Weight Loss Ticker

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Week 47 - Happy May!

Stats:  -.5
Avg cal burn:  2336
Avg cal consumed: 1436
Avg deficit: 898

This was a good week.  I feel like I did well.  I am still struggling with getting up in the morning, so I had to punt at work a couple days, but at least I did keep up with working out.  I also logged every day, and I feel like I made good choices.  It helped that I didn't have any temptations this week (until last night).  So, even though it didn't translate into the numbers, I am ok with it because I know I did well, and it's a very livable week (except for getting up at 5 AM!).

The weather was great this week, and I was able to take the freedom panels off the Jeep for the first time this year.  I kept them off for six days!  It makes me excited to have the summer weather here full time and really feel like summer is on its way.  I am trying to not think about the fact that I won't be in bathing suit form for the beach.  At least I will look better than last year.


Saturday, April 27, 2013

Week 46 - the home stretch?

Stats:  -1
Avg burned:  2113
Avg cosumed:  1395
Avg deficit:  718

The numbers aren't that accurate this week because I took last weekend off.  I hadn't planned on it, but it just happened that I never worked out, and I never tracked my meals, so the weight loss is accurate, and the burn is accurate (albeit low due to skipping 3 days - yes, 3), but the average calorie consumed is also probably low due to the fact that it doesn't take into account Saturday or Sunday.

I drank too much wine Friday night, and I was just sloggy and slow Saturday morning, and I thought I would work out later, but the day just got away from me, and before I knew it, it was night and Dawna and George came over, and I drank some more wine.  I planned to make up for it on Sunday (which is my usual morning off), but we had made plans to go out to breakfast, and so when the alarm went off,  I also talked myself out of getting up to work out that morning.  Again, I thought I would go for a walk or do something later in the day, but it turned into taking a nap!

I thought I got back on track on Monday, but Tuesday morning I could not get myself out of bed.  I wasn't able to walk at work because of the weather.  I finally got my butt out of bed on Wednesday, but then slept in again on Thursday!  Thankfully, it was a nice day, and I took a 3+ mile walk at lunch so that I at least did not skip the whole day.  I had also taken a walk on Wednesday, so in some respects had made up (in numbers) for missing Tuesday. 

I just don't know what has gotten in to me.  Or, I do, but I just don't want to admit it.  I'm burnt out.  I'm tired.  I have still not adjusted to the time change, and 5 AM still comes too soon.

Here are some updates:  my butt pain is definitely better, not completely gone, but not the stabbing pain that it was.  I am still having to stop running in the morning to go to the bathroom.  I stopped taking my supplements a couple weeks ago, I don't think they made any difference.  I may have sweat more during my morning workout, but over all, no difference in weight loss, less hunger, or more energy.

I am signed up for my first official 5k for 5/16.  I'll be running it with Russell.  I have been training for it - started running a 5k outside at work on Mondays.

I've started to think about whether I will continue to blog once my 50 weeks are up.  I know that I won't reach my goal, but I do have a two more weeks after 50, but before my birthday.  I will definitely keep blogging until then.  After that, I may not blog weekly, but check in more when I actually have something to say.  It may take me until November to get to my goal, so that would be a lot of blog posts!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Week 45 - I'm losing steam; the Boston Marathon

Stats:  +1
Avg burn:  2250
Avg cal: 1312
Avg deficit: 938

Well, I apologize if this is all a bit jumbled.  I'm posting it late for the week, and I'm already forgetting what last week was like.  I only know that my motivation is waning badly.  I am still having such a problem getting up in the morning.  I have been saved by good weather and work schedules that have allowed me to go out and walk at work, but it's not the amount of burn that I need.

See, here is the big problem with slow losing.  You lose momentum.  If you can lose 1-2 pounds a week and reach your goals in a reasonable amount of time, you can keep up with it.  But, when you are like me and down to ~.75 average a week, and at a year mark, you still haven't been able to reach your goal, you get tired.  And, when you get tired, you get sloppy. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have lost the 33 pounds I have lost, but that's part of the problem too.  I have a lot of people noticing that I've lost weight and telling me that I look good.  I've finally been able to start fitting into size 10 pants again.  I feel better about my body.  It's enough to lull you into the feeling that it might be enough.  But, it's not.  I need to get to the 50lb mark, I know that, but at this rate, I won't be there until sometime in November.  I was so looking forward to spending the summer in a new size, new clothes that I bought to fit me.  Now I will be buying my new clothes in depressing winter.  Not only that, but I have to wait so long for this reward, it will be anticlimactic.

Lots of people are always saying, "when it comes off slow, it stays off"  Well, the reverse of that may be true - if you lose 10# in say, 2 weeks, you may be destined to gain 5 of that back very quickly as soon as you ease up a bit.  But, in my experience, the weight comes back on even after it has taken a tortureously long time to come off.  And, it comes back on rather quickly.  The last time I lost a significant amount of weight - about 50# back in 2002-3, it took me over a year and a half to get there.  I didn't stay there long - maybe a week or two.  It was the holidays, so I crept up a few pounds, but I knew I could get that back down, but then I had an injury and had to take some time off from working out.  Before I knew it, I was up 10# in less than 3 months.  It's just not true for me that you keep weight that you lost slowly off any longer.

The other event of this week, of course, was the Boston Marathon and subsequent bombing.  What a horrible thing. I ran a 5k at work at lunch on Monday.  As I ran, I thought about the marathoners who were at that moment running.  The weather was perfect for running, maybe a little windy, but sunny and dry.  I was thinking that by the time I got back to my desk, there would already be a winner of the race.

When I learned of the bombings, a short 20-30 minutes after it happened, I couldn't comprehend it.  At first, we knew there were injuries, but we had not heard that anyone was killed.  I hoped that no one would be, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

It was a crazy week after that - every day there were more details.  The president and Mrs. Obama came to Boston for a memorial service.  The back bay was closed down.  Then, on Thursday night came the confrontation with the actual perpetrators.  They shut down the whole city!  I feel so sad for the victims and their families.  I think of Martin Richard, only eight years old - just months older than Gwen.  How will his family go on?  Why?  It makes me want to weep. 

But, my journey is like a marathon.  I have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that I will cross the finish line at some point.  Maybe it won't be until all the crowds are gone and the finish line has been removed, but I will get there.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Week 44 - Just 6 weeks left!

Stats: -3.5
Ave burn: 2304
Ave cal: 1375
Ave deficit: 929


Wow, where did the time go?  I know that the next six weeks are going to fly by.  I also know that I wont be reaching my goal.  I would have to lose 15# by then, and that is just not going to happen unless I lose a limb.  I don't even think a fast or shake diet would work or a colonic or any other crazy thing I could think of to lose the weight - besides, if I did it that way, it would just be back on the next week (at least half of it).  So, I must resolve that I won't have lost 50# in 50 weeks.  The way my weight loss is trending (BTW, see how I don't even get excited about a 3.5# loss - I just know that I'll be up on this Friday, so why get excited?), I will reach the 50# mark 13 weeks past my goal date - and that's if I can manage to keep up with a .78# a week loss that I am at now.  It's averaged as low as .72, so it may take even more than an additional 13 weeks.

I try to not get bummed out about this, but it is really challenging.  I was so hoping that I would look better than I do by now.  If I had been able to keep up with a 1# loss, I'd be almost 10# less than I am now, and that would make a huge difference.  But, I'm not, so there's no use in crying about it.  People notice my weight loss, and the first thing I say is how it's not to my goal or that it's so hard.  I know I'm being negative, but it's like I need to remind myself that I am a long way from the finish line.  And, maybe that's a good thing.  When you start to get cocky, you start to get sloppy.  I'll tell you one thing that will cut you right down to size if you are feeling cocky - bathing suits!  I was sort of looking forward to being in a bathing suit and not looking like a beached whale, and I saw a cute suit at TJ Max for $15, so I bought it.  Yes, it fits, but seeing all the rolls and flab everywhere was very humbling.

This week was about getting "clean" - no more Easter candy and other excesses that were finding their way into my mouth.  I did ok until Friday when we had cake for a co-worker who is retiring.  I had a sliver.  Still, it's all it takes to break the damn, so to speak.  I am trying to stay on track for the weekend.

My neighbor is doing some sort of shake challenge, and she invited me (and others, of course) over to sample the shakes.  I politely declined.  I've tried the shake thing before, and I end up drinking the shake AND eating my usual meal, so all it does is add calories for me.  In addition, I looked up these shakes, and found that it's one of those multi-layer companies where they get you to be a "distributor" and the folks above you get some sort of cut on your sales, etc.  That is not for me on so many levels.  Anyway, I am not where I wanted to be, but I have still lost 35lbs by just eating right and exercising, so I think I should stick to it.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Week 43 - Stomach Flu

Stats:  -.5
Avg Burn:  2208
Avg Cal: 1415
Avg Deficit:  793

So, this week I was hit with the stomach flu mid-week.  I had one day of almost no eating - saw a 2.5lb loss the next morning, but of course it didn't hang around.  Total of .5lb lost for this week, which is ok considering.  I show an average deficit of 793, but I know that I didn't log everything that went in my mouth this week. 

It started on Friday night, we had our friends over for some wine and the guys played ping-pong.  I just wanted some relaxation before I had to kick it into high gear for the holiday prep.  I had thought I was done with school, but I had some last minute back and forth with my partner on our paper.  Anyway, I managed to keep up with the exercise, even though I was busy.  Sunday morning, I had to start prepping for breakfast at 7 AM, so I would have had to get up at 4 to fit my work out in I knew that wasn't going to happen, so I skipped it, hoping I'd fit in a walk later, which we did.  My sister and I had a shorter/slower walk than I usually do because Gwen came with us and was tired out quickly.  At least I got out and burned some calories instead of just consuming them!

I was fortunate that the stomach flu didn't hit until after I had worked out on Tuesday, but I decided that I needed rest and a break on Wednesday morning.  I had a busy day, so it ended up being a complete day off from working out - the first in 15 consecutive days, which had been the longest stretch I have had in since January.  Maybe I needed the break.

I continued to feel icky on and off for the rest of the week, but it didn't seem to impact my eating and drinking.  I am on "Spring Break" this week because I have one week between classes, and I have been fitting in a lot of social engagements, reading, and catch up work (like filing our taxes!).  I will have to start hitting the books tomorrow for my next class - Assessing Leadership Capability.

So, I haven't done anything about my PITA - such a busy week, and with being sick, etc., however, I think it might be going away (KOW), so we'll see.  On the flip side, I now have a sciatica pain in my right buttock!






Saturday, March 30, 2013

Week 42 - Pain In The A**!

Stats:  0 lost
Avg Burn:  2366
Avg Cal:  1539
Avg Deficit:  827


Not sure if I've mentioned this before - I'm surprised that I haven't, but I have been having this deep pain in my left buttocks for about a month now.  It just started one day.  It sort of feels like sciatica (nerve pain vs. muscle or ligament or bone), but deeper, and I mostly feel it when I am bearing weight.  I thought if I concentrated on stretches, it would go away, but it hasn't.  Sometimes it's really painful when I start exercising - shooting pains in my buttock, and sometimes it radiates down my leg or up into my lower back.  I've tried different things to try to get rid of it - I stopped doing my walking/running on an incline, but it still persisted.  I finally figured that I have to go see a doctor to get it looked at.  I asked my neighbor, who is a physical therapist, what she thought.  I was hoping she would say something like, "Oh, that's your blahblah nerve and you did xyz, but if you do these 3 stretches religiously for the next two weeks, you'll be fine."  Well, of course not - she said to see my dr., who would prescribe PT.  That was over a week ago - I just have not had time to go to the doctor, so I haven't even called to make the appointment.  And, it comes and goes - it's most annoying when I start walking/running or if I have been sitting for a while, my first steps.  And, although it's painful, it's something I can ignore, unlike sciatica pain that would keep me up at night.  So, my goal is to do something about it - just not looking forward to the process of going to a lot of doctors appointments and not getting a straight answer or any resolution.

Ok, so what else?  Well, tomorrow is Easter, and I am having my family over for Easter brunch - the chocolate eating has already begun!  It has been a very stressful week and month.  My mom has been going through a breast cancer thing because of something on her mammogram.  I had my final paper due for my class this week, I think I will eke out a B, but that's partly with fingers crossed.  I am still struggling with the time change, and once again I did not have a whole week of having to get up early took a morning off and Friday was a holiday, so I didn't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn :-)  I had planned to start doing a 2nd 5k on Monday, my idea was to do one of them outside to start to get training for that, but it is still pitch black out at 5 AM (and cold!), so that is not going to happen.  I may do it at lunch at work, we'll see.

Ok, much to do for the breakfast tomorrow, I will sign off.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Week 41 - 9 more weeks to goal

Stats:  +1.5lb
Ave burn:  2191
Ave cal:
Ave deficit:

Well, obviously weigh-in this week was not good.  I saw it coming, though - all week I was up, so at least it wasn't a complete surprise.  Why?  I don't know - could be the not great week before caught up with me.  I had a total pizza binge on Saturday followed by date night.  I also didn't work out on Saturday, and I ended up skipping Monday too.  Saturday I just kept putting it off and putting it off in the morning, and then I ended up being too late to work out.  On Monday, I had an alarm/human malfunction - I pressed the off button when I thought it was the snooze.  So, my burn was low, but I still managed an ~800 calorie deficit, so why gain?

My mom has been going through some issues with regards to breast cancer.  She had a biopsy on the 4th, and then she had to go back for a lumpectomy on the 15th, so I'm sure that has been weighing on my mind.

Sunday was St. Patrick's day, and in addition to going to a BBQ buffet, I made "Irish Car Bomb" Cupcakes. Nuff said?

This was my first official week really dealing with the time change, and it s*cked.  I could not make the alarm once this week - typically did not get out of bed before 5:10, which leaves me with no extra time to do any weights or isometric exercises.  On Tuesday, we had another big snow storm, and the kids did not have school.  This meant I could sleep in (again - since I did on Monday), and so really I only had 3 days where I had to get up early, and it was hard!

On the plus side, I have been keeping up with my tracking, and I at least can say with an honest conscious that I have been eating X amount of calories - even if it isn't perfect, it is close.

I've continue to use my supplements.  I have upped the morning dose to 2 pills, and I try to remember to take 1 more before/around lunch time, but I missed a few this week.  I don't know it they are doing anything, I guess I won't know until I stop taking them.  When I first started, I definitely felt a difference, but now I don't feel any different at all - is that because I'm just used to it?  Also, weight loss has been less than stellar, but I have to wonder how bad it would have been if I wasn't taking the supplements.

So, I thought more about what I could do to make a dent in my weight loss for the remaining 10 (now 9) weeks.  One goal is to not eat out so much.  It definitely is a temptation, and even though I try to make good choices, I know that I'm eating and drinking more than I should be.  The problem is that going out is a real treat for me because it means I don't have to cook.  But, I'm not saying no going out at all, just try to decrease it, and I can do anything for 9 weeks - that's a blink of an eye.