Week 18 Weigh In: 303.0/298.8

In the 200s, woohoo! What shall I do to celebrate? Not eat, certainly. I bought a new jean jacket (in a size 22, which is nutso -- it's a petite so it doesn't hit the massive horror that is my hips and brings my size up from 22 to 26 on the bottom) over the weekend while I was still above 300... so, more clothes or something else? Decisions, decisions...

Week 17 Weigh In: 305.4/303.0

:)

Week 16 Weigh In: 307.0/305.4

:(

Week 15 Weigh In: 309.0/307.0

A few weeks behind, so I'm just going to post them all in separate links today.

Week 14 Weigh In -- 311.2/309.0

It's been a verra stressful week at work, but it is thankfully over for now.

I started with a personal trainer today, so walking might be a problem tomorrow. ;)

Happy Weekend!

Week 13 Weigh In -- 315.4/311.2

I have no idea what's going on. I felt fat this week, so I thought for sure I was in for no loss/very small loss this week, and I'd come to terms with that. Also, I'm retaining tons of water -- I can feel it in my calves and ankles. But I'm not complaining. ;)

I start working with a personal trainer next week. I want to keep the metabolism speedy, but also want to make sure I'm improving my all over fitness, not just my cardio.

Have a great weekend!

Week 12 Weigh In -- 319.2/315.4

I don't understand my body, I just don't. I'm not complaining, but I don't understand how I can have a loss like this during a week that I ate like 1300 calories a day, and not lose anything at all during a week I ate 1000 calories a day AND did more exercise. But, as I look back at my archives and my weight-record that I keep on paper, I can see that this is nothing new. To wit:


3/1/07 -- 355
3/7/07 -- 348
3/14/07 -- 349.5
3/17/07 -- 344.6
3/24/07 -- 342.6
3/30/07 -- 334.6 (!!!! -- What the hell? Why???)
4/4/07 -- 333.4
4/10/07 -- 335.0
4/13/07 -- 331.6
4/20/07 -- 327.6
4/27/06 -- 325.2
5/4/07 -- 321.2
5/11/07 -- 321.2
5/18/07 -- 319.2

So at least if I freak out next week, I can look at this and see that it's not something I'm doing wrong now versus last week -- it's just been the freaking unpredictable pattern.

Happy Weekend!

Week 11 Weigh In -- 321.2/319.2

If I lose 2 lbs a week for 80 weeks, I'll be at my goal weight. ;)

Happy weekend!

Week 10 Weigh In -- 321.2/321.2

I weighed in on Friday, but had such a crazy busy weekend I couldn't post. So I will weigh-in again this Friday, May 18.

Week 9 Weigh In -- 325.2/321.2

Nuff said.

Week 8 Weigh In -- 327.6/325.2

I hate to bitch about a solid almost 2.5 lb weight loss, but I swear to god, I don't understand my body at all. This last week has been THE BEST week I've had since I started this program -- calorie wise (1200 or less per day), fat gram wise (30 or less per day), and exercise wise (5 hours of moderate to high intensity cardio). So WTF is going on? A little, evil voice is whispering in my head, "Take some supplements, take some supplements," but I know this voice is not concerned with my health. I guess I should focus on the positive -- I've done a lot of good for my heart this week with all that cardio, and I've put healthy, efficient fuel in my body in the right amounts.

I didn't meet my April goal after all, which is probably part of the reason I am upset. However, I would have met the goal if I hadn't gone on vacation and gained that pound that week. Trying to cheer myself up here -- doesn't help that I've talked to my mom and to C, my fiancee, and they both clucked with disappointment.

Week 7 Weigh In -- 331.5/327.6

Woohoo! Down is a Good Thing. I'm still six pounds from reaching my April goal (damn you, Easter vacation, damn you), but this week is my Water Retention Week, so I might be able to reach goal when the PMS water flushes out of my body.

I hope everyone has a good weigh-in and a fabulous weekend!

Week 6 Weigh-In -- 335.0/331.5

Woo hoo! I might be able to reach my April goal after all, which is fantastic news. It definitely helps with the motivation to do my cardio. Sorry for the short post -- I plan to write something tonight or tomorrow about the "obesity gene" stuff that's plastered all over the news.

Happy Weekend!

Week 5 Weigh In -- 336.4/335.0

I was out of town for the Easter holiday from Wednesday to Tuesday. I weighed on Wednesday before I left and was down about 1 lb. I weighed again yesterday and was down another .5 lb. Considering my exercise schedule went to shit over the 6 days we were gone, I don't feel too bad about that. I've realized that no matter how well/what I eat, my body NEEDS exercise to loose weight. I'm back on track since I've been home, and will again weigh in on Friday to get back on schedule.

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday -- I'm already ready for my next vacation!

Week 4 Weigh In -- 343.2/336.4

Told you I was retaining a lot of water last week! I've changed weigh-in day to Friday because my weekends tend to be hectic and unpredictable and I can't really create a weigh-in routine (i.e. same time of day, etc.) on Saturdays. So Friday it is, and Friday it shall stay. Except for next week because I am on vacation at my mom's. I will weigh in on Wednesday before I leave and again on Monday night when I get back, just so I know. ;)

I am very excited about a loss this big, though in my heart I know it is probably at least 50% water. I just want to be able to do 2 pounds a week, consistently. Anything more than that is gravy. I guess my doctor was right -- I really do need to do the hour-long sessions of cardio to make my metabolism stay revved up.

However, no cardio for me today or yesterday because I am super duper sick with the head cold from hell. I worked out on Wednesday, and by that afternoon, I thought I was going to croak. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and at least be able to go out for a walk.

Happy weekend!

Week 3 Weigh In -- 344.6/343.4

Well, the scale is showing only a 1lb loss. I'm not too worried about it though because I spent most of yesterday in a car traveling and had a very salty dinner, so I think I'm retaining a least a pound or two of water.

I am having a hard time dealing with the snail's pace of my loss. It's hard for me to read other weight loss blogs where people consistently lose 2 lbs a week, or more. I wonder what I'm doing wrong -- yet my heart tells me there's not much I can do better. I am eating an average of 1500 calories per day, sometimes less, one day a week 1600 or so. I've biked 60 minutes and 50 minutes yesterday and today respectively, keeping my heart rate at 160 bpm. I feel good -- I'm not tired all the time, I have good energy, my mind is clear and alert. In short... I don't really understand why I'm not losing more weight. Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to stop what I'm doing now. If anything, I am going to up my efforts, put in more time exercising. I want to do 6 hours of cardio per week, and 3 weight training sessions per week. I know that's a lot, but I don't know what else to do to up my metabolism.

I'm thinking about Hydroxycut or some other metabolic stimulant. Does anyone have any suggestions/experience with this? Thanks!

Fallout

Ahem. So the Week 2 Weigh-In turned into a big debacle. I DID NOT BINGE, THOUGH. But boy, did I cry. I didn't cry all morning, but when I was on the phone with C, my partner, that afternoon, I just started to bawl and bawl and bawl. The first bawl was out of embarrassment. I felt like an ass because I'd been yammering on relentlessly about how wonderful it feels to finally be eating healthy and losing weight, and it turned out that I hadn't lost any at all! The second bawl was out of fear -- fear that my years of yo-yo dieting have finally caught up with me and my body was incapable of losing weight. The third bawl was because I felt like I had no control. I don't mean that in the sort of somebody-stop-me-I'm-out-of-control way. What I mean by control is that I have been closely monitoring my calorie intake and what I *thought* was my basal metabolic rate and calculated that I should have lost 3-4 pounds. So when I in fact gained weight according to the scale, I felt as though I didn't have a way to be in control of my weight loss. It's not enough for me, frankly, to eat healthy and exercise. I need to be able to predict my rate of loss and all that -- this entire episode showed me I was a control freak, that's for sure!!!

Anyway, I ended up going to see the doctor, not because I thought something was wrong, but just to get her advice. What I got was a grimace, and a "You're doing everything right, just increase your exercise." I said, "Can't you test my metabolic rate or something?" She said, "You have perfect blood pressure, perfect cholesterol, perfect blood sugar. There's no reason to test you." I said, "I have a BMI of more than 50. That's not a reason?" She said, "Not according to our medical guidelines." I think my eyes bugged out of my head. It was an eye-opening and frightening experience about our medical system.

So I ended up doing a lot of research and bought a scale that measures weight as well as body fat and water weight. Except my body fat percentage is too high right now to get a reading! Anyway, I hope/expect that will change over the next several weeks, but in the meantime, I've still got to rely on just my weight as a measure. However, I'm not as nervous about the new one because unlike my old scale, this one produces the same number if you stop onto it and off of it 5 times. My old one would fluctuate as many as 2 pounds up or down if you did the 5-time test. By the way, on Saturday night, after dinner, I weighed 344.5. If I had gotten that reading on Thursday, the freak out could have been avoided. But alas. As a result of my new scale purchase, and not knowing how the calibration is compared to my old scale, my new weigh-in day will be Saturday. So don't freak out if you don't hear from me on Thursday -- I'm not skipping!

Week 2 Weigh In -- 348/349.5

Well, that's no good. I don't know what happened -- I ate REALLY well this week, much better than last week. By the numbers, I should have lost between 3-4 pounds based on caloric intake and exercise. I figure I must be retaining water like a water buffalo, but I just don't know for sure, and that's part of the problem. I haven't gone and binged or cried though, and that's an improvement over my usual response to an unusual scale reading.

I'm trying to call my doctor to set up an appointment with her. The control freak in me doesn't really want to involve my doctor in this process, but if that's the only way I can get an accurate scale/body fat percentage reading, then that's what I've got to do, right?

I'm feeling right now like I should DO something, but I don't know what. I've been trawling the net for scales with body fat analyzers, hand held ones, thinking about calling my doctor, etc. etc. I know that weight fluctuates from week to week, day to day, but that's a LOT of water. I don't think I'm making excuses for myself -- I have the evidence at hand, what I ate this week, so I can look back and say that while I at too much processed food on Saturday, every other day was virtually perfect from a nutrition perspective -- fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, minimal condiments. Sigh.

I can tell by just rereading this post that while I'm not feeling depressed, I AM rather frantic. Maybe that will rev up my metabolism, heh.

Week 1 Weigh-In: 355?/348

My first post on this site was written almost three weeks ago -- or would that be exactly three weeks ago? Yes, I think it would be. At any rate, I've spent the time in between now and then ridding my house of junk food, slowing beginning an exercise routine, and basically building in some lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes that seem to be working.

March 1 was my "official" start date, but I don't know of what because I am NOT on a diet. I'm trying to think of this as a new way of living, and my mindset is good right now. The primary tool that I'm using to help myself is www.fitday.com, a great website that allows you to track exercise, eating, weight, basically everything you need to know about your health. This site is really a god send to me right now -- I was having a lot of trouble getting my eating under control, but seeing the numbers, stark and undeniable, sort of shocked me straight, I guess you'd say. It's super convenient for me, moreso than keeping a traditional written food journal because a) there's a database of foods already available so you can just select the food and the amount and let the program do the calculations about fat, carbs, calories and protein and b) I'm on my computer all day anyway, so it's not a problem for me to quickly point and click in my foods when I've eaten something or done an activity.

Anyway, my loss this week has been anywhere from 2 to 10 pounds. I don't really know because my scale only goes up to 350 and I was definitely above that number for a while. I suspect the real loss is somewhere in between 2 and 10 pounds, probably more like 5. I tell you, it's quite a relief to finally be weighable again, though the scale can sometimes be the enemy! As I go through this journey, I'm going to try to remember that the number on the scale doesn't matter nearly as much as doing the things that will bring it down -- exercising, eating right, taking care of myself.

Cheers!