poop and satisfy my sweet tooth all at once.  (Figuratively speaking, of course.)  I'm also snacking on apples and almonds between lunch and dinner too.

2 - The other reason also has to do with Maclean's, but isn't quite as good as healthy snacking.  I may be losing weight due to stress, as I've been very stressed about work since starting.  I've dreamed that I've been fired and I've woken up many nights thinking that I was late for work and that pages were late and all sorts of things.  I really don't want this to be the reason I'm losing because I want to move beyond being stressed all the time.  I guess only time will tell.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my 2.6 lb weight loss!

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #8

I'm happy to report a loss this week: I weighed in at 195.6 lb, one whole pound less than last week.

It's nice to see the scale (slowly) getting lower, but I'm a little frustrated with myself for not making better progress.  I'm seriously thinking about joining a program, but I've got some debt to pay off before I can spend the money.

I'm going to give myself until the end of April.  If I can get below 190 by the end of the month, I'll keep going.  If not, it's time to look for help in other places.  And by the end of April I'll have my consumer debt paid off, meaning I'll have a bit of extra cash to put towards weight loss help.

Until then, fingers crossed the scale keeps dropping...

(Oh, and that's another $10 into savings.  I'm too tired right now to update on that, and tomorrow will be a loooooong day at work, so Wednesday I'll tally up my savings to date.)

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #7

Even though it's Monday, I did weigh myself.  The result: 196.6 lb.

That's +0.2 lb from last week.  Bloody hell.

I gotta say, it's a little tough to see so much seesawing right at the beginning.  I mean, if I could just drop 10 lb, that would feel like a victory.  Even getting down 5 lb before felt amazing. 

But I'm just going to keep at it because I'm no quitter!  Boo-yah!

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #6

There was some sad news last week: my boyfriend's grandmother passed away.  Because of this, we took some time off to be with his family and help prepare for the funeral service.  It was a busy, emotional time and I wasn't all that concerned with my eating, as there were more pressing needs.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I stepped on the scale last night and was down to 196.4 lb.
That's 1.6 lb down from my last weigh-in.

It's times like this that I really don't understand the scale or how my body works.

I've also passed on the Happy Monday post this week, for obvious reasons.

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #5

This is going to be quick because I'm knackered, thanks to stupid daylight savings time and losing an hour of sleep.  Every year it knocks me on my bum and this year is no exception.

So my weight this week isn't that great, but I've just got to realize I've got to keep working at it and I'll get there.  Eventually.

Since I bailed on weighing in last week due to shame and frustration, here's a quick recap:

Starting weight: 200.2lb

Week 1: 197.6 lb
Week 2: 195.2 lb
Week 3: 196.0 lb
Week 4: 196.4 lb
Week 5: no weigh-in
Week 6: 198.0 lb

So I'm really only 2.2 lb down from when I started this challenge back on January 31.  That is not good progress.  I'm going to keep going but it's still incredibly frustrating.  At one point, I was down 5 lb and I'm still annoyed I couldn't keep that momentum going. 

I know it's my diet.  I know that.  I'm just being stubborn in really accepting that. 

But all I can do is keep trying.

Weigh-in postponed

I'm going to weigh in tomorrow night.  I'm a little hung over today and I've had a lazy, workout-free, kinda bad food kind of day and I want to weigh in after a good food/exercise day.

I really need to curb my Saturday night alcohol intake.

Blargh.

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #4

It's weigh-in time again!  After stepping on the scale tonight, it appears I'm on a mission to undo all the progress I made in the first two weeks.

Starting weight: 200.2 lb
Week 1: 197.6 lb
Week 2: 195.2 lb
Week 3: 196.0 lb
Week 4: 196.4 lb

Balls.  That's +0.4 lb from last week.  Sigh.

Although I think I've got a good idea what's going on:

- I've been lax about my eating habits this past week
- I think I've been having the PMS this past week as well, with the bloating and such
- yesterday, after a wonderful day at the Science Centre, I had Chinese take-out that (I think) was fairly sodium-heavy and (I know) was rather high g.i.

So it's time to get back to where I was when I started this, paying attention, making the right choices and not taking my initial success for granted.

I've also felt crummy all day, which could be contributed to the wine I had last night but which I think is also from the salty food I ate yesterday.  I keep downing the water but I just can't get myself to feel better.  If it weren't for the Oscars tonight it would be an early night.

...and maybe I won't be having that celebration donut...

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-n #3

Good morning!  I know I'm a day late with my weigh-in, but I have a good excuse: yesterday was my birthday!

I did manage to find time both to work out and to get on the scale, though, so I do know what my weight is.  And since inquiring minds want to know, here we go:

Starting weight: 200.2 lb
Week #1: 197.6 (-2.6 lb)
Week #2: 195.2 lb (-2.4 lb)
Week #3: 196.0 lb (+0.8 lb)

Crud.

You know what?  I'm okay with the weight gain, for a few reasons.  Firstly, it's only 0.8 lb, which isn't a whole lot.  Secondly, I slacked off on my workouts this past week, largely due to being at work late and not getting home in time to work out in decent time before bed.  And third, it was my birthday weekend, filled with wine, delicious brunch, sushi, beer, cake and all the good things that come with a birthday.  (Plus, for Valentine's Day we ordered in Indian food, which is good for you, but not if you eat more helpings than a normal person should.)  Finally, I knew that maintaining a 2.5 lb/week weight loss pace just wasn't realistic.  While I'd prefer not to gain at all, honestly it's not unexpected. 

All this means is that I've got to make more of an effort to get back on track, which shouldn't be that hard since the past three weeks have felt, well, easy.

So here's what I've got to get back to this coming week:
- more salads, less delicious Zafrani gosht
- regular workouts
- really focusing on servings/day of each food group

And since I've got a beautiful day off stretching in front of me, I'm going to finally determine how many servings I need each day and I'm also going to finally look into that 5K run I've been talking about.  By figuring out a run date, I'll have no choice but to start training for it, which will help my workouts.

While a great birthday present would have been weight loss, I'm happy to say I still have a fantastic birthday, celebrated with lots of people I love, and a little weight gain on the side can't take away from that.

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-in #2

Once again, it's weigh-in day and once again I was pleasantly surprised - it's a loss!

To recap:
Starting weight - 200.2 lb
Week #1 - 197.6 lb
Week #2 - 195.2 lb

That's another 2.4 lb down this past week and a total loss of 5 lb and another $20 into savings!  WAHOO!!  I'm pretty excited.

We have a cat and she is 6 lb.  I've almost lost the equivalent of our kitty.  

But can I let you in on a secret?  I feel like I haven't even been trying!  Seriously.  I've made some good food switches and I'm more conscious of how much I'm eating, but this really feels so easy.  And I guess that's the point of a lifestyle change; it should feel easy.  I know there are other changes I can make and I'm going to work on that, but so far the changes I've made are easy and GREAT!

(I still need to focus more on how many servings I need each day and pay better attention to serving sizes, so those are the next changes.)

On another note, I'm in my last week of being 30 and I've been feeling all nostalgic and introspective and I'll probably be posting about that over the week.  But in the meantime, I'm feeling pretty good!

Up-Down Challenge Weigh-In #1

Today marks the end of the first week of my Up-Down Challenge (where I go up $10 in savings for each pound I go down, towards my goal of 30 pounds lost).  I have to say, I wasn't expecting to see any weight loss on the scale, not because I wasn't trying this past week, but because I'm a natural pessimist and always think that, no matter how hard (or "hard") I try, I won't succeed.  (Nice mindset, eh?)

Anyways...the number on the scale: 197.6 pounds.
(Starting weight was 200.2 pounds.)

That's a total weight loss of 2.6 pounds this past week and $20 into savings.

HOLY CRAP!

For a die-hard pessimist, this is pretty good.  For someone looking to slim down, this is pretty good.  For someone looking to be healthier, this is pretty good.

Hell, THIS IS PRETTY GOOD!

I must say, I'm rather proud of myself.  Losing even a little makes me feel good, helps me realize that I can do this and reinforces that I'm still going about this in a healthy way. 

Getting the first week done is also important for me; now I'm into this challenge and I'm seeing results so I'd be crazy not to keep going.  Some things I'm going to start working on over the next week is watching my portion sizes, paying more attention to how many servings of what types of food I'm eating every day and getting into a more regular exercise routine.  I've decided to register for a 5K run in May, so I'm going to look for a spring run and then get started on a training plan. 

In the meantime I'm going to keep basking in my weight loss success.  What better way to star the work week than 2.8 pounds lighter?  YAY!

And so it begins

I've just finished weighing myself to start off my weight loss/savings challenge.

My starting weight: 200.2 lb.

I've also taken measurements:

Chest: 42.5"
Waist: 35"
Hips: 43.25"

I must say, I'm not thrilled with any of these numbers so this should act as extra incentive to eat better and exercise more.  I've also got to start paying more attention to portion sizes and how many servings I'm eating each day.

You know, the whole idea of being healthy seems so easy: just eat right and exercise.  The exercise part I'm good at; I use the gym in the condo and we've got equipment in our unit so I have no (real) excuse to not exercise.  But the eating part is kind of hard; portion sizes, calories, proper servings, sodium, fat, carbs...it's a lot to think about.

I can do this.  I can make the right changes and I can meet my goals and it will be awesome!

After all, I've got money riding on this.