P.S.

Nobody warned me that working out makes you hungrier.

Not immediately after working out or anything.  Usually my appetite is lower right after a workout.  But since I've started working out in earnest, my body seems to want more fuel.  It's requiring extra vigilance.  Pray for us eaters in the hour of our munchiness...

Week eight progress report: Back on track!

Apparently the gym works.  I dropped 3 pounds this week!  Which means....

I'm halfway to an iPad!

That's all.

Week seven "progress" report

This past weekend I attended a family reunion.  Essentially that means piles of people and piles of food.  Unfortunately, I didn't really think about the impending reunion this week and therefore didn't consider the possibility that it might be difficult to eat healthily over the weekend.  So instead of gearing up, I enjoyed my regular "healthish" diet with two (ahem) "less healthy" meals during the week, went to the gym a couple times, walked like I always do, and threw myself into the weekend with reckless abandon.

The bad news?  At the reunion I ate horribly.  Well not horribly, but not particularly healthily.  I did turn down most of the desserts.  But I'm sure that I made up for it by bookending the weekend with fast food on the road.

Anyway, Saturday morning it hit me--because I've set up my weekly weigh-in on Monday, I can enjoy a "less-healthy" meal or two mid-week without breaking the momentum, but only if I'm a little stricter on the weekend and work extra hard.  Basically this weekend amounted to a monkey wrench in the works.  So I made a point of spending the better part of an hour Saturday morning on a treadmill.  Then, since I was home Sunday, I structured my food around lighter fare.

And the damage: None whatsoever.  Even in the face of a less-than-stellar week, I didn't gain anything back.  Granted, I didn't lose anything, but I didn't put any weight on either.

So I'm still down 22 pounds with no real progress over the past two weeks.  Well, no measurable progress.  But this week I went back to the gym and managed to survive a big fat family reunion without packing on the pounds, so I think that's definitely a kind of progress.  Actually kind of major progress.

Really, I still have 3 1/2 months to drop 28 pounds.  Definitely something I can accomplish.  I just need to plan things better.  Like I've said before, I'm to the point where my routine is pretty mindless.  So here's the general plan...with more specifics to come:

1. Keep eating right...be especially conscious of adding fruits/vegetables every day.  Plan the "cheating" meals better.

2. Hit the gym for strength routines 3 days a week.  This week it will be a general circuit routine to get used to lifting again, and next week I'll start targeting specific muscle groups.

3. Continue with the walking, making a point of going on a long walk (or jog) on the non-gym days.  I have a four-mile course that would work perfectly.

Today I brought my gym clothes with me.  Wish me luck...

Week six progress report

Not to spoil the surprise but this was a less-than-stellar week.  Yeah, I stuck to the diet pretty well, despite two restaurant nights with friends, but all week I had the feeling that the weigh-in wasn't gonna be pretty.  And while it wasn't ugly, it wasn't anything near the previous several weeks' results.

Dreading the worst, this morning I hopped on the scale.  First it showed I'd lost three pounds, then it showed I'd gained one, then it showed I'd gained two.  Clearly the scale was in a mood.  So I fired up the Wii Fit and stepped on.  The change from last week: I'd gained 2/10 of a pound.  Basically no change at all.

Here's what I think the problem is: it's a lack of focus.  I know how to eat, but it's the same things all the time.  Not that they're bad, but I really think I need variety.  More than that, I need to be going to the gym regularly.  Not just going, but going with a plan.  Everything I'm doing now is pretty mindless and routine.  I need to shake it up.

So I got ready and left for work.  But not before packing a gym bag.  Yup...today I went back to the gym.  Believe it or not, the experience wasn't as terrifying as I had expected.  Despite all the walking, my time at the gym showed me that I've got a lot of work ahead of me to get in the kind of shape I want to be in.  Surprisingly, it wasn't a frustrating realization...it was more of an eye-opener.  Mostly I'm just excited because adding a fitness routine to the diet means I'm shaking things up...and when I shake things up, I tend to drop weight.  Yay!

Now to come up with a workable gym plan...

Something is missing...

So remember all that hoopla the things I've done to drop 22 pounds?  Have you noticed something missing from the discussion?  I have.  Actually it's not that I've noticed it, it's that I've intentionally omitted it.  Okay, I've intentionally omitted TWO things, but I'm still not telling you how much I weigh.  So there.

What's glaringly absent is a workout plan.  Or, for that matter, any mention of my actually going to the gym.  And that's because I haven't gone yet.  In the five weeks and one day since I started this program, I haven't set foot inside a gym.  I know I talked about starting after the first week or two...and I've had every intention of going to the gym every week after that.  Really.

Ugh...I just need to make a plan and go.  The walking I do is easy because it's transportation.  The eating is easy because it's something I do anyway...just now a little more conscientiously.  The gym, however, requires effort.  It requires planning.  Plan a workout, schedule a time, pack the gym bag and lug it around all day, and then ACTUALLY GO!

So I suppose that's got to be my next big goal.  Make a plan and then carry it out.  Really it's not a big deal...I've done it before--for months at a time!  Maybe it's just the initial push.

Any suggestions?  (Besides "stop whining and just go, you big baby.")

Week five progress report: Balance

This week before I discuss my results, I'd like to talk a little about the last few days.  On Thursday night, my best friend and I splurged with Chinese take-out and a movie.  While I opted for brown rice instead of fried rice, I'm sure the rest of the meal, coupled with the amount I ate, tips the scale well into the "unhealthy" category.  (Pretty much everything but the rice was fried and covered in sauce...and I probably ate enough to feed a small army...)  I'm fully aware this violates at least one of my "rules."  (Don't sit down in front of the TV with more food than you should eat...and for goodness's sake, don't EVER sit down in front of the TV with unhealthy food.)  Setting aside the horror...the shame...there's another rule that I think gets too little attention when people undertake major lifestyle changes.  And if it's not a rule, it should be.

Rule: Find ways to enjoy yourself.  If this means the occasional pig-out in front of the TV, then so be it.  Just make it an occasional treat rather than a regular thing.
Balancing Rule: After an evening of overindulgence, take the next couple days to work a bit harder then you normally do.

So bearing these rules in mind, and recognizing that a weigh-in after a pig-out night usually isn't pretty--not because of real weight gain, but because of whatever water (etc) the body's holding onto after all that delicious garbage food--realizing all that, I hopped on the scale Friday morning for a mid-week damage assessment.  I was well aware that the results would be skewed, but it was just the little nudge I needed to hunker down and really follow the aforementioned Balancing Rule for the rest of the week.  I mean, my official weekly weigh-in was only three days away!

So all day Friday I took it easy on the food.  It wasn't hard, because the abnormally heavy meal from Thursday night had left me a little queasy.  Then over the weekend, I made a point of finding lighter-than-usual fare to balance the Thursday tomfoolery.  Again, I didn't go hungry...I wasn't miserable...I just made extra-healthy choices and carefully monitored my "fullness level" carefully.  Tip: While you're eating...before you think you're full, make a point of slowing down to see if your body's just taking a bit to catch up.  I'm almost always surprised to realize that I actually am full and it just took my body a few minutes to register it!

After three days of extra care, my results this morning were still a little surprising.  I'm not sure if this is an indication that I overcompensated for Thursday night, but this morning when I got on the scale, it registered (and the wii confirmed) that I'd dropped another four pounds.

Total weight loss to date: 22 pounds!

I'm nearly halfway to an iPad!  More than that, I've learned something this week.  (cue 80's sitcom "moral of the story" music)  I've learned that I'm really in control.  If I want to lose weight, I can.  If I want to splurge on the rare occasion, it's an option I can entertain without derailing my progress.

A pleasant surprise

I'm a terrible shopper.  Well, a terribly lazy shopper.  I just don't enjoy it.  I especially loathe shopping for clothes.  No form of shopping is more excruciating than going to the store, picking something out, going into the dressing room, and examining myself in the mirror.  Partly because I'm a lazy shopper, but mostly because I don't particularly like what I see.  

Hey, I'm aware that the mirror is supposed to be your friend.  I know it helps you make sure you're presentable.  But when nothing you wear can make you actually like what you see--when no article of clothing you ever try on will make you look the way you think you should, mirrors are to be avoided as much as possible.  Thus, the fitting room mirror and I only meet when absolutely necessary.  The result is a hodgepodge of clothing that's ill-fitted, but it's worth it if I don't have to spend time scrutinizing myself in the mirror.

I'm not gonna get into the pathology of body image issues or the need to love yourself for your intrinsic self-worth, regardless of how you look.  That's for another blog--or at least another post.  Let's just say that I understand everything I've said so far isn't indicative of a healthy self image.

Over the past week or two, I've started noticing that my clothes fit more comfortably.  My pants aren't as snug.  My belt needs to be another notch tighter.  The neck and arms of my shirts are a bit more breathable.  Plus, I can comfortably wear a couple shirts that I'd packed away in.  It was definitely to be expected, but the actual realization that it's happening has been a pleasant discovery.  However, nothing could prepare me for this morning's surprise.  As I walked past the full-length mirror in the restroom at work, out of the corner of my eye I thought I glimpsed something a little "off" about my reflection.  At first, it didn't register what was different.  So, pushing through my natural instinct to avoid the mirror, I looked again and it hit me.  It may even be only barely noticeable, but my reflection appeared to be slimmer.  My posture seems better and there's a level of confidence I haven't noticed before.  It hit me that I'm off to a good (and visible) start.

It seems that in addition to the physical proportions, my body image is changing.  I like to believe that this positive change in body image is considerably less about weight loss than it is about my realigning priorities.  Unlike past attempts at weight loss, this time my real goal is to develop patterns of healthy living.  Despite the number of posts here about weight and other measurable indicators of progress (and a pretty, pretty iPad), the focus of this process is on positive choices that result in positive and permanent changes.  Standing in front of the mirror this morning, it never once occurred to me to be critical of what I saw.  Where the typical response would have been one of discomfort, this morning it was one of surprise and delight and genuine appreciation.  So for a moment let's forget what the scale says, what the mirror shows, and how the clothes fit.  The most profound change is one that can't be measured and tracked in a spreadsheet.  All I can do is simply to note that it's happening.  This morning I looked in the mirror and, for the first time in longer than I can remember, actually saw myself.  

Week four progress report

Remember last week's conundrum?  Never mind about it for now.  This week I'm pleased to report another two pounds.  Yes, it's the smallest weight loss to date...but it's a healthy weekly loss.  AND if I only drop 2 pounds a week from here on out, next week I'll have lost 20 pounds and I'll easily meet my goal 2 weeks before my birthday.  Party at my place.

In other news, I realized that the Wii Fit doesn't actually require you to weigh in every day.  It asks you if you want to, and gives you a hard time if you miss a couple days, but there's no actual requirement.  So, back to only weighing in once a week.